Edinburgh

October 09, 2023

October 9

This morning we woke up a little late so rushed for a coffee and then found the meeting point for our walking tour in front of Usher Hall. Turns out that our guide was none other than Stuart Usher, whose family is responsible for Usher hall. He never let on about his own story but gave us a flyer at the end about his book “The Rape of the House of Usher”. This guy should have been one of the richest men in the UK, but is doing tours instead.

He showed us around Edinburgh and told some great stories about the city. He took us around the castle, down Grassmarket, where many of the public hangings took place, to the Greyfriars cemetery where the famous dog, Bobby, slept for 14 years on the grave of his master. Also, just beyond the Greyfriars cemetery you can see the formerly only boys school called Heriot’s school initially set up for orphaned or boys with terrible circumstances. This school is now prestigious but still takes needy children. This school is also JK Rowling’s Hogwarts. In fact much of Edinburgh was inspiration for her. She got names of her characters from citizens of Edinburgh.

The White Hart Inn - a highly recommended pub on the Grassmarket which we will go to before we leave.

The marker for the public hangings, beheadings and “witch “ burnings.

Heriot’s school

McGonagals grave, scotlands worst poet

Greyfriars Bobby memorial

The location where JK Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter manuscript

After this we went to the Writers house where Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott all worked and are honored.

We went to the home of David Hume who was a friend and confidant of Benjamin Franklin. There is a statue of Hume on the Royal Mile. Another friend was Adam Smith who is also immortalized on the Royal mile. He is considered the father of economics and had great insight into capitalism.

After our tour ended we had lunch at the Guilford Arms and a cocktail at The Scotsman hotel before heading back to our Airbnb.

We soon departed again for a tour of Edinburgh’s underground vaults. Edinburgh was not a nice place to live back in the day. The rich had a bridge built between their new town and the university area, leaving the filth and squalor of this walled city below. These vaults below the bridge level have only recently been discovered again and for a time became places for bars and such. Now you can tour these creepy places.

Tomorrow we will visit the Edinburgh castle and do some shopping. My feet are tired!