“Edinburgh is gorgeous, as far from a grey, formless city as any place can be.” – Old Sean
Recalling Culture
In a previous post, I mentioned how Game of Thrones once had a powerful grip on popular culture, driving together a fandom which ravenously debated each released episode.
Then, the writers of Game of Thrones called it in. The quality suffered horrifically, the cast was killed off in droves and loose ends were left dangling in the breeze for the rest of time.
Overnight, Game of Thrones lost all momentum and the locations which once proudly pointed out film locations, such as Belfast, have gradually let the show fall by the wayside.
Such is the effect of a poorly-written pop-culture ending.
But on the opposite end of the spectrum (at least for the time being) there is Harry Potter.
J.K. Rowling absolutely tapped into something unique and special with her young adult novels, and Edinburgh has been capitalizing on nostalgia and her success for a while now. Edinburgh is crammed full of wizard shops, witchy tour guides and enough history and architecture to make it plausible.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city. Beyond beautiful really. The Medieval section of town (sometimes called Old Town) is an uphill hike past spires, ornate buildings, old churches, Scottish bagpipe players, a truly unholy number of tourist shops and Edinburgh Castle itself.
On the opposite side of the valley (which was once a river and now is a drained-and-very-green park) is New Town. This part of the city is filled with classy modern structures and notoriously expensive shops.
A Welcome to Edinburgh
We arrived on Princes Street with our luggage, admiring the sharp skyline and clamoring for a quick photo of the Scott Monument, a superstructure dedicated to the famous Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott.
Afterwards, we meandered to our Airbnb, located just outside of The Jewel on the East Side of town.
In sharp contrast to our stay in Glasgow, our host Maria was the very soul of hospitality. Furthermore, our room was huge, our bathroom was private and two delightfully friendly cats padded around the downstairs area, pleading for attention before darting away. Since Maria was from Spain, I was able to break out my rusty and limited Spanish for a bit more practice.
After a short rest, my brother, sister and I made a point of actively exploring the city center of Edinburgh.
We started, as most tourists do, by walking up Cockburn Street (funny name aside, it’s a pretty Victorian Old Town space with lots of cafes and magic shops). We continued to walk along Lawnmarket (more commonly known as “The Royal Mile“), seeing the rediculous number of sights leading up to the castle. There are fine whiskey shops, kilts shops, tourist shops, a few small restaurants, chocolate stores, Scottish Bagpipe players and much more. For tourism purposes, we stopped to browse The Tron Market, Mercat Cross, The Heart of Midlothian Mosaic, Gladstone’s Land, Mylnes Court and the Witches Well.
The last stop of the Royal Mile is the incredible Edinburgh Castle, which I’ve been inside a couple of times. Unless my flagging memory has finally failed me, I recall entry being quite cheap four years ago. But in post-COVID modern times, a person must pre-book and spend a whopping eighteen pounds to explore the castle. Barred entry due to a lack of booking, we began exploring downhill instead.
Wizardly Attractions
Over the next hours, we stopped along various shops on W. Bow. The Harry Potter Museum (Museum Context) was my favorite, a supremely narrow shop with a bunch of made-to-photograph props scattered about. There were magic wands, metal basilisks, snowy owl plushies, writing quills, Harry Potter jewlery, Hogwarts upstairs writing desks and a Chamber of Secrets mirror.
I wish Ari had been there with us. She would have lost her mind.
On the same street, there is also a swordsmith shop called The Knight’s Vault. This shop is filled with high-quality blades and trinkets crafted after famous high-fantasy stories. There are Witcher blades, LOTR Elvish Blades, Sting, axes, Hyrule shields and weapons, Final Fantasy Swords and a couple dozen others. I lounged in here for quite a while.
After visiting that Harry Potter shops and several others, (including The Great Wizard) we next walked to The Elephant House.
The Elephant House, which I did manage to see four years ago, is currently closed. COVID hasn’t shuttered the building, as much as a freak fire accident did. The coffee house where J.K. Rowling originally wrote down her story ideas is now just a pair of shuttered red doors.
We Don’t Deserve Dogs
Disappointed, I walked with my brother and sister to Greyfriars Kirkyard. The Graveyard housed many of the deceased Scottish wealthy, but the main draw to the sanctified grounds is the elaborate bronze grave just out front. There, a bust of Bobby the Dog sits, his nose a slightly-bright bronze. The pup was famous for returning to his owners grave for fourteen years straight in an endless show of loyalty until the Church gave up and built him a shelter. When Bobby died of old age, he was buried as close as consecrated ground allowed. His monument has a sweet tradition where graveyard visitors pick up twigs to leave for the dog.
Greyfriars is also unique, since it’s thought to be where J.K. Rowling picked up several of her character’s names for her novel. There is indeed, among others, a Tom Riddell hidden on a tombstone.
We finished the night by briefly walking in The Meadows, George Square and getting some dinner at Ting Thai Caravan Teviot Place. (Great Thai food in Scotland).
The following morning, I awoke everyone early for another foray into town. My sister went up to see the grounds around Edinburgh Castle again while my brother and I settled in for breakfast.
Ghost Island
Our plan for the morning was to visit Crammond Island, located to the North of the city. Crammond Island is a devilishly difficult place to visit, since the path is only open during low tide. Part of a very wide floodplain, the island is cut off from the mainland a mere two or three hours after the tide reverses.
After taking a bus to the shore, my brother, sister and I tromped through the sandy mud-plains in an attempt to take a shortcut to the island. Crammond Island is easy to spot, since it has concrete anti-submarine bracers along the trail. We squelched through saltwater until we reached land, enjoying the rugged terrain and various ruins.
Crammond Island has three types of ruins all across it. In the deep center of the island, caked in ivy, are the old farmhouses and homes of the small family which lived on the island and used it as a vacation retreat. Near the island causeway, there’s a brick-layered pillbox which is coated in graffiti. This was a lookout point to spot enemies approaching Scotland, specifically German U-Boats. And finally, the north side of the island is covered in rounded, concrete pillboxes, also designed to prevent a German amphibious assault. They served in both WWI and WWII and are now peppered with graffiti.
Ironically, these fortifications have been breached before, but only by UK forces. The local guards of the island were unsuccessful in defending the island during a surprise training drill as UK forces stealth-assaulted to assess readiness.
Since most everyone defending the island was asleep, it seemed to not go well.
A Low Tide Loop
Granted, that’s only a sliver of the island’s history. On the mainland shore, there is evidence of a Roman outpost, including a stone lion carving pried from the muck by a fisherman. The lion is in a museum while the stone-carved Roman eagle is still visable.
Crammond Island is beautiful. It has rocky shores, rugged cliffs, fern meadows, grass-swept hills, long shores filled with blue shells and small, rugged stones.
I was delighted by the whole visit. One of the funny things I’ve noticed upon returning to places I’ve already visited is my de-ja-vu photography. I’m often walking away with the exact same photos that I took four years prior, minus weather differences.
Once Crammond Island was finished, we took a bus back into town, this time visiting Dean Village. Dean Village is a cute little stream area with beautiful bridges, buildings and a couple of bakeries. It’s a good space for a quaint river walk.
Puzzled Picture
I’ve never personally been to Dean Village, but my sister was quick to recognize it. Somewhat amusingly, she did a puzzle with the exact location with my aunt a few years back.
After visiting Dean Village, we walked through the Dean Garden Area, eventually stopping at Antony Gormley’s 6 Times. These creepy statues, standing in water, are of a humanoid figure standing and walking through the stream, rust flaking off from every surface.
At this point, we hopped on yet another bus returning closer to the city center. My sister picked up a couple of tourist trinkets before we went to Doctor’s, specifically ordering Haggis and Ciders.
I like Haggis, despite its rather double-edged reputation.
Next, we tried to walk to Arthur’s Seat, the famous bluff overlooking Edinburgh. However, my sister has the same trouble that’s plagued her throughout the trip. An uneven patch of pavement caused her to roll her ankle badly. Her shoes, which were bought a couple of months before the trip, are a raggedly smoothed down nightmare. They slip and twist without grip, making them a pair of ankle-warping landmines with each step. We slowed our pace dramatically, but she was still able to make the hike.
Vaulted Views
We gradually climbed the shallow incline of Arthur’s Seat, right as the sun began setting. Golden light bathed the long grass, a lone nesting pheasant walked past quietly and great strikes of wind knocked our hair back.
At the top of the landmark, I chatted idly with a girl named Tracy from China, reminiscing about the country.
Finally, my brother, sister and I began completing the return loop. We walked past Holyrood Abbey and the Palace of Holyroodehouse, walked up Calton Hill, spotted the National Monument of Scotland, visited the Nelson Monument and headed downhill to the Old Calton Cemetery. We finished the evening with drinks at the amazingly decorated Café Royal, getting champagnes, beers and ciders.
Miniture Gothic Chapels
With one day done, it was my sister’s last day in country. I allowed her to list what she wanted to do before flying home to the United States while my brother and I continued on. Originally, she wanted to go on a highland tour, but they were quite expensive and we were far too late to book. Instead, she pointed out some nearby city locations our host .
The following day was our last day in Scotland and my sister’s last day abroad entirely. Together, we took a bus at the small hours of the morning south to Rosslyn Chapel. This tiny Chapel is a special feature of Roslin, Scotland. It’s an extremely ornate structure with many designs, arches and ruddy brown stones. However, entry is a concerning 9.50 pounds. My brother and I shared a glance and waved my sister inside. The two of us weren’t interested enough in the church, though my sister was happy to explore. Not that my brother and I didn’t see the structure. There’s a loop going to the back wall of the Chapel, making it easy to peer inside.
After our short walk-by, my brother and I settled down for tea and breakfast at Dolly’s Tea Room. Interestingly, Dolly the Sheep’s was successfully cloned in this town. Near by is the Roslin Institute where the team led by Professor Sir Ian Wilmut completed the cloning process.
For those unaware, Dolly the Sheep was a successfully-cloned mammal as part of a livestock genetic diversity project. She was named after the country singer Dolly Parton, since the sheep was cloned from DNA drawn from a mammary gland cell.
Our last stop in Roslin was the delightfully crooked ruins of Roslin Castle. Afterward, we borrowed some WIFI and headed north, to Craigmiller Castle. Sadly, Craigmiller costs about 10 pounds per person to enter, so we ended up mostly skipping it. I was able to use the restroom and see a bit of the castle’s interior, which is quite nice. But not 10 pounds of nice. We did manage to find a golden-shelled snail during our walk, which was a splendid find in its own right.
A Return to Edinburgh
My sister’s top locations visited, I nudged everyone to go visit the tiny Scottish Poetry Library. I absolutely adored this tiny space. Aside from having hundreds of fantastic books I immediately got lost in, there are also the Poetrees. In the past decade, an anonymous artist began scattering tiny paper scultpures around the city. These paper sculptures were always in the shape of plant life and decorated in words from various poems, hence their name. Several of these small artworks are on display at the Scottish Poetry Library.
As we continued to walk around, we also stopped at a Christmas shop in July. My sister is a big fan of Christmas ornaments and there were sparkling Christmas hedgehogs for me to admire. So everyone won.
Returning to the proper season, we made our last major stop of the day. We visited the National Museum of Scotland, a massive structure build to maze-like proportions for first-time visitors.
The most interesting thing for me was the large kinetic clock, an artist collaboration piece on the ground floor. Though many artists worked on the clock, the design was distinct, clearly a brainchild of the same artists who worked on the Sharmanka Kinetic Gallery, Eduard Bersudsky. The museum is absolutely huge and therefore fairly overwhelming, especially since we were running on fumes of energy by this point.
There were aviation sections, Tesla coils, technology sections, aquatic animals suspended, ancient Asian and Egyptian culture components, Scottish pre-history displays, artworks of every kind and a robust gift shop.
We rested briefly after seeing the museum, eventually re-visiting a few spots around town we hadn’t observed properly. The misty skies finally broke, allowing us to meander freely.
All Roads to London
And then our time in Scotland was done. The following morning, we made it to the bus station for the long, long ride to London. Once there, we dropped my sister off at the Victoria Coach Station before my brother and I went to Greater London. Tomorrow, we’ll awaken to see one of the most influential super-cities in all of human history.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written July 14th 2022
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