Adventuring with MaryLou: 5-19-2025 Harry Potter & Ghosts in the Underground

Today, the weather turned cold. COLD. I pulled out my wool layers, hat, scarf and gloves. Teresa bought a scarf with the plaid of our clan, MacFarlane.

We discovered the National Library which has a great free public toilet and a small room with old books and manuscripts. The Shakespeare 1st folio was not on display but we saw an original Gutenberg Bible. It was in perfect condition. Beautiful.

At 11:00 we went on a Harry Potter tour. The guide, Catherine, was an energetic and very knowledgeable young woman, dressed in a cloak and carrying a wand. Several people were dressed in garb from the Harry Potter movies.

Many people brought their wands….a couple had just sticks…and about 2 of us (they-who-shall-not-be named) held ordinary pens. As we walked along, we used our wands to change the traffic lights and to make cars stop for us--for real (magic!). Soon after the tour started, we were “sorted” into houses. At almost every stop, Maggie asked a question from the books and awarded points to the “house” that answered. It was immensely entertaining.

We wandered through the grey friars graveyard where we visited graves with the names of many of the characters in the books. Apparently, JKRawlings, sat in a café overlooking the graveyard and wrote at least the first book of the series. The graveyard, as well as other places in Edinburgh influenced the magical places in her books. We visited some of those other places too—like the street that resembles Diagonal Alley.

For lunch, we went to a tiny restaurant off a back alley. I had Scotch Pie, beans and Haggis. Teresa ordered the same thing. It was so Scottish and really delicious. In fact, it was so delicious, I forgot to take a picture.

In the afternoon, I went to a small museum Gladstone Landing museum which was on all three floors above a café. My neighbor, Cindy’s, daughter is a docent there so I’d heard about this place and had it on my list. Cindy never told me her daughter’s name but always referred to her as “my daughter” so when I bought my ticket, I asked if “my daughter” was docenting that day but as you can imagine, no one knew what I was talking about. The museum was delightful and I learned all about the merchant who owned the building in the 1600s and several of the tenants who lived and worked there until the 20th century. It was worth climbing those narrow, spiraling and truly daunting stairs to see it all.

Now for a bit about Edinburgh… I can sort of tell that it was / is?) a grand city with medieval and Renaissance features. However, it was close to impossible to see anything in the city center. First, about 1/3rd of the streets of the royal mile was fenced off and torn up and the constant noise of jack hammers prevented listening to anyone...like a guide. Second, many many buildings in the center of Edinburgh (and beyond) are covered with scaffolding so pedestrians had to walk through special tunnels or under special platforms where workers were doing their thing. We walked in long cues through plastic-walled tunnels where we couldn’t even see a building to admire. In addition, on almost every corner and in every small square, there were scores of groups of tourists trying to hear their tour guides. Between the horrendous noise and the awful crowds…well,.. it’s not a good time to visit Edinburgh.

We decided to find a tourist office so we could ask about where to go to get away from the chaos. We were sent to one place but were told that it had closed and another one had opened at another place. Finally, we found the Source, which was…get this…. inside the French Consulate. We ended up talking to a wonderful young woman from….are you ready??… from Alsace France —which is where we’ll end up on Friday and is where our cousins live. We got some great information about where to go and what to do. In addition, there was a small shop inside the info office that featured locally made artisan goods. They were reasonably priced and showcased local talent. We also found out that we need a reservation to see the Castle and Holyrood Palace was closed for Parliament. Did I say that it’s not a good time to visit Edinburgh?

At 5:45 we went on an Underground Ghost Tour with Maggie. We went into the underground warren of rooms where we visited apartments and caverns where obviously real people had lived….and bwwaaaa…died. We were regaled with tales of hangings, and murders, and other wicked and gruesome acts. It was a “Dickens” of a tour.

In spite of the challenges of Edinburgh, I took pics of a few interesting things. While walking down a wide pedestrian road, we saw a magician setting up for a show. One small family was waiting for him to begin. All of a sudden he loudly yelled out “Stop what you’re doing and come here. I’m about to do a show.” I think people were then running toward him or running away. Many of us were laughing.

If a picture says a thousand words….here is a bit of the Royal Mile with the bus-less bus stop, the barriers along the road, the garbage dumpster, the crowds of people and God showing the way. At least you can’t see any scaffolding.