Yesterday we decided that it was time have someone share their Scottish knowledge with us and so we booked a tour for today. It was an early start - had to catch a bus into town at 8am! It was there we met our driver - Graeme - and the tour participants - Chelsea, Nick, Jessica, Rachael, Bruce and Robyn. Yep! We managed to be the only attendees and that meant we were able to go in a car and therefore get to see a bit more. A private tour for the price of a gene...

There is a hill that is in the centre of Edinburgh called Arthur's Seat - a dormant volcano, 254 metres above sea level. And we decided to walk up it today. It started off quite pleasantly - a gentle hill climb, but that didn't last long. We were then faced with a pretty steep climb for about 80% of the entire climb. But we all took that in our stride even breaking into a bit of sweat as we climbed up. Problem was the closer we got to the top the colder and str...

A wet and windy day greeted us this morning - and we certainly now know cold ☺ We are staying near The Britannia, so a bus ride into town is our transportation. We wished we had timed our wait at the bus stop a little better so that we didn't have to wait in the cold. The bus wasn't too far away but it was long enough. A bus ride is good as you get to see places you wouldn't normally see - nothing exciting but still interesting. We got off near Scott's Monum...

Today is the Lord's day and a great opportunity to spend it in worship at the York Minster. Bruce and I attended Choral Matins - sung prayers. The choir was from St James' Church, Bushey and combine that with the pipe organ was an experience that was amazing. 4 part harmonies, full pipe organ sound - a very high church worship service. The message was based on Isaiah 12 and 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 and about worship being about God, and that sometimes we lean towa...

Apparently, York is the chocolate city - never knew that, but this morning we visited the Rowntree shop and learnt all about the history of chocolate in York. From about 1860, when Rowntree took over a cocoa import business, they have been making chocolates in York (as has Frys (Bristol) and Cadbury (Birmingham). Whilst we listened and watched a very clever presentation, we got to taste cocoa water (seasoned with chilli), cocoa nibs (crushed cocoa beans), as w...