Scotland - Edinburgh - Visiting with Old Friends

 Early in the summer, Tony and I made plans to meet up with our old friends Robert and Celeste from Los Angeles, who were heading to Scotland for the Fringe Festival.  Tony and I planned to take the train from London Kings Cross all the way up to Edinburgh. 

 This way, we would be able to bring the dogs along, as they are allowed on the trains within the United Kingdom (how civilized).  Taking the train allowed us to see the new terminal built next to the original Kings Cross building.  It is a futuristic looking dome structure that clashes with the original brick building, but somehow seems appropriate. 

 The journey is around 4 hours, so it is a long journey, but doable with the dogs, who are very good travelers and quickly fell asleep under our seats.  Thankfully they fit under our seats. 

We arrived in Edinburgh and met up with Robert and Celeste at their hotel. It was wonderful seeing both of them again after so long.  If there is one thing we miss here in the UK are some friends with whom we have such a long, long history. 













 It was lunchtime, and we were starving, so the first order of business was food.  And the first item on the menu that caught my eye was Haggis.  I hadn't had any for quite a while, so I immediately ordered some.  It was a fancy appetizer version and tasted great.

Tony and Celeste were not brave, but Robert was feeling adventuresome.  He liked it too.

I also ordered a locally made Heather Ale beer - delicious.















After lunch, we wandered around with the dogs for a little bit seeing some of the sites that Robert and Celeste saw on their Edinburgh Harry Potter walking tour.




After all, the first book was written in Edinburgh, and there are certainly inspirations all over town that made their way into the books.

Apparently, a lot of the character names in Harry Potter have their origins in the Greyfriar's Cemetary famous for the grave of Greyfriar's Bobby, the little dog that visited his human master long after his passing.









Today, the dog is buried in the cemetary as well.











Harry Potter's Professor McGonagall is reputed to have been named in honor of the Scottish Poet William McGonagall

 We saw the grave of Thomas Riddell (Riddle), the true name of the evil Harry Potter villian Voldemort.






 




Following in the footsteps of JK Rowling led us to the imprint of her handprints.

We got a good look at the school that was the inspiration for Hogwarts.  A private school for Edinburghs elite. Beautiful, but we weren't allowed on the grounds.












Everywhere in Edinburgh are unique and interesting buildings.  It really is a magnificent city.