Scotland series #5 - Day trip to Edinburgh

Lately I have been reading a lot of Ian Rankin's John Rebus Novels which are mostly set in the backdrop of Edinburgh. My association with the place is quite limited though. In my first trip to Scotland, short as it is, we stayed 2 of 3 days in Glasgow and my second, month long stay, is also in Glasgow. I did like Glasgow more and quite enjoyed my time there (even though I stayed right next to the airport), however, Edinburgh have a charm of its own. I kept this trip to the last, as my weekends (or free bits of them) were dedicated to Highlands. The day before leaving Scotland, I thought of paying a visit to its capital. My first trip to the city lasted about 7 hours and I wished my 2nd one lasted more than one day. Someone at office commented combine both and it would be my day 2 in Edinburgh, only 3 years apart😀.

I took an early train from Queen's street station (not very easy to find, probably due to the construction coverings). The ride itself was quite interesting with a group of people, who I guess were heading for a game, having fun and breaking about every (nominal) rule of Scotrail. As soon as I got off the station, I got into a steep stairwell of considerable length to enter the city. My current locked down lazy self would have struggled with the stairs, but 6 months in UK then put me in better shape and made it possible for me to admire the beauty which I missed in my earlier trip where our freedom to explore was limited to choose shopping instead of climbing to a viewpoint (much to the dismay of our tour guide😱). 

As soon as I got off the stairway, I entered Waverly bridge - it's one of the most popular meeting points and most bus tours of the city commence from there. I pre-booked a ghost tour in the evening and I wasn't too keen on sightseeing (6 months of continuous work and travel catching up on me), except for Tom Riddle's Tomb. I spent first couple of hours in the Waverly mall getting my eyebrows done and finding a currency conversion place and window shopping around Princes street, George street and Queen street. 

Around noon I went to National gallery of Scotland, the vibrancy of its interior and art pieces quite in contrast to the greyish environment right outside. Surprisingly, I only spent about an hour in the gallery and at a very leisurely pace. I like museums which are smaller in size - bigger ones usually get me tired after about 2 hours leaving me strained to do much for the rest of the day.

But from there I rushed a little to Greyfriars Kirkyard to find Tom Riddle's tomb. It is, however, the commemorative statue of Bobby which is the highlight of the place and its story is well known. The entrance is also dominated by Bobby's grave. Tom Riddle's grave is almost at the back and required a bit of search, which I wasn't alone in. 

There are graves of few other famous persons which I couldn't recollect. They sell the maps in a church inside with route to all famous graves, for about 50 cents. 

With the Potterhead inside me woken up, I continued into the Victoria street which is, apparently, the inspiration for Diagon Alley. There are multitude of stores with HP themes but "The Boy Wizard" takes the cake. 

They have almost everything from the book/movie series from sorting hats to broomsticks. 

  

Also, it is the only place where I did not have to ask someone to take my photograph, but was offered when I was struggling to take a selfie with sorting hat - sister/brotherhood of HP maniacs continues🤓⚡️.

The Elephant House, the cafe where J.K.Rowling spent initial days of writing the series, with the board "birth place" of Harry Potter, is few yards away. Non paying customers, who would like to take a look inside, can pay 1 pound and do so. 

Since I had an entire trip dedicated to Harry Potter, I decided against it and continued towards the Castle. I didn't go inside the castle though due to time constraint and also I have visited a fair number of castles in this trip. 

I did visit the Museum on the Mound finding the sign at the entrance, 'want to see a million pounds?', interesting. The museum is housed in once head office of Bank of Scotland and the million pounds are actually cancelled 20 pound notes.

I reached the Scott monument with almost an hour and half before start of my ghost tour. Finding out we could climb up the monument and there is still time for last entry of the day, I excitedly went to the counter only to find thats a limited group entry and they are already maxed. Dejectedly I went to a cafe next to Waverly mall for tea and cake. 

I reached the meeting point good 15 mins before start and I got the best seat on the double decker bus., with most people sitting on the upper deck. The tour started and continued with the commentary from our guide aided by light and sound effects. He took us to a cemetery (thankfully not the Greyfriars) and told us few stories of wailing girl and ring bearers. That was the only walking part of the tour and the rest of hour, we stayed in bus riding through various gloomy sites of Edinburgh and our guide explaining the gory past and haunting tales associated with them.

 The tour ended at quarter past 7 in the evening and, as I headed back to the station, I couldn't help but notice how the city transformed from gloomy grey in day light to semi bright glow in twilight. Hoping for a third visit, g͟ot into the train back to Glasgow.