Blogs from Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 11

Geo: 55.9503, -3.18761"Edinburgh is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again." -Alexander McCall SmithWe had a local guide today named Liz. (She also guides for Rick Steves.) She walked us over to the old town via Princes Street Gardens. This is more of a park than gardens, but there are some well-tended flower beds. The space, which sits below and between Princes Street and the volcano on which the old town is built, used to be the Nor' Loch. (The loch was originally carved by glaciers.) Because the people of the old town would empty their chamber pots down the side of the rock, the Nor' Loch became completely polluted and reeked to high heaven. When it started to stink in ... read more

In our search for more snow, we drove through the Lake Dristrict to Windermere. Andrew always wanted to see the Lake District and I had never been so we thought we might as well. It was just as pretty as the pictures. With the cobble streets lined with little shops and snow on the mountains it really was beautiful. We wished were staying and not just passing through. As it was a Saturday, it was quite busy and there were cars everywhere. We stopped for lunch in a little tearoom which overlooked the street. It snowed a little too. From there we took off for Scotland and as we headed further north, the snow fell harder and harder. It blanketed the fields and the mountains. Andrew stopped by the roadside so the boys could get out ... read more

Geo: 55.9488, -3.20001Today we left at 8:30am in the Saunders' car for the two-hour drive to Edinburgh for the Tattoo and sightseeing.Although I was looking forward to the Tattoo, I had not expected to enjoy it as much as I did. It was absolutely terrific. The theme was "East meets West" and there were bands and performers from all around the world including Australia, China and Bollywood dancers from India. The show was a great blend of tradition (bagpipes and marching), dramatic lighting and modern flair - a real credit to the organisers. We had good seats and we were very surprised to be among several people personally welcomed to the Tattoo in the opening commentary: "Mr and Mrs Clark from Brisbane Australia", no less! The 90min show started at 9pm. Although it became cold (but ... read more

The weather isn't the best but we did not have our expectations high. It has been a misty type of rain so it's been manageable. It's a little chilly. Nothing a warm shower couldn't fix. We wandered around for some food. Princess Mall was recommended to us. It is in walking distance from our hotel so we started walking. Walking down Princess Street kind of reminds me of the hustle and bustle of New York but on a smaller scale. Cars whizzing by and people walking briskly to someone with tourists sprinkled in the mix. The city was alive with energy. My energy level was up and down. I'd be awake and fine for a little bit then I'd be overwhelmed with the need to fall asleep right where I was standing. We needed to press ... read more

It is an incredibly long way from Northern Wales to the highlands of Scotland. Luckily once you are off the motorway and on the local roads the scenery is stunning. We stayed the night in Fort William, something I would out on the avoid if possible list. We didn't get much sleep due to our hotel room looking out onto a party zone. If we closed the window we couldn't breath, but if we opened it all we heard was loud drunk Scots until 2am. The UK's ability to ventilate buildings hasn't improved at all since 1995 when I first came here. Grrrr. The next morning we managed to get out of bed and wind our way around a very 'cute' road to one of the potential places McMillan's could have been cleared from in the ... read more