All posts tagged Harry Potter

Edinburgh – A Place for Writers

After we toured Edinburgh Castle, we strolled down the bustling Royal Mile, popping into a shop or two while listening to a bagpipe being played on the corner. The Royal Mile is the much-traveled cobblestone street that connects Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, Scotland’s official residence of the British monarch. It was on the chaotic side, which may have been due to the warmness of the day – a balmy 60 degrees, the highest temperature of our trip. Everyone was out soaking in the sun.

Bagpipes sound charming for a little while.

Bob wondering how he will cross the sea of people to get to the other side of the Royal Mile.

The iconic British buses winding up and down the streets – I wondered how nobody got hit by one as people seem to share the streets with them without a second thought to their safety. Perhaps it’s because they are more polite to pedestrians in the UK.

Along the streets there are alleyways leading to closes. The openings are so narrow and lined by tall buildings on either side that it’s easy to miss seeing these passageways, which lead to off-the-beaten-path courtyards (closes). As we walked by Lady Stair’s Close, I noticed a sign stating something to the effect that this was the way to life in Old Edinburgh. I almost didn’t notice the beckoning sign but was glad I did! It made me realize that I probably miss a lot when I travel because there is so much sensory overload.

Bob relaxed on a bench, and I wandered down with anticipation of stepping back into history. To my delight it opened to Makars’ Court, a literary monument to Scottish writers. There are quotes from great Scottish writers inscribed in the courtyard flagstones and a lovely museum dedicated to the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Burns.

The museum inhabits Lady Stair’s House. Built in 1622 and renovated at the turn of the century (1897-1907), it is a grand mansion in the Old Town portion of Edinburgh and such a fitting place to honor the three above-mentioned literary legends.

This building celebrates my favorite 2 of the 3Rs. I leave the ‘rithmetic to Bob.

My golf-weary husband whose body was rebelling against any further walking was willing to come on down, especially since there was comfortable seating inside.

This type of stairway was common in the 1600s. It served as a type of alarm system as they would construct the stairway with one step that was extra tall (notice the white step). This would prompt intruders to trip and make noise thereby alarming the sleeping residents of impending trouble.

I inquired about my favorite author, the recently knighted Sir Alexander McCall Smith. He resides in Edinburgh and has a huge volume of work, but I guess he is too current to be included in the museum, at this point anyway. This was a lovely interlude of quiet in the midst of an active day in Edinburgh.

There are more celebrated authors who are not yet included in this Edinburgh museum. Harry Potter is not in a genre that I typically read, but I do admire J.K. Rowling. My understanding is that she also currently resides in Edinburgh. The Elephant House is a “magical café” where she wrote some of the Harry Potter novels. It is known as the birthplace of Harry Potter.

Unfortunately, the original location, which was a gathering place for local writers, burned in 2021. It was located on George IV Bridge not terribly far from the current location, which was just a few doors down from our hotel. I was thrilled to literally stumble upon it as we were looking for a place to lunch – a perfect, dare I say magical, find!

Hoping some of Ms. Rowling’s writing magic will rub off on me.

The re-creation of J.K. Rowling’s writing nook was impressive. A niche in an upstairs room with a desk and guest book and the actual chair which she used set the mood, but the mural through the window depicting the scene from the George IV Bridge made it feel authentic. I sat in the chair, signed the guest book, and wondered why she didn’t choose a more comfortable chair. To each their own, I guess.

One last stop before we left the restaurant because one must never miss a free toilet opportunity, and besides you know I’m fascinated by toilets in Europe.

I chose not to go that way. We all have our own path!

4 Comments

by Bonnie Anderson on July 30, 2024 • Permalink

Posted in Europe, The United Kingdom, Travel, Writing

Tagged Edinburgh, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Lady Stair's Close, Lady Stair's House, Makars' Court, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Royal Mile, Sir Alexander McCall Smith, Sir Walter Scott, The Elephant House

Posted by Bonnie Anderson on July 30, 2024

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2024/07/30/edinburgh-a-place-for-writers/

England

The sad news of Her Majesty the Queen passing has given me the inspiration I needed to finally document our late spring trip to England. I hope you’re up to several posts with a British accent.

First, I must tell you how much I admire Queen Elizabeth II. Her love for her country and her people was constantly on display, as was her grace and sense of humor. Hers was a job which she did not choose but she executed her duties in a manner that will long be fondly remembered. I send my condolences to my friends across the pond.

Like Queen Elizabeth, I have four children and eight grandchildren; but this is where the similarities end. This American woman can’t imagine running a country while chasing kids around at sporting events, running carpool, and keeping up with laundry and meals. Well, maybe if I had “people” for those duties, but who am I kidding!

I had never been to Great Britain before, and I am so thankful that our trip was planned during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee – the festivities and her smiling face were everywhere. The energy was palpable.

Bob and I made this trip with our son, Jesse, his wife, Dacia, and their teenage boys Manning and Winston. The guys are all avid golfers, and this trip was designed around five golf courses. That gave us a great overview of the countryside as well as London, and plenty for Dacia and me to do while they played.

We landed at Heathrow on May 21 and headed to York. How I wish we had more than a half-day to spend there. Perhaps it was because it was our first stop that I so quickly fell in love with York and England. Or maybe it was simply because it’s amazing.

York’s Roman walls have stood for centuries. They are the most extensive Roman walls in England and provide a lovely walking path and picturesque views of York Minster, the largest gothic cathedral north of the Alps, which I thought was a strange starting point for measurement. The 235-foot-tall cathedral towers over the city.

As I was on the ready to find souvenirs, turning onto The Shambles took my breath away. Not only is it quintessentially British, but it was also inspiration for the Harry Potter franchise. Part of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone was filmed in York. I discovered afterward that York’s railway station was used in the first film. Just as well as we would not have had time to visit it. While I enjoy Harry Potter, I’m not a huge fan, but I have children and grandchildren who are, so I figure any references to Harry or Hogwarts can only up my cred.

I walked into “The Shop That Must Not Be Named,” only to feel like I was in a giftshop at Orlando’s Universal Studios. Mentioning to the young staff that I was from Orlando gave me the only sense of royalty I experienced on this trip. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, coming to Orlando is like a journey to the Promised Land. Except for the excessive heat and humidity, of course.

So ended Day 1. Then we were off to Lytham via a country road which led us to follow signs to The Winehouse. Nothing says, “Welcome to England” like watching your grandsons taste their first scone at a winery next to meadows of sheep and cows.

This was a great foundation for our British experience.

We’re On the Right Track (Europe Part 8)

Most of the notable challenges during travel have involved trains. Inside of the train terminals there are kiosks, which I assume you need some kind of higher education to operate. Either that or you need to be a teenager. Fortunately for us while we were trying to figure out our train from Salzburg to Munich, we encountered a group traveling together being led by a German teacher from Boston. She had traveled to Germany many times and showed us the cheap tickets that allowed us to get to Munich and then have the rest of the day with free use of their transit system. Unfortunately, she led us to believe that we could take any train. This was not true.

This became crystal clear after we boarded our train. Unlike every movie I have ever seen, there are not porters standing by the doors waiting to check your ticket. You, and I mean we, are supposed to know which train we are getting on and where our seats are on that train. After all, it is clearly written (no it isn’t) on the signage.

We made our way from car to car and found the car with the bar. There we discovered that we were in fact on the wrong train. The bartender and a gentleman traveler interpreted our ticket for us. We had boarded the fast train. Oops. A man who looked a lot like Dumbledore was watching us and speaking to the others in German. It seemed he knew what he was doing and what we should do, but it did not seem like he spoke English.

After much discussion by the three men, they agreed that we should ride the train to the next stop, just five minutes away. The bartender said, “The conductor won’t be coming by anytime soon. Just stay on.”

Then Dumbledore spoke up in perfect English, “That is best. Just get off at the next stop. You will be fine.”

I knew this was the closest I would ever get to hopping a freight (even if that freight did have air conditioning, a bar and cushioned seats). Plus we had the blessing of the bartender and Dumbledore. We stayed on. After all, it was only a five-minute ride.

Three minutes into the trip, guess who came through our car. That’s right, Harry Potter. No, the conductor. My sister, who was facing that direction, had the color drain from her face as she whispered, “Here comes the conductor.”

I assured my co-conspirators that I would not implicate them. As the conductor passed us, the bartender and I exchanged a look. I mimed biting my fingernails. Dumbledore gave me the thumbs up.

We pulled up almost to the station and sat for ten minutes. There was discussion as to whether or not we should make a run for it, but we were cool.

As we disembarked, the train we were supposed to be on pulled up. I looked back at our first train and there was Dumbledore, pointing us in the right direction and giving us a thumbs up. And then he disappeared. Okay, his train pulled away. It was magic.