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Location Date Oceania 1452902400 North America 1410822000 Europe 
1372978800 Asia 1309561200 -
Location Date UK
1372978800 Ireland 1370214000 Germany 1346540400 Hungary 1344726000 Italy 1322784000 Spain 1318892400 France 1317769200 Denmark 1314572400 Sweden 1313967600 Norway 1313794800 Finland 1312239600 Russia 1311462000 Portugal Monaco San Marino Slovenia Croatia Bosnia Montenegro Albania Greece Macedonia Bulgaria Turkey Romania Serbia Czech Republic Poland Slovakia Austria Switzerland -
Location Date London 1372978800 England 1371510000 Land's End 1371510000 Llansilin 1370905200 Glasgow 1369263600 John O' Groats
1368745200 Scarborough, North Yorkshire 1368054000 Leicestershire 1316473200 Poole 1315868400
Scotland has been living up to its reputation, cold and wet! Since we have been in Scotland we have had rain of some sort every day and temps have rarely been above 10° and the wind has been gale force at times, but enough of the weather, it is what it is.
Edinburgh was everything we expected, we spent five hours in the castle, the history is just incredible, but very bloody with constant wars between the clans, England and the Vikings, just to name the ones that stand out. After the castle we enjoyed a walk around the town. Then we headed to John O Groats, we had been told there was nothing there to see, but we wanted to go anyway. There really wasn't much other than farming to see, but some of the coast was quite spectacular, we stayed in a town not too far to the west called Thurso, there was only one other person in the campground, a cyclist, we can't believe how many there are up this part of the world. Then we headed across the top and down the west coast, where the conditions just got worse, we didn't make the town we were headed for and ended up stopping in a hotel to dry out and warm up, it had been around 4° most of the day. Fortunately the scenery was worth being there for, amazing mountains and coast contrasting to heath land away from the coast with lots of water flowing through the countryside and there were spectacular lochs to see. We pushed on through the weather and went out to the Isle of Skye, we had been told how nice it was, and it was. We did a small walk to what they called the Fairy Pools, a lovely stream of melting snow that runs down a valley of heath, there are rock pools and water falls. We stayed in hard accommodation while we did a ride around the island, unfortunately due to the low clouds we didn't see some of the higher mountains. From Skye we headed back to the mainland and visited Eilean Donan Castle, a brilliant castle that was built back in Viking times to defend the waterways, so it was more a garrison than a home and far more like what we expected of a castle, it wasn't so ornate as functional. It was rebuilt in the twentieth century and belongs to the MacRea family. It has been used in many films including The World Is Not Enough. We are now near Fort William and heading for Glasgow. We have decided against the Isle Of Man, at this time of year, TT time, it is way too hard to get a ferry and way too expensive for us.
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Mum/Marion Good to read your latest exploits. And not surprised it is still very cold in Scotland. Have you visited Glasgow yet I wonder? the accent there is very broad and hard to understand at times. And of course you should do the tour of the Council Chambers, famous for the amount of marble used floors, staircases, ceilings. etc. Love to both
Jnet McIntyre Ooh, the Fairy Pools sounds like it is from the wee folk. Eilean Donan castle could be from the same place! Fort William disappointed us as being the worst part of seaside towns - though Mac's cousin had highly recommended it. Glasgow! Great city. If you've not been there by the time you read this, do look for Charles Rennie Mackintosh art. We visited The Scotland Street School which he designed. Really interesting! You may also be interested in The St. Mungo Museum of Religion (not quite sure of the name). Dramatic view of a large cemetery from the window at top of first stairs. I was very disappointed that the evening light wouldn't allow a photo. Outside the museum (at St. Mungo's church) is a police box as in Doctor Who. Great excitement for Lisa. And across the street was the oldest house or smallest house (something extreme) in Glasgow. Lisa enjoyed it while me and Mac explored the museum which Lisa had likewise done on a former visit. Scotland certainly does offer rugged scenery. You are doing very well in that rough weather!