TheHebsur5

Done with elementary school!

SCOTLAND!

So much to say about our first stop, the important city of Edinburgh sitting on the banks of the Forth river which is the major estuary of the North Sea. If you go to a gun fight, don’t bring a knife and if you go to Scotland, don’t expect sunny weather! Ironically our first day had not a drop of rain and we made the most of it!

The Castle!! It’s the heart of the city. This space has been occupied for thousands of years. Sitting on the remains of a volcano it overlooks the Forth River estuary. If you want to conquer Scotland, you have to occupy this castle! It’s apparently the second most besieged placed in the world second only to Jerusalem. Stories about the hot and cold relationship with England (William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, The Jacobin Uprising) were new to me.

J.K Rowling wrote the first several chapters of Harry Potter outside of Scotland but she finished writing the remainder of the seven books in Edinburgh. The walking tour of her favorite haunts in pouring rain was incredible for many reasons: 1. Arvind and I were on team Slytherin and we answered almost every trivia question and won the House Cup. 2. Hearing of the inspirations of Rowling. Here is my favorite; The story of “Bloody Mackenzie” which is enshrined in Greyfriars Cemetery. He was a maniac persecutor of witchcraft and heresy who brought thousands to the noose. He would also enjoy watching them as they were tortured. When he died, a homeless man snuck into his mausoleum for shelter and actually crept into his coffin! He said that he was lifted off his feet by some supernatural power and he sped out faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo. Rowling imagined Peeves as this mischievous poltergeist that plays wicked tricks on the living when she heard of Bloody Mackenzie. Rowling also came up with the names of Mcgonnagal, Tom Riddle, Alistor Mooney from here.

After saying goodbye to Edinburgh we hopped inside a fiery red Nissan Quashquai and headed on an epic road trip spanning a huge portion of Scotland, and all the way down to London. All in all over 1200 miles of driving! We averaged 7 miles of walking a day too!

Our first spot was Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. Verdant, beautiful, wet, and did I mention wet? We next made it to the Glenfinnan Viaduct where the Jacobites built a train to ship cargo through the highlands to try and overthrow the king of England. And although that didn’t work out to well for them, Warner Bros exploited their sacrifice and shot the famous flying car/Hogwarts train scene there. We were super lucky that our timing was perfect to see it go past!

In the Isle of Skye, our luck with weather didn’t improve but it just made the nature look that much more dramatic. Arvind loved walking in the little currents of the Fairy Pools (lost his sandal though) and I loved hiking the Old Man of Storr and the Quirang.

After Skye, we took a tedious 5 hour trip out of the Highlands and down to Loch Lomond for a brief stop. Next we went to the Lake District via Hadrians wall. Not the in your face beauty of Skye but it wasn’t hard to see why Wordsworth found inspiration here.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.