UK & Scotland visit - Courtesy of Fosters

The UK bit

Our trek continues and we have today arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland.  It was a 7 hour drive from the Costwells North on the M6 through the Lakes Districts. Fortunately we didn't deviate off the freeway given reports of shootings that were coming through on the radio, and now we know why there were some rather high speed Police cars whizzing by us on the freeway. Anyway pleased to report that despite 12 dead and many wounded we're OK and not involved, terrible.......enough said.
Well our few days in the UK were enjoyable, but personally l was happy to move on. We arrived into Bath on a long weekend along with the rest of the best of the British! So nice though it was the crowds were overwhelming. Fortunately we were staying in the superb Bath "Priory Hotel" which was an oasis, and a haven to return to. Bath is certainly well worth a visit, and the old Roman Baths a must see. However the Cotswell area was far more laid back and the country side beautiful. We stayed at a small town called Broadway in the Lygon Arms Hotel, pronouced Liggon! Having been built in the 1500's the building has to be seen to be believed. I got up a gallop getting from the bed to the bathroom, such were the floor angles, before tripping over the 18 x 6 piece of timber acting as the original entry step and cracking my head on the 5 Ft something head clearance doorway. Anyway
all good stuff, but so old it was spooky, with sealed off doorways and thin narrow corridors and wooden latches still on the doors. I think it's called atmospheric, but my vote was medieval scary; and l'm sure haunted!
A dinner venue was a drive to Castle Combe and dine at the local pub. Regretably there was only ONE miserable parking space left in town so l had no choice but shoe horn the Mondeo in, in true European "touch parking style", it was a fine effort but l still wince at the thought! Back touch, forward touch, l'm sure you get the picture......... agh! Anyway all in a good nights fun but my crew at home would be shaking there heads and l'll no doubt be chastised on my return, and rightly so!
Visited Shakespeares birth and burial place (another bloody Cathedral) of Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday, and had our first rainy day in 4 weeks but can't complain.
Currently 10.30 pm Wednesday June 2nd and now twilight in Edinburgh. Speaking of which Mrs Co-pilot had her 5 minutes of glory when we reached the center of Edinburgh CBD and road works prevented entry.
The GPS WAS STUFFED, so out came the map and the navigator checked her Longs & Lats before taking temporary command, thank god this was only short lived and sanity soon returned but l'm sure the storey will go
down in the annals for ever after!

Well 4 nights, 3 full days in Edinburgh and we've given it fair coverage. According to the locals we struck the best weather week of the year, with warm clear days and temps in the low 20's. You could pick the locals, they were the ones in Shorts and T Shirts, and were either white, red or two tone and nothing in between. The parks were full of people laying in the sun, however the rain did move in on Saturday afternoon with some heavy showers. This morning (Sunday)forecast is for a high of 13 so seems we did get the best of it as we head off to explore the North of Scotland, which is completely unplanned and nothing booked. We've covered most of the key attractions in Edinburgh.
All in all we've enjoyed our time in Edinburgh. However the roads are terrible and they could do with better cleaning of the City. In summary, visited Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace once Charles moved on, Rosslyn Chapel (Da Vinci Code  fame), Royal Yacht Britainia, Botanical Gardens, Tour of the old Underground City, Scotish Parliment, the Nelson Monument, the Firth of Forth suspension bridge, (stunning and on a par with Golden Gate Bridge), walked the Royal Mile, and visited a plethora of other assorted places including the 
odd Scotish Bar or two!

LEFT: Entrance to Edinburgh Castle which is being setup for the Tattoo.
CENTRE: Royal Botanical Garfens, the Water Lillies were amazing, infact the whole gardens were superb and an absolute credit. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and it was free.
RIGHT: Thought we'd have a few friends on board Britainnia for dinner, Dinned onboard for Lunch and even used the Royal Loo !