Our (Mud) Island Adventure: Scotland....the roadtrip! Part Two

So my seminar went off very well and that was good as it made my day go by quickly. Sammy had breakfast with the team and then went off and spent half a day looking around the city of Glasgow. Glaswegans are very proud of their city as Sammy found out! She took some pictures of the centre square known as George's Square, pictures below.

The seminar ended mid afternoon and we transferred to Edinburgh in a slight drizzle. Actually we were booked into a hotel in Glenrothes which is an hour outside of the city. The drive was very interesting, more amazing scenery and we crossed over the Forth Road bridge. It was the first time I was driving when crossing a suspension bridge and it felt a little strange to me, there was definitely some movement. From the bridge you get a view of the old railway bridge which was for its time a feat of engineering second to none. Looks pretty impressive even in modern times! We checked into our hotel and I had a snooze (man flu), before we had a great evening at the Fettykil Fox with my colleague Mark.

On Thursday morning we headed out early as I had a meeting to attend near Edinburgh with Mark, and Sammy waited patiently in the car for over two hours for me! But I think it was worth it in the end. We said goodbye to Mark and headed into the city to our guest house. Lindsay Guest House is just fabulous. It is a true old B&B, three floors with rooms you can rent with shared bathrooms or like the one we had which was thankfully en suite. Tartan carpets and a small dining room, and warm and hospitable hosts. They gave us a map and suggested we walk into town along the canal. It was still raining a bit and cool when we started walking but cleared up quickly. We were so glad we walked as the canal was fantastic to walk along and lead straight into town. We stopped in at an Italian restaurant for a late lunch and then headed down into the old town. It is really, as most people who have been will tell you, a fantastic place to experience. You can see the castle towering above you on the hill from almost every angle, and the city is bustling with locals and tourists alike. We walked up ancient streets and took in the sights and ended up on the famous Royal Mile. It is a fun street to walk, think major tourist trap meets Scottish history meets beautiful old buildings. Lots of shops as I say, everyone selling tartan everything, bag pipe music blaring and hundreds of tourists walking up and down the street. Lovely, we enjoyed every second! There is a beautiful old cathedral to look at called St Giles, but for some strange reason and we noticed this elsewhere in the city, they don't clean the old buildings which are essentially still covered in soot from the industrial revolution!

Now in Scotland the one thing you have to do is drink whiskey (see part 1) and so we were determined to do a tasting before we left. As it was late afternoon already we chose to do a whiskey tasting and it was great fun. We took the budget tour which only gives one taster, but that was enough for us to enjoy and learn a lot about good single malt whiskeys. We finished off a great day with dinner at David Bann. Its a completely vegetarian restaurant and it was very very good! We took a stroll back to the B&B to work off our dinner, its a bit of a walk back later at night but of course the sun was still up so we enjoyed it anyway!

On Friday we did the true Edinburgh thing and went to see the castle. It was very interesting and well put together as a tour. You can take an audio tour option which is like having a personal guide and Sammy and I spent hours looking at all the old rooms, learning about Scotlands proud heritage and their royal family, and taking in all the oldest parts of the castle. In the afternoon we left the castle and visited Mary Kings Close. It is a little freaky to say the least. Essentially the old city was built on a steep hill with the poorer people living down the bottom end, where literally the sewerage ran into a small loch that no longer exists. Could not have been fun living in those times if you were skint! Over 300 years ago, coincidentally during one of the many plague periods, the city planners wanted to expand the Royal Exchange and with no where to go, they lopped off the roofs of a whole city block, and built over the top of it. This meant that several streets or Closes were covered up, the buildings still in tact and it essentially became an underground part of the city, that was soon uninhabited. The tour takes your through some of these areas under the rest of the city. Its a great tour and a must do if you go to Edinburgh. We had a Mexican dinner in the old city, how random is that?? Two South Africans, in Scotland, eating at a Mexican restaurant served by a Lithuanian and a Mexican. Truly an international spot! We would love some more time in Edinburgh and will definitely go back soon.

On Saturday morning we headed out from Edinburgh along the east coast, down past Berwick Upon Tweed back into England. Its a long drive! Very very scenic at first but once through BerwickRipon in Yorkshire and pop into a place called Fountains Abbey. This is why we love roadtrips because what we found there was hard to describe in its beauty and well awesomeness! I have put lots of pics of it below. We only had an hour there as we were due for dinner in Coventry. It is now down on out must see again list! I am hoping to take some of you with me when you visit (again nudge nudge wink wink)!

Enjoy the pics. In part three we have a fabulous evening with cousins, horses, doggies, Lady P and teach my aunt to use emoticons on her iPhone. We also have some posts coming about our move and things. Patience people! I am a bit slow due to work and other commitments. (I think I say this everytime and so by now you should be aware it may take me a while, but the posts do come!!) Much love as always, Rich and Sam. P.S. there are 85 pics!!!