... It was the Best of Days

Today was one of the BEST OF DAYS so far of my holiday.

This afternoon, Woodsie opted to remain behind as I set out for the Literary Guided Walk.  We just happened to see an A-frame advertising this near the Castle yesterday.  So up the Castle Wynd South steps I went, along Royal Mile and down a narrow lane way out into a small courtyard.  Right outside the Literary Society office stood a small group of five, including Allan Foster, our guide and a writer.

Off we went, winding our way around  south side of Edinburgh, visiting significant sites related to the long and rich tradition of literature in this ancient city.

First off I discover Edinburgh is a City of Literature, as declared by none other than the prestigious body of UNESCO.  Secondly, I discover only a handful of other cities in the entire universe have been so declared ... And to my total surprise, find Melbourne is one of them!!!

As we were an unusually small group, Allan takes us in through security into the Supreme Court, into a long hall with an enormous stained glass window one end, a magnificent ceiling and many portrait paintings around the walls.  A sculpture of Sir Walter Scott is there, as both he and Robert Louis Stephenson practised law in this hall.  Practitioners would stroll around and us commoners would approach them for legal assistance.  Scott loved the law.  RLS was  more a Bohemian hippie and records suggest he made less than £5 during his brief career.  One older man on the tour was astonished.  He said, "I live in Edinburgh and I had no idea this was here."

We went to University where Arthur Conan Doyle learned medicine, especially from a Professor Joseph Bell, who was a major inspiration later for Sherlock Holmes.

We stood outside the Infirmary which cured a literary agent, a friend of J M Barrie.  Here a  Professor Lister developed his ideas on germs and infection control for and after operations.  Years later, the
literary agent's daughter would greet JM Barrie with misprounced words that Barrie later turned into "Wendy" ... So inventing a new girl's name.  The agent had lost one leg to disease and was a basis for Captain Hook.

We went past one of the pubs frequented by Ian Rankin's character, Reubus.  Our guide knows Rankin and recent crime thrillers are in fact about Reubus but can't mention that name as the BBC
owns the filming rights to all future Reubus novels.

We read the plaque outside the cafe where JK Rowling sat over one expresso while her baby slept and penned the first of the Harry Potter books.  Alan told us what never came out in the publicity.  Her brother in law OWNED the cafe and she could have sat there all day had she chosen.  The woman who rus the cafe now HATES Harry Potter and refuses to display anything up about the series to cash in on tourist curiosity.

Just a few doors down over the road is a plaque for a dreadful Scottish poet, McGonagle.  No doubt JK's inspiration for one of Harry's professors.  In fact a short walk further leads to Potter Row.  Coincidence, or not?  Potter Row has been there for hundres of years.  So I don't mean the Council named the Row for Harry, just that maybe JK named Harry after the Row.

At one point, by chance, Alexander McCall Smith lived to doors from Ian Rankin, who lived opposite Rowling.  Apparently Rankin called it "Fortress Rowling" for all the security she needed.

Now, I loved the colour and liveliness of Royal Mile but Allan dismissed it as "TARTAN
DISNEYLAND".  Ouch!

We went past a restaurant that was once a butchers.  Back when rabbits and pheasants could be displayed on hooks out the front, AND just after Watership Down movie came out, the butcher stuck out a sign:  you've read the book, you've seen the movie, now eat the cast!


Alan told us about his late friend Bob, responsible for the few literary commemorative p,sauces we saw.  Bob once Invited him around to meet the Japanese Ambassador.  Alan is there when the official  car draws up.

"Alan, meet Hewie," Bob says.

Alan commented that Hewie was an unusual name for a Japanese.

The Ambassador says, "My name is Shue-Hee.  Bob just calls me Hewie."

What a fabulous tour with so many stories and significant sites.

But the best was yet to come!

At the tour's end, one man said to me,"are you in a hurry?" I dictating a nearby pub.

First we went into the churchyard of Grey Friars, and he showed me several tombs and areas of importance.  Then we adjourned to Grey Frairs pub, where he bought me a drink.

Stuart is a retired doctor (his wife still works as a GP) with 3 daughters in their 20s all still in full time education.  We had a truly delightful chat.  At one point he said, "her indoors" and I practically screeched, "Stuart.  That is a literary reference" as of course Rumpole called his own wife that, plus She Who Must Be Obeyed.

To top off the day Woodsie and I had a fine dining experience on the fifth floor restaurant of our hotel overlooking the Castle.  The food was incredible.  The red wine from Chile was wonderful.  But best of all was the young and attentive wait staff.  Charlie from Bombay I had seen in the lift and he  declared, "We meet again.". Two girls were from Hungary.  Plus there was Renata, who put us at our ease, who asked where we were from as she hails from Adelaide.

It was an expensive meal, but well worth it.  It really was The Best Of Days.