Windemere to Edinburgh to York to London

29/3 Day 4 Windemere to Edinburgh
Thursday morning presented yet another heavily misty day but nethertheless the drove on past Ullswater Lake to Kirkstone Pass andHadrians Wall before stopping for lunch at the "first and last shop in Scotland" in Jedburgh. Kirkstone Pass is a famous piece of raod we have no doubt all seen on the car ad's due to it being nice and windy and curvy... Hadrians Wall was cool altho I did go ass over in the slippery mud... Ouch...
After lunch we cruised onto Edinburgh and getting there mid afternoon so we had some time to expore. Jo and I got all energetic and climbed up Calton Hill for a view over the city before walking the streets to Scott Monument and St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile. Under no circumstances was I going to have Haggis for tea so it was just a quick pub meal before heading up to see Edinburgh Castle under lights.

30/3 Day 5 Day Trip to Fort Augustus
Finally... A day off the bus... Well - it was going to be but as I wanted to go see the worldly famous Loch Ness Monster (aka Nessie) I had to board another bus for a solid day of driving into the Highlands and back...
Driving through the Trussachs on the way to Fort Augustus, we passed the stunning Glencoe with its tragic past and the enormous Glen Nevis who's peak we couldn't see thanks to (would you believe it...) heavy mist... When we got into Fort Augustus we boarded a boat to take us for a cruise of Loch Ness to search for its elusive monster.... The driver of the boat is a marine biologist who has personally seen Nessie back in 1980 something and has devoted his life to finding it ever since... The boat is fully equipped with all the modern sonar kinda gear and he even presented photo's of "bizarre" things he's seen on the detectors of creatures over 5 metres long and totally uxexplainable... He's a true believer that there's something out there and it's hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement. I decided to settle for some trick photography and a pint of Nessie Ale before returning to the bus and getting back to Edinburgh at 7pm...

31/3 Day 6 Edinburgh to York
Saturday had us saying farewell to beautiful Edinburgh however we were soon to be saying hello to an even prettier little city called York. We drove through the Flodden Battlefields on the way but today was all about getting to York as early as possible so we had as heaps of time to explore.
Once we drove into the City Walls and visited the lame jorvik Medieval centre, Jo and I got all energatic again and climbed the 280 odd steps up the York Minster Tower for another grand view over the city. From there we located Cliffords Tower and after descending the stairs made our way over to it only to find it was closed... On our way to the Minster we went through the Shambles which looks like something out of Harry Potter coz the buildings are all so old and crooked and out of shape.
In the night we joined the Original Ghost Tour of York and revisited most the places we'd already seen however this time it was at night with a full moon and a man telling us spooky stories...

1/4 Day 7 York to London
Another day, another tour all over... Nothing too exciting today except a flying visit via the Major Oak at Sherwood Forest to drop in on Robin Hood and his Merry Men and then on to Stratford to visit the birthplace and final resting place of William Shakespeare. Stratford has fully cashed in on this little money maker and you can't go anywhere without seeing mention of this great writer.
The rest of the day was all bus, bus, bus and we got back into London at 5pm.
I've done all my laundry and am repacking as little as possible for my next flight on to the Netherlands tomorrow!!! WOOHOO!!!