A few hours is not enough time to see Edinburgh, but we did our best. Hindsight always provides a little wisdom, and I think we could have done things a little better, but we had a fun time. Steve wanted to do a ghostwalk, because Edinburgh is “the most haunted city” in Scotland, or the U.K., or Europe (I can’t remember which one). Aubree isn’t very keen on creepy, and suggested she take Campbelle to the Museum of Childhood, which is what she was more interested in seeing. We were happy to accommodate her.
We walked Aubree and Campbelle to the museum and headed for our scary tour of the underground haunted vaults of the city. The tour started out with a description and demonstration of the public torture criminals would have endured in the 1600s. The two men in the group got to be the volunteer demonstratees, so Steve and a man named Mark got to be whipped, salted, and otherwise maimed. One was left unable to ever speak again, and the other unable to hear. The vile criminal act that had been committed was toasting the King, which at that time period, was treason to the present leadership. The one who toasted would be left unable to speak, and the one who heard the toast, unable to hear again.
So, the pleasant scene was set for us to go underground. The story is that the vaults seemed to be a fine setting for ghost walks, so the tours started with made up stories, but soon, patrons were reporting bizarre incidents and sightings/feelings while on the tours, and even turning in photos of strange images turning up in pictures. Other than enjoying the stories, though, our tour was pretty uneventful, although I saw the lady next to me studying a strange gray image that showed up in a picture she took. I hoped to hear if anything interesting turned up, but she left quite quickly after the tour. Another lady lost her balance on the uneven cobblestone floors during one story, and the guide was genuinely concerned as to whether she had been pushed. I guess that is a common incident with one of the ghosts. Apparently another ghost was a cobbler who tended to mess with peoples shoes—especially “trainers,” unusual shoes, or anything with Velcro, which he finds particularly fascinating. I should have worn my Five Fingers—unusual AND Velcro! He would have loved them!
We did a quick stop at Edinburgh Castle and then headed down the Royal Mile—the stretch of street between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. Being the Harry Potter fans that we are, we couldn’t resist a visit to the Elephant House café, which now proudly proclaims itself as the “birthplace of Harry Potter.” It is the café that J.K. Rowling sat in while writing Harry Potter on napkins and scraps of paper while trying to get a cup of coffee to last as long as possible. It really was fun to sit in a booth looking out the window right at Edinburgh Castle, and imagining it to be the original inspiration for Hogwarts. The bathrooms seem to have become a bit of a shrine, with the doors to the stalls covered in notes to Rowling and quotes from the books.
That was pretty much the extent of what we were able to do, as most of the shops, museums, and sites close at 5:00 p.m. The sun did come out when we got to the café, so we enjoyed just walking around and seeing the buildings lit by the late afternoon sun, until it was time to catch our train back to Dunbar.
It was time to say goodbye to the Pilbeams. They were an amazing host family. Steve and I have commented to each other how everything was run like clockwork. Things were efficient and orderly, and extremely friendly-- something I have always aimed for, but never seem to achieve. The most amazing thing of all to me, is that when they told their children to get ready for bed, Rory and Roonyah actually did--every night we were there! I would love to know their secret. Many thanks to them for their kindness and amazing hospitality! We hope they will be able to visit us in the future.
1 comment:
Sounds like you did a great job with what little time you had. The ghost tour seemed very interesting. I would love to see Edinburgh Castle. What fun!
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