First of all my apologies for the delay on the blog post. But if you keep reading right until the end (or just scroll down) I promise you, I have a good reason :)
So, where did I left off in Thursday's blog post? Ah, right, driving from Boat of Garten in Cairgorms to Edinburgh and saying goodbye to my awesome Clio. After dropping off the car I walked to the Braveheart guesthouse for the final two nights. I arrived around 8.15pm so by the time I was checked in, installed in my room and started uploading the pictures it was pretty late already. I don't think I've had one early night during my trip... I might not be well rested, but man I am relaxed. Not going to lie, I did have my worry moments during my trip as my handover was a bit of a mess. The day before I left a lot went wrong and well, I wasn't there on Friday to sort it out... We'll see on Monday though, as I'll have to catch up on everything.
Then, on to Friday's activities. My colleague suggested the Free walking tour around Edinburgh. You basically don't pay and by the end of the tour you decide how much the tour was worth, if something at all. Our guide, Dave, was a brilliant storyteller. The tour covered the Edinburgh basics: the Castle, St Giles cathedral, William Wallace, the Stone of Destiny, Greyfriars Kirkyard, the Royal Mile, The Scottish Writers Museum, the original 'Hogwarts',... That's right, we got to see where JK Rowling got her inspiration for the wizarding world of Harry Potter! And she got a few names for characters on Greyfriars Kirkyard. William McGonagall, worst poet of Scotland, is buried there and it is rumored a certain Thomas Riddle had his final resting place there as well. I could only find the grave of Robert Riddell. Might be a relative? x)
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| Georgie Heriot school |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
I had lunch in the Elephant House, the birthplace of Harry Potter. JK Rowling used to sit here whilst writing the first Harry Potter books. The cafe has a view on Edinburgh Castle and when you just walk out the door and around the corner you're on Greyfriars Kirkyard. Next to the graveyard is George Heriot school. So you have a school, originally for orphaned children, and a castle on a cliff. A school and a castle on a cliff. 1 and 1 makes Hogwarts!
In the afternoon I decide to do the Castle tour as well. Now that tour, unlike the free walking tour, was paid for. A whopping £28, a full £14,5 more than when you just buy your ticket in. But, our guide, the same Dave as the free walking tour, made it worth while yet again. Very interesting stories, some links to movies and series. My cup of tea. He told the story of the Black Dinner, which was basically the inspiration for the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. As I've said before, the whole story of A Song of Ice and Fire is inspired by historical facts. If you're interested I found this YouTube video explaining where George RR Martin got his inspiration from.
The Castle tour ended around 4pm and I had a ticket for the Dark Side tour as well, which started at 9pm. So I had about 5hours to kill. I wandered around the Edinburgh Castle until 5.30pm (gotta get every last penny out of that ticket) and saw the War prisons, the Crown jewels, the Great Hall with all the armors and weapons, David's tower where the Black Dinner took place, etc. But there is only so much you can see in that castle, so after the visit to the castle I walked to Greyfriars Krikyard with the intention to find the grave to Thomas Riddle. Soon enough I discovered that graveyard was waaay bigger than at first sight, so I just gave up and went to find some dinner. After dinner a nice cup of tea and listening to a street artist with seriously the most soothing voice ever. And of course I read a bit. So peaceful.
At 9pm the Dark Side tour began and this time Greg was our guide. Now, not to confuse the Dark Side tour with a Ghost tour. On this tour, the guide, Greg, would tell you about myths and folk tales about giants, kelpies and brownies. About murderers, cannibals and witchcraft. This tour is paid for as well. But if you have a good story telling guide I'd say it's worth every penny. He also made some links to movies and tv series x) It was also a chance for me to see the city by night, as I normally would never stay out that late. I did 3 tours today, which is a lot I admit. But it's always nicer to discover a new city with other people. Whether you know them or not.
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| Stunning view/sunset from Calton Hill |
After the tour, some of the group went to the pub for a drink where I tasted my very first wiskey. And I have to say, I'm not sold. Greg informed me it takes some time to start appreciating the taste. Burning off some of your tastebuds might help was well x) A group of 5 of us ended up from the pub to another pub called the Banshee Labyrinth. A place I normally would never set a foot inside. A) because I'm a tourist and B) because you really need to know this place. So yeah, I went out on my last night in Scotland. Something I've never done before and was quite cool to experience. I do have to work on my socializing skills though. When I'm around strangers I tend to keep back and observe instead of engaging in the converstation. Something I might have to work on. But then again, if it did bother someone, I'll never them again, so meh x)
So yeah, by 4am I arrived at the guesthouse and the alarm went of at 7.15am so it was a shooooort night. And I'm currently writting this blog post from a table at the Elephant House, awaiting until my train leaves at 2.30pm. I don't really have the energy to walk all over town after the 3 tours I did yesterday and the short night, to be honest x)
I'm going to leave it here and update you later today or tomorrow about my journey home :)
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
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