The next morning Michael and I went for a walk in the woods around Grantown. Not only was this cool in its own right, but what should we see but an elusive red squirrel! And better than that it was being chased by another squirrel from tree to tree. A total display, and about as close to elusive as Tony Abbott and his crew of muppets are to having a conscience.
Then we headed down to Edinburgh, which really is a cracker if a city. I'd go so far as to say I prefer it to London. We dropped Tim off at the train station and said our sad farewells (we'd had a great family time) before finding our Edinburgh digs for the night.
Once settled Mick and I headed straight out for a walk up Holyrood Hill, to Arthur's Seat. This proved to be one of the highlights of our trip around Scotland. It's really quite damn tall, which meant we both got a good leg stretch as well as an incredible view. Had another great pub meal that night.
We spent the bulk of the next day in Edinburgh with Mick. We did a hop-on hop-off bus tour, like the one we'd done in Bath, which is a lazy and easy way to see the city and find out interesting things along the way e.g. They nearly moved the capital of Scotland to Glasgow because Edinburgh was turning into such a hole. Took the building if the wonderful New Town area to stop King George the Something from doing this. We also spent a fair big of time walking the streets if the Old Town, which was really cool.
Then to the airport to drop Mick off. Another sad occasion as we'd got to spend so much quality time with him, but you can hardly complain about having good times I guess.
We'd decided we did need to get on the road towards York and rather randomly we'd chosen a hotel in a place called Chollerford that was well reviewed on Trip Advisor. This proved to be an inspired decision. The afternoon drive was rather stunning, the pub was great and damn-me if we weren't right near Hadrian's Wall.
So close in fact that we walked to it the next day. The weather was blue-sky perfect again and we found ourselves, by ourselves, standing on this amazing piece of ancient architecture on a beautiful morning. To add a certain amount of colour to the experience there was a rather bold piece of Roman carving. It depicted a certain male appendage, in all it's excited glory. Apparently this is a symbol for good fortune and to ward off evil, but I reckon this is just a load of cock and bull put around by Roman males to see what they could get away with.
Then into the car again and off to York. Yep, another ancient city, and another cracker of an experience. Of course, it always helps to have grand weather, and this we had in spades. The city is just brilliant to wander around and the cathedral is just something else. Not sure how much the church must have done for the poor in those days but they certainly invested in outrageously grandiose architecture. It certainly rivalled Salisbury, though I'd still give St David's in Wales the edge over both of them, just for its authenticity (and more understated grandeur). Anyway, it was brilliant, we had another top pub dinner before walking home passed buildings as old as the white settlement of Australia.
Tomorrow the Cotswolds.
As long as things don't go belly up and we end up somewhere in a Turkish prison this should be our penultimate travel log. Actually, if we do end up in a Turkish prison the chances of sending any more emails are probably pretty remote. Can't imagine the broadband would be that good, and I'd most likely be more concerned about the large gentleman I was sharing he 4 x 4 cell with.
Then we headed down to Edinburgh, which really is a cracker if a city. I'd go so far as to say I prefer it to London. We dropped Tim off at the train station and said our sad farewells (we'd had a great family time) before finding our Edinburgh digs for the night.
Once settled Mick and I headed straight out for a walk up Holyrood Hill, to Arthur's Seat. This proved to be one of the highlights of our trip around Scotland. It's really quite damn tall, which meant we both got a good leg stretch as well as an incredible view. Had another great pub meal that night.
We spent the bulk of the next day in Edinburgh with Mick. We did a hop-on hop-off bus tour, like the one we'd done in Bath, which is a lazy and easy way to see the city and find out interesting things along the way e.g. They nearly moved the capital of Scotland to Glasgow because Edinburgh was turning into such a hole. Took the building if the wonderful New Town area to stop King George the Something from doing this. We also spent a fair big of time walking the streets if the Old Town, which was really cool.
Then to the airport to drop Mick off. Another sad occasion as we'd got to spend so much quality time with him, but you can hardly complain about having good times I guess.
We'd decided we did need to get on the road towards York and rather randomly we'd chosen a hotel in a place called Chollerford that was well reviewed on Trip Advisor. This proved to be an inspired decision. The afternoon drive was rather stunning, the pub was great and damn-me if we weren't right near Hadrian's Wall.
So close in fact that we walked to it the next day. The weather was blue-sky perfect again and we found ourselves, by ourselves, standing on this amazing piece of ancient architecture on a beautiful morning. To add a certain amount of colour to the experience there was a rather bold piece of Roman carving. It depicted a certain male appendage, in all it's excited glory. Apparently this is a symbol for good fortune and to ward off evil, but I reckon this is just a load of cock and bull put around by Roman males to see what they could get away with.
Then into the car again and off to York. Yep, another ancient city, and another cracker of an experience. Of course, it always helps to have grand weather, and this we had in spades. The city is just brilliant to wander around and the cathedral is just something else. Not sure how much the church must have done for the poor in those days but they certainly invested in outrageously grandiose architecture. It certainly rivalled Salisbury, though I'd still give St David's in Wales the edge over both of them, just for its authenticity (and more understated grandeur). Anyway, it was brilliant, we had another top pub dinner before walking home passed buildings as old as the white settlement of Australia.
Tomorrow the Cotswolds.
As long as things don't go belly up and we end up somewhere in a Turkish prison this should be our penultimate travel log. Actually, if we do end up in a Turkish prison the chances of sending any more emails are probably pretty remote. Can't imagine the broadband would be that good, and I'd most likely be more concerned about the large gentleman I was sharing he 4 x 4 cell with.
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