tubechallenge.com

Are you east of the A7?

(7/20) No.

Are you within half a mile of the National Museum of Scotland?

(8/20) Yes.

Are you within a brown area on Google Maps?

(9/20) No.

Are you within 250m of the centre of the National Museum of Scotland?

(10/20) Difficult to judge, but I'll say no.

Mary King's Close!!! (?)

Got it! Well done.

When I went there in the early 90s there was no general public access. You had to make a special appointment with someone from the council who only worked there part-time. My university department somehow managed to blag a visit on the pretext that they were hosting an important international conference. Nowadays it's a visitor attraction with professional guides - see http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/. I think I preferred it in the old days though!

The penny gradually dropped - First I thought Rosslyn Chapel, then later, thought it may be somewhere in the National Museum of Scotland (as this wasn't open for many years), then I twigged. Not got into the close myself yet - nearly did in the summer. It's on my to-do list, though.

I'll start another one in the next two minutes, then I lose internet until tomorrow...

It really is worth a visit. It's quite eerie as it's easy to forget that it isn't some modern-day re-creation - it's a genuine street where people used to live. (For those who don't know, the modern-day Edinburgh City Chambers (council offices) was built over the top of it; the entrance used to be in the floor of the council building and you had to be led down a rickety flight of steps, probably breaching all sorts of safety regulations.)

RobbieM wrote:Are you within 250m of the centre of the National Museum of Scotland?

Hello from the national museum of Scotland.

I stayed right in this area of Edinburgh on my recent visit. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit but didn't know about nor visit Mary King's Close!

How did you manage to squash your Afro into that helmet?