Edinburgh, Scotland

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I woke up early to catch a bus over to Edinburgh for the day, the capital of Scotland. I arrived in the city center and it was busy beyond belief! I participated in the 10 o'clock walking tour around the city which was such a great decision because I went to fifteen of the best sites of Edinburgh! Here are some of my favorite sites:


• Edinburgh Castle
• The REAL Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The original 'Hogwarts'
• Greyfriar Bobby


My favorite piece of history that I learned from the tour was the story of Greyfriar Bobby. The story goes John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police adopted a terrier puppy named Bobby. This puppy was Mr. Gray's shadow and when John Gray died he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby never left his master's grave for 14 years until the puppy passed away. Bobby then became locally known and since then has a memorial site where people put sticks and dog toys in front of it instead of flowers. Is that not one of the sweetest stories you've ever heard?

After the walking tour I went to the National Museum of Scotland where I went on the rooftop and was able to see the entire city at once. To get the best view (and picture) of the city I climbed up the wall to stand on the edge of the building. Don't worry, family, I was very careful. It was a cloudy view, but nevertheless a beautiful one!

In the early afternoon I went on the Potter Trails tour. For those that may not know, Edinburgh is where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter Series. Our tour guide's name was Will and he introduced himself as the potions master. He wore a robe and the classic HP glasses, and passed out "wands" to all of us. We saw JK Rowling's hand prints in cement, her two favorite coffee shops and the graveyard she wrote in, the real Diagon Alley, AND last but not least... the real grave of Thomas Riddell aka"Tom Riddle". It was awesome to see and learn about where all the inspirations of the famous fairy tale came from. I ate an early dinner at The Elephant Room, the place where HP books two through four were written. People called this "The Birthplace of Harry Potter." Every inch of the ladies room was filled with notes to JK Rowling or about the series.

I walked around the city center all evening watching street performers, going into cathedrals, and suddenly I realized that while I'm in Scotland I have to try on a kilt! I went into a nice looking Scottish store and asked if I could try on a kilt just for fun. The man in store, Sonny, laughed and said of course. He wouldn't let me try on only a kilt thought; he brought me a hat and a scarf too. Once I had everything on he joked about how I was a true Scot! Sonny shared with me the history of the kilt and why it was so important for each family to wear specific patterns and colors. I wore the Mackenzie family tartan, which was the closet thing to my distant Scottish heritage, the MacKellar clan. It was great fun!

In one week I visited so many wonderful sites, met many people from all over, and made new friends. Part of me was sad that it had to come to an end, but then again I flew back to Ireland, my home away from home. The adventures have only begun!

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