Thinking she said "study," I proclaimed "The Enlightenment!"
I was a laughingstock, yes -- but these past few days I felt vindicated as we journeyed far into Edinburgh's past.
On Wednesday, we arrived in the afternoon and enjoyed some tasty food (haggis, on my part). Thursday, though, we woke up bright and early and plunged deep into the 18th century.
First we visited important sites from the Enlightenment. And Harry Potter. Yep, J.K. Rowling lore is alive and well in the city where she began the storied series.
Afterward we made a pit stop at the National Museum of Scotland, chock-a-block with treasures from Scotland's history, alongside cool working models of steam engines and a Deacon Brodie cabinet.
The stunningly beautiful architecture of the National Museum.
In the afternoon, we took a medical Enlightenment tour, seeing the graves of famous anatomists, Edinburgh's storied medical school, and even the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons (a simultaneously horrifying and beautiful experience -- I'm not sure I'm ready to put up photos of people's body parts and bones).
A pit stop to see the only pre-Reformation stained glass in Edinburgh.
Our tour guide explaining mortsafes, grates built to keep out body-snatchers, or grave-robbers, who thrived in the medical anatomy hotspot of 18th century Edinburgh.
The beautiful University of Edinburgh.
It was a long, draining day -- information overload on every level. As Sabrina (below left) said, we didn't so much soak in the city as have it jammed into our pores. And yet I felt I got a sense of this city in a special way -- almost like someone telling me about their childhood . I was breathing history in Edinburgh, and that I'll treasure.
No better way to celebrate than a meal at The Elephant House, J.K. Rowling's favorite haunt and the birthplace of Harry Potter. :)
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