Scotland Part 3 – Edinburgh

This post is the third in a series about our trip to Scotland in July, which came about because my husband got four tickets to the final round of the British Open golf tournament at Troon. It seems like ages ago already, good thing I took notes about what we did each day. My first Scotland trip blog post, about our time in Glasgow at the beginning of the trip, can be accessed here. The second Scotland trip blog post, about our tour of Outlander filming sites, can be accessed here.

On our last day in Glasgow, my husband Wayne and our son James used a rental car to go golfing. They returned the rental car in Edinburgh, after dropping off all of the luggage at our lodging there. Wayne’s friend Keith went back home after the golf tournament and other activities in Glasgow. I took the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh with Ingrid, our Swedish friend and former au pair, and my daughter-in-law Kelsey with our granddaughter Blair.

We all had positive experiences using trains and buses to get around on this trip, only using rental cars a couple of times. However, there was a little mix up when buying the train tickets out of a machine in the Glasgow train station for the ride to Edinburgh. We thought we were buying three adult one way tickets. As they started coming out of the machine we grabbed three, not knowing that our purchase included six tickets, with a return ticket for each of us that we did not need. When the conductor (is that what they are called?) came around on the train to punch our tickets, he said that mine was not valid. At first we thought he was joking, and then we explained and protested, but he made me buy another ticket. We finally figured out that one of the three tickets we had taken from the machine was a return ticket. Oh well, we got to our destination, and it could have been worse.

Our Airbnb was a 10 minute walk from the train station, conveniently located less than two blocks from the Royal Mile, the main drag in Old Town Edinburgh. It was a small two bedroom apartment that came with a porta crib and highchair. Being on the third floor with no elevator, we got our exercise climbing up and down the stairs, in addition to a lot of walking around sightseeing.

The first afternoon in Edinburgh we scoped out the area. Following are a couple of random photos.

On our second day in Edinburgh some of us did a Harry Potter walking tour. I am one of a few people who have not read the Harry Potter books. I have seen a couple of the movies, so I know what the general story is and who the main characters are. The tour included information on the author, J.K. Rowling, sites in Edinburgh that are related to the books, and about Edinburgh in general.

I don’t remember everything from the tour, and some of the details about the book went over my head. I do remember that J.K. Rowling had split from her abusive husband and had a restraining order against him. She went to Edinburgh with her infant daughter to start fresh. She would walk around with the baby in a stroller, and when the baby fell asleep she would go in whatever coffee shop was nearby and work on her writing. It was a tough time for her. When the manuscript was finished it was rejected by 12 publishers before finally one bought it. They encouraged her to use her first initial instead of her first name, because they thought that the expected audience of young boys would not buy a book written by a woman.

The Elephant House, one of the coffee shops where J.K. Rowling spent time writing, while sitting in the back looking out over Edinburgh Castle, is sometimes considered the birthplace of the Harry Potter series. Actually, she had already started writing the first book before she came to Edinburgh. The original location had a fire and is under renovation. We walked past the current location on Victoria Street.

Victoria street is a picturesque winding street off the Royal Mile that became the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There was a lot of fun art inside the Elephant House cafe, including this painting that gives a better image of Victoria Street than my photo.

The next photo was taken while we were waiting for the Harry Potter tour to begin. Blair wanted to have whatever beverage the adults had, so occasionally she was holding an unopened can of something (possibly even beer), or an empty paper coffee cup. She also waved at every statue we passed on the streets.

We spent quite a bit of time on the tour at Greyfriars Kirkyard. Some of the Harry Potter characters were inspired by names on the gravestones.

It is said that George Heriot School, which can be seen from Greyfriars Kirkyard, was the inspiration for Hogwarts, but J.K. Rowling has said this is not true.

J.K. Rowling’s handprints are in the sidewalk at the Edinburgh City Chambers.

The Harry Potter tour included information on the Grassmarket, an area of shops and restaurants in the Old Town. It has been one of the main marketplaces in Edinburgh since 1477 (according to this Wikipedia article). At that time it was a livestock market with a pasture at one end where horses and cattle grazed.

The tour guide told us about “Half Hangit Maggie”. In 1742 Maggie Dickson worked at an Inn after her husband had left her. There are various stories about where he went and how the rest of the story played out. Anyway, she was tried for hiding the fact that she had a baby, possibly with the son of the Inn keeper. She was hanged for her crime at the Grassmarket. However she was not actually dead and woke up inside the coffin on the way to the graveyard. Having been hanged she could not be tried again, so Maggie was now a free woman. After this the law was changed so that a person must be hanged “until they are dead”. Maggie lived for another 40 years. I found an interesting article with more details and versions of this story and life in Edinburgh at that time. Click here if you want to learn more.

I had a hard time getting a good photo of the Grassmarket. I found an image online of a beautiful watercolor painting by Henry G. Duguid, currently at the National Gallery of Scotland, that shows what the area would have looked like in 1850, with Edinburgh Castle in the background.

That afternoon we all paid for entrance to Edinburgh Castle, which is on a hill at one end of the Royal Mile overlooking the city. It is quite impressive

There was a painting displayed inside the castle from 1750, which again gives a better representation of the whole thing than my photos.

St. Margaret’s Chapel, built in 1150 and named for Queen Margaret, is the oldest building in Edinburgh Castle. It was small with pretty stained glass windows. My name is Margaret so I had to include some photos.

That evening we had dinner at Edinburgh Street Food, an upscale food court. According to their website they are “a bold and eclectic foodies paradise filled with the best independent traders in Scotland”. It worked well for us to each order the type of food we wanted, and to sit outside where birds could eat the food Blair tossed off her placemat.

The next day Wayne took the train by himself to St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. James would have enjoyed going, but he was a good husband and dad, and stayed back with Kelsey and Blair. Wayne was amazed to find out that the famous golf course at St Andrews is open to the public, and even has a walking path that follows the entire course. The next photos are a very scenic photo he took on one of the holes, and his beverage in the clubhouse after walking the entire course.

While Wayne was on his outing, the rest of us went for a walk to a playground in Edinburgh. On the way we passed the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the other end of the Royal Mile. The British Royal family stays there when in town, but if they are not in residence it is open for tours. We saw the outside but did not do a tour. We thought we were going to end up near Dean Village, a neighborhood with picturesque architecture and an interesting history of water mills. Somehow that was a different direction and soon it was time to get back for Blair’s morning nap.

While Blair was napping I did some shopping. All along the Royal Mile there were dozens of stores selling stacks and stacks of Harris Tweed products (scarves, bags, gloves, blankets, throws, shawls, etc). Harris Tweed wool fabric is spun, dyed and hand woven in the Outer Hebrides in the north of Scotland. I had read about a place near the castle that was supposed to have looms weaving fabric in the lower level with a viewing area. Wayne and I went in there before the castle tour, but it was very touristy and the weaving on the lower level had been discontinued. I had scoped out two shops near our Airbnb that had really nice textile products, so I bought a couple of items from them. I bought a skein of yarn from one of the shops that matched a throw blanket on the sofa in the Airbnb.

The other shop where I bought several things was called Scottish Textiles Showcase. They had products from some specific makers around Scotland. Note the green wool coat in the lower right of the following photo.

The next photo shows the items I bought at the Scottish Textiles Showcase, including a another skein of yarn, of course. I also bought three small bags made by the shop owners out of Borders Tweed fabric woven in Langholm, Scotland.

Kelsey, Blair and I had been in this shop together earlier. Blair modeled a wool headband.

After I was done with my shopping, Kelsey went out on her own while Blair was still sleeping. She came back with a wool coat. The same one that you can see in the window in my photo above!

After Blair’s nap was over we walked to the National Museum of Scotland where there were two different interactive play areas for children, along with many other typical museum displays. While James and Kelsey were busy with Blair, Ingrid and I saw Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal cloned in 1996 in Scotland. I assume this display is the actual sheep, which seems a little creepy to me.

We went through an exhibit on life in 18th Century Scotland. That time period is when Outlander takes place, so Ingrid and I thought it was especially interesting. I enjoyed seeing the following weaving loom and spinning wheel.

There was another fun exhibit of clothing throughout the years, another one of my interests. We all needed a dress like this for social distancing during covid.

For our last dinner in Edinburgh James and Kelsey had a date night, while Ingrid and Wayne and I stayed with Blair.

After James and Kelsey left for dinner, Ingrid and I went out in search of some take out food to bring back to the Airbnb. We thought it would be appropriate to get dinner at the World’s End Pub, which in the 16th Century was just on the inside of what was then a walled city. Being mentioned in Outlander, I have a photo of it from the outside in my Outlander Tour post. It turned out that they do not offer take out, and also it was very crowded.

After poking our heads inside a couple of other restaurants, we found the Nether Bow Port Cafe & Bistro on the Royal Mile. It was not crowded, they were happy to package our order for take out, the price was reasonable, and it did not take very long.

We enjoyed our traditional Scottish fish and chips dinner in the Airbnb while Blair was sleeping. The meal came with hummus and pita bread. I don’t know why that was paired with this entree, but it was also good.

On our last day in Edinburgh Ingrid went back to Sweden, with invitations for all of us to come and visit her there. I hope she was serious because we will likely take her up on the offer at some point. James and Kelsey moved to a hotel near the airport for their trip back home the following day. That again involved James taking all their stuff in an uber, and Kelsey and Blair taking the train (since they did not have a car seat for Blair to ride in an uber). Wayne and I took the train to London.

I really liked Scotland, especially the countryside and small villages we saw. I wish we had had more time to explore the Highlands, the islands to the far north, and some of the wool, weaving and textile related destinations. Maybe some day.

Wayne observed that in all our travels in foreign countries we have had the most trouble with the language in Scotland, where they speak English. There were times when we could barely understand what was being said. Watch for my next post about our day and a half in London and getting back home.