Exquisite Edinburgh (part 1)

We're finally here!  I wish this was written already -- I'm so excited to relive this experience!

Edinburgh Castle, from front door of my hostel!

Walking up the ramp to street level at Waverly Station, located in the heart of Edinburgh, was one of the best moments of the whole weekend.  And I mean that very seriously.  There were so many beautiful things around me that I quite forgot that I was a bit lost (but you'll never find me without a map handy .... a real map, none of this smart phone nonsense.  In fact, my travel companions, especially in the twistier cities like Amsterdam, are often impressed with my sense of direction.  I always tell them the same thing: once I have my bearings (north/south and east/west orientation), I don't usually need a map to get back home.  Maps are for getting specific places.  This is primarily why I post about random spots in London -- I just find them!).  Up the hill to the right was New Town and up the hill on my left was Old Town, which is where my hostel was located.

The Royal Mile, High Street

As I schlepped me and my roller bag up the hill, I noticed many back alleyways and steep stairs, connecting the streets on various levels of the incline.  When I finally made it to the top, I was on High Street (aka the Royal Mile), which stretches one mile and seven yards from Holyrood Palace (the official residence of the Royal Family when they're in Scotland) at the bottom of the hill to Edinburgh Castle at the top.  My hostel, as you might have guessed by now, was located, quite literally, in the shadow of the castle!  How cool?!  It gets better: this hostel used to be an old church (similar to the place I stayed in Liverpool), but it's walls are now covered with beautiful murals.  When I checked in, the lady behind the desk handed me a set of keys (the door key, my locker key, and my safe key) and said "you are bed 'Pukie' - have a nice stay!"  This made absolutely ZERO sense before I arrived at my room, and found the words "Snow White and the 7 Dwarves That Failed the Screen Test" painted on the door.  I kid you not.  Let me explain: each room has a theme (the one next door was Edinburgh pubs*), and the beds in the rooms each have a name, which makes it easier to book beds and give out the right set of keys when guests arrive.

Adam Smith and St Giles Cathedral

I immediately put my stuff down, pulled on an extra layer (Scotland is pretty far north and quite a windy place!), and headed back to High Street.  Since this area is mostly pedestrian, there are often street performers (like guys who juggle flaming torches atop of a 10ft unicycle!) doing shows in front of St Giles Cathedral (I'm sad that I didn't get a chance to peek inside ... next time).  My favorite thing about St Giles, however, is not its beautiful architecture (which I do admire), but rather the LARGE statue of Adam Smith that stands in front of it.  Catholicism and the epitome of Enlightenment thinkers sharing the same space?!  If that isn't symbolism slapping you in the face, I don't know what is.

Mr. Invisible Hand himself is actually buried a little ways down the Royal Mile, which was a cool place to visit.  The Scots are very proud to claim the invention of Capitalism as their own!

On the opposite side of St Giles sits another Enlightenment philosopher, David Hume.  For some reason, the artist who designed his sculpture dressed him in a toga, something Hume probably never wore in his life, let alone anywhere around Scotland.

Street performer (he happened to be Irish)

But wait, Adena, what about all those KILTS men in Scotland like to wear?  Well, wouldn't you like to know!  Fortunately for you all, I actually asked a real Scottish man to explain it:

Me: Doesn't it get cold?
Scotty: You better believe it's cold, but that's the traditional way [commando] to wear one.  It's a sign of masculinity.
Me: So it's basically a contest to see who can withstand freezing testicles the longest?
Scotty: Haha, yeah!  And a man who wears anything underneath his kilt is just wearing a skirt!

WOWZA!  It was so refreshing to be in a place where frankness is welcomed!  Brits, primarily the English, never say what they mean because reservation is a virtue, all in the name of being polite.  Not in Scotland!

Remember all the stairs I was telling you about?  Well, because of the crazy hills in Edinburgh, the city is built in layers, which means that you'll miss a lot of cool things if you're only seeing what's on eye level.  The bridge from which this photo was taken looks like an ordinary street when you're just walking down it because the buildings are built up right next to it.  In fact, when I popped into the library on this street, I was actually on the 5th floor!  The ground floor dumped me out on the street you see in this picture.  Most buildings here are like that.  When I got to the hostel, I went down two flights of stairs to get to my room.

Edinburgh, the layered city

On this same street is a very famous cafe.  It seems unremarkable, but it is a truly magical spot.  The Elephant House is where J.K. Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter novel.  Then, as a single parent, she often moved from cafe to cafe when her apartment didn't have heat, which was apparently pretty often.  She sat in the back room, where the large bay windows look out to Edinburgh Castle, a very old cemetery (containing some familiar names like McGonagall, Potter, and Moody), and a very prestigious private school, with majestic architecture and four houses of its own!  This was quite literally the birthplace of the wizarding world.  Inside the bathrooms of the Elephant House, the walls are graffitied with messages from Harry Potter fans from all over the world.  They say things like "Hermione and Ronald forever" and "mischief managed."  Others are letters of thanks to J.K. Rowling for her creation.  My own sharpie left the words "Thank you for my childhood! <3 Adena" on the top of the door jam.  I'm excited to see it again soon!

sign in the window reads "the birthplace of Harry Potter"

Greyfriars graveyard

(Lucky me, there was an AMAZING rainbow across the sky!)

So much more to tell you (I took something like 87 pictures on this trip!) ... thanks for reading!


*Edinburgh has over 700 pubs ... most of which are within a 20 minute walk of Old Town.