Edinburgh has been a great leg. The people are warm and welcoming, and very passionate about their country. It has also been cold, windy and one day, quite wet, but still fantastic to be here which us why we booked extra nights in edinburgh. Plus we are doing no more one night stays in our last week. Cant believe the two months are nearly up. We stayed in the central area within walking distance of the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. Saw many tough men wearing skirts sorry kilts despite the cold. Took a one day tour through the Highlands on the day it rained led by a local guy Neil who took us through Edinburgh to Stirling Castle (awesome awesome castle perched on volcanic rock at a key access point to the Highlands which is why several key scottish battles were fought here). Saw several small towns and Loch Lomond, on the way getting some great scottish history about the battles, william Wallace (braveheart) and Robert the Bruce. Notwithstanding the constant rain that day we also stopped to tramp / scale the highland hills for a bonny view of the lochs, glens and bens. Got pretty wet as you can see from the photo. Loch Lomond has quite a few islands including one where the owner has imported wallabies (just picture those poor little b*****s huddled together on a scottish island in the middle of winter doing there little Skippy talk "Whats that Skippy, you can't feel your nuts anymore?" There is also a naturist island where they get all their gear off. Are you out of your mind? I thought wearing a draughty kilt and no undies was bad enough in this weather! We also got personal with a scottish Hairy Coo (see photo). No andre, not that kind of personal!
Took the Double Dead Ghost tour one night through and under edinburgh, from the days when they all tried to live inside the city walls so they built up to 14 stories and also built under which became warrens for the homeless and criminals. The vaults were quite creepy at night, and they scared the crap out of us in the Greyfriars graveyard crypt. Jeannie says she wasn't scared but she had a deathgrip on both my hands. Just as well because when everyone screamed my little legs started running of their own accord!
Went through the queens Edinburgh palace Hollyrood "Welcome to Hollyrood!" where Mary Queen of Scots also lived. Edinburgh castle was also fantastic but for the love of god don't do the Crown Jewels exhibition. OMG! The longest four hours of my life! Ok, it was twenty minutes but it felt like DAYS! Once you went in the innocent looking door in the Edinburgh castle complex you were trapped with no way out but forward in a long winding continuous exhibit. There were people feigning terminal illness so they could push through and get out to feel the sun on their face before they died. Having said that, Edinburgh was awesome and we can see why people rave about it.

Oh, I have to relate our adventures getting here from italy, although it might not get past jeannies editorial eye.
We caught a really nice shuttle bus from lovely Sorrento to Naples, up the coast road so we had great views of the sea and the little resort towns all the way. We were catching easyjet which is the seat scramble (find your own seat), and we've learned now to be strategic having seen people sprinting across the Tarmac, pushing in and feigning illness, so we posted ourselves each side of the transport bus so one of us would be up the steps earlier and get seats together. This time it was Jeannie, and by the time I got up the steps through the mass of returning British and touring Italians, Jeannie had our seats. BUT she was also sporting bleeding knuckles. I shall load the photographic evidence. "so" I casually said, "good work getting the seats. What happened to your hand?" "oh, nothing" Jeannie replied, "I just scraped it putting the bag up." hmmm. I'm sure I heard a woman softly sobbing several seats away. Small but tough our Jeannie.