Today we are looping around the Isle of Skye. Headed northwest from our castle and travelled the winding roads. Many wonderfull road signs. Most have exlcamation marks and some form of picture. Common ones are school and children but my favourites are for sheep, deer, elderly and blind people. And when they show a sign for road narrowing they mean 1 lane and they mean it NOW! You had best be having your foot on the brake right away. Very majestic mountains that are strangely bare of trees. We noticed some clear cutting of forests as well when ever we did see some trees. Stopped for lunch in Portree. Poor Elke is ready to kill for a real salad. Salads here consist of some leafy greens and a tomato slice (no dressing - really only for ... read more

Leaving Peebles and heading for Edinburgh with a stop at Rosslyn Chapel (made more famous by the Da Vinci Code). It is undergoing a massive restoration project expected to take around 8 years. Left in pretty bad condition due mainly to the water retention of the sandstone which it is made out of. Another drive through the countryside to Edinburgh. We were lucky enough to be on the same road as our hotel and were able to drive straight to it. Which is a miracle considering the congestion and confusing highway signs (some one took pity on us after the Norwich debacle) A quick pitstop to our room and out the door for the Hop on Hop off tour with a layover at Edinburgh Castle. Had dinner at a Scottish restaurant the Wee Windaes and had ... read more

Leaving Grimsby we continued up the east coast headed for Whitby we stopped in the town of Scarborough and visited Scarborough Castle. This ruin was started in 900 AD. There was evidence of settlements in 500 BC from archeological digs and there are remains of a Roman signal station. Scarborugh is also a great shopping town with huge pedestrian malls. Did a little shopping for the grandkids. On up the coast we stopped at Whitby our and our next hotel but before dinner we were to visit the Whitby Abbey. Also a ruin (obviously) it was constructed in 657 AD but fell into ruin when Henry 8th took over all religious properties and gave them to his buddies. Dinner was at the Estbek House in Sands End 5 minutes down the road. Elke made this reservation ... read more

We are on our way to the seacoast when out of nowhere there appeared yet another cathedral and we just had to stop. It was the Norwich Cathedral which has the highest spire of all gothic cathedrals in Britain. Originally built starting in 1029 and partially rebuilt in 1529. Even the rebuild is 300 years older than Canada. Left the cathedal and headed east. I will say that the English people have preserved their homes and properties at all costs. No home is moved or torn down for the betterment of highways or roads. In some cases they are crazy!!! Oh my God, you will be cruising at the breakneck pace of 40 MPH (for those of us that remember how fast that really is) and in a split second you come around a corner to ... read more

Holy crap it's hot here and because this type of heat is unusual, there are NO AIR CONDITIONERS!!!!! Totally soaked all day. Today is our day to travel with the locals on the underground. A little intimidating at first but the system is well laid out and fairly easy to understand. Our first visit is to St. Pauls Cathedral at the St pausl stop. (from Euston down the northern line to the central line then est to the St. Pauls stop) Forthos of you have not been here - trust me... Magnificent .... and massive. Since it was a Sunday there are no tours and ..... no pictures inside. we were allowed in and we got to see most of the cathedral from the rear. Services were about to start so we went to the gift ... read more