The great thing about travel is what you take away from the journey – what you learn about other places and other people. Without that, you’ve wasted an opportunity.
Context is a company specializing in small, expertly-guided walking tours through some of the planet’s most amazing cities. Now it’s added Edinburgh to the roster. Context is running half-a-dozen tightly-targeted treks, perambulations through time and space that give you the sort of up-close-and-personal insight into the city that’s tough to achieve on your own.
The walks last about three hours each, and are led by local PhD-level scholars and similar insiders. As far as Edinburgh is concerned, the initial offerings encompass Worship and Religion and the History of Medicine.
The latter is extraordinary. Go back to the last half of the 18th Century, when this Scottish city was a major focal point of medical research. Anesthesia is said to have been discovered here, as was antisepsis. Edinburgh is home to Alexander Fleming and Elsie Inglis, a pioneer in women’s medicine. Conan Doyle also called the city home. He leaned heavily on the teachings of his medical mentor when devising methods of criminal investigation, methods immortalized by his character Sherlock Holmes.
There’s far more than relatively recent history to be explored here. Consider, “Edinburgh is a big archeological site,” says Coinneach Maclean, one of Context’s savvy docents. “We have Celtic, Roman and medieval structures overlapping in the city, making it a great place to weave an extraordinarily rich and entertaining narrative.”
Looking for something a bit more contemporary? Context is running a day trip to Glasgow to explore that city’s vibrantly varied contemporary art scene. The premise is the same: it’s not just souvenirs and photographs you’re taking home, it’s insight and solid understanding.
(Image: Extra Medium)
