Edinburgh

Edinburgh is an amazing city.  It is a financial center as well as a travel destination.  We were fortunate to visit during the August Festivals.  We saw the Tattoo and The Fringe, as well as the major city sites.  The Tattoo was amazing!  The Fringe kind of defies explanation.  It seems to be a mixture of serious theater troops doing short performances at venues all over the city, mixed with not so serious groups, street performers and buskers.

In addition to all this we saw many sites related to the Harry Potter stories.  We saw the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote the first book because her flat had no heat.  We were told that the stands for the Tattoo were the inspiration for the Quiddich pitch at Hogworts.  We saw the street that was the inspiration for Daigon Alley. And our hotel (pictured below) was where she finished the seventh book in the series.  We tried to book her suite but it was unavailable.     

 

Holyrood House (The Queen's Residence)

Holyrood Abbey Ruins

Scenes From Around Edinburgh

Coffee House Where First Harry Potter Book Was Written

The Conan Doyle Pub

Haggis on the Hoof

The Fringe

 Hannibal Lecter?

The Tattoo

I can see us going back to Scotland to tour on our own and attend the Festival.  We had a great time!  the scenery and weather were beautiful and the Scottish people could not have been friendlier.  We made friends wherever we went.  These photos cannot do the country justice. 

Enjoy,
Barb and Mike