Then, I headed to Edinburgh, Scotland, with two friends for the weekend! We sure packed a lot into the short time we had there! A ghost tour of the city, Edinburgh Castle, a visit with Peter, my friend from UChicago Summer School in 2007 who now goes to St. Andrews, souvenir shopping, climbing Arthur's Seat, the birthplace of Harry Potter, museums, and pub visits left all of us exhausted but happy upon our return to Paris last night. Scottish hospitality was really as warm as stereotypes say it is! It was a great trip and another reminder of how lucky I am to have such cool opportunities to study and travel abroad!
Lots of pictures this week so bear with me!
Basilique de St. Denis is the burial place of many of the French Kings and Queens and was our first stop on our cemetery tour on All Saint's Day.
Cimetière de Montmartre was the next stop. By this point it was raining pretty solidly, but we figured we were already outside. This is one of the 3 big cemeteries in Paris (the others are Père Lachaise and Cimetière de Montparnasse, and the rain got to us before we got to them).
Fun Fact #23: In France, Chrysanthemums are the flower they use for graves. In late October, they are on sale in most groceries in preparation for All Saints' Day, which many people use as an opportunity to visit graves of loved ones and lay flowers there.
After Cimetière de Montmartre, we visited Cimetière de St. Vincent and then headed to lunch to get warm and dry. Then, we headed to Cimetière du Calvaire (above), which is next to Église St. Pierre de Montmartre with a view of the Basilique du Sacré Coeur in the background. This cemetery is only open to the public one day a year. There are 87 tombs there, and many are so old that you can't even read them!
The next stop was Cimetière de Picpus, which is known as being the site of mass graves for the victims of the French Revolution, but also has the grave of LaFayette, the military hero of the US Revolution and the French Revolution. He is buried here with his wife.
Fun Fact #24: The D.A.R. maintain the grave of LaFayette. They were given permission by the french government to fly the American flag over his tomb.
The Ghost Tour that we took of Edinburgh on our first night took us to Calton Hill Cemetery, where we saw this monument to the American Civil War, which was constructed to help the Scotsmen who died fighting for the Union find their way home.
Fun Fact #25: This is the only monument outside of the United States that is dedicated to our Civil War.
Saturday morning, we visited Edinburgh Castle, which has some great views over the city! There were many small museums and exhibitions inside the castle, most famously the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Scone (aka the Stone of Destiny).
Many cannons here, but none that we could paint.
The Castle was not one building, like I tend to think of when I hear the word "Castle." It was more like a walled complex of smaller buildings. One of the older ones is St. Margaret's Chapel. As you can see, we got really lucky with our weather while we were in Scotland! Sun every day!
Saturday afternoon, I met up with Peter. We took a walk to parts of the city that I had not seen and then took in part of a soccer game at The Standing Order Pub. It was great to catch up!
As Remembrance Day (Vetrans' Day) is coming up, The Walter Scott Memorial lawn was decorated with small wooden crosses. Each one had a name of a Scottish servicemen and a poppy.
Fun Fact #26: Poppies are a tradition on Vetrans' Day. The Scots seem to celebrate for most of November, sporting poppies on their lapels for the month, rather than just taking the day for convocations and ceremonies, like we do in the States.
A highlight of my trip was climbing Arthur's Seat early on Sunday morning. The 45 min. hike was not super easy, but it was totally doable, even with our backpacks on (we had to check out of our hostel before leaving). The views were phenomenal (here you see the Firth of Fourth)!
Finally, before we left, we had to fulfill childhood dreams and pay homage to sites that helped author J.K. Rowling shape the Harry Potter series. This is a tombstone in Greyfriars Kirkyard gave her the inspiration for the name 'Tom Riddle' (aka Voldemort).
Around the corner from the graveyard is a café called The Elephant House. Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter from the back room of the café, which overlooks the castle. It was peaceful and calm. I could see why she chose to write there! The Cafe had several articles about Rowling and Harry Potter on the walls, but had maintained its original elephant theme, rather than focusing on that, which I thought was pretty cool. The bathroom walls, however, were covered with Potter fans' expressions of thanks, praise, and criticism of the author and the books. The funniest was the remark above the toilet: "Flush twice for the Ministry of Magic" (if you haven't read the books then you may not get the reference).
After that we were headed to the airport and back to Paris! It was a short visit, but we made great use of our time and got to do essentially everything we wanted to. Scotland was great, but as I had feared, rather than crossing that destination off my list for the future, I now feel that another visit to other parts of the country is more necessary than ever!
Anyway, thanks for reading and Happy November!
~SKS~
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