May 14, 2015

We learned today that a real, manly Scot in a kilt doesn't wear underwear. If I wanted to know for sure, I could ask him "Are you true?" (without underwear?) Since I'd likely slap anyone who asked me about my underwear, I doubt I'll ask it of anyone else.

We learned this from Chris Walker, our knowledgeable tour guide from Local Eyes, on a three-hour walking tour. He also talked about a bunch of historical stuff. -- We saw a statue of Abraham Lincoln in a graveyard. Apparently, many of the Scots were sympathetic to the Abolitionist cause; some came to the United States to fight for the North.

Bernadette T. you'll like this: J.K. Rowling first started writing the Harry Potter books in Edinburgh. She'd sit in the Elephant House cafe, order one cup of coffee, and nurse it for hours as

she wrote. -- We saw a row of old and colorful buildings that is said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter books. -- Also, in the cemetery is the grave of Tom Riddell, a slightly different spelling of the name of the young, yet still sinister Voldemort.

It's believed that J.K. took the name from this grave.-- I know he-must-not-be-named, but Chris did.

I wished I could have played with the toys in the Children's Museum. There was a time when I would have killed (or asked a Scot if he were true) for some of those dollhouses. -- Mom and probably Sr. Pat  used to have those dolls with the soft cloth body and porcelain heads and hands. Mom told me that occasionally a doll would get her head cracked, and Grandma McHale would write to the company to order a new head.

Dr. Who-vian phone booths litter the landscape, but we never see anybody in them.Surely by now everybody has his/her own phone. I entered one, hoping to move through time like Dr. Who. (I don't watch the show but I think that's what he does.) And it worked: By the time I left the phone booth, I had moved a couple of seconds into the future.

The historical tour of underground Edinburgh was dimly lit and a little spooky. -- I know people like to romanticize the past, but the thought of pails of human waste getting tossed out of hundreds of windows twice a day kind of puts a pall on it.

Edinburgh-ians appear to love The Big Lebowski and Jeff Bridges as much as Americans do. I wonder ifJeff Bridges knows there's a bar in honor of his favorite role.

Finally, I'm including a photo of Tom in front of the house we're renting. It's called "The Auld Pottery."