Wednesday, June 5 (Edinburgh) (no pictures yet)

First thing this morning we had a city tour taking us through a combination of old and new town sites.  I did not realize so many well known people came from Edinburgh.  Some of the people who either were born or lived here include Alexander Graham Bell, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Lewis Stevenson (Treasure Island was based on a small decorative island in a pond in the gardens across from his house), and Lord Lister (pioneered antiseptic surgery and for whom Listerine is named) to name a few. 

We stopped at Holyrood palace which is the official residence for the queen of England when she visits Edinburgh.  It dates from the early 1100s and Mary, Queen of Scots lived here.  It sits at one end of the road called the Royal Mile with Edinburgh Castle at the other end.  We ended the tour with a stop at Edinburgh Castle.  They are in the process of setting up the grandstands for the Military Tattoo which will be held in August.  They will have a couple of concerts here in July, followed by the Tattoo, and then in September they are taken down again until next June.  The castle was very impressive, built on the volcanic bedrock in the area looking like it grew right out of the rock. 

Many of our group signed up for a dinner trip and a visit to the former royal yacht the Britania – but Jenny and I wanted more time to visit the city on our own.  One of the things we learned on our tour of the city was that J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series while living here in Edinburgh.  That explained why so much of the scenery was reminiscent of the scenes described in the books.  So off we went to explore the city.

We hunted out a few more thrift shops (great for finding local treasures) as well as a few Penny Press machines (both she and I collect these from our travels).  We spent lots of time taking pictures trying to capture the charm of the city.  We rounded out the afternoon by having coffee in the same coffee shop J. K. Rowling sat in while writing her books!  On the way out I noticed a sign for a Harry Potter tour which was conducted on Wed and Fri afternoons at 5.  Today is Wed and this was about 4:45.  The starting location was less than a block away and we headed over there. 

The tour was conducted by a student at Edinburgh University who was also a Harry Potter fan and was a great tour guide!  We went through a nearby cemetery which JKR had wandered through to get some of the names for characters including McGonagall (one of my favorite characters) and father and son Tom Riddle.  We also walked along Potter Row, and visited her other favorite coffee shop for writing in.  We had a great time and returned to our hotel happy and exhausted after another day of walking several miles.  Tomorrow the Harry Potter adventure continues as we visit the castle used for parts of several of the films (as well as in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).

Tons of pictures to sort through so I can eventually load a sample…