Scotland

Near the end of my trip to York to visit my parents, I felt it was a moral imperative to take a couple days on my own to explore Scotland. So, Wednesday and Thursday I bought a very expensive ticket from Brit Rail and took in the splendor of Edinburgh and the calm historical setting of Stirling. Edinburgh is the center of Scottish culture now and has been for hundreds of years.

This is a deserted little alleyway just off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh:

And I couldn't resist a picture of this relic. It fit in fine in Edinburgh, but I couldn't help thinking it should be in my driveway!

England

My parents were gracious enough to trade in frequent flyer miles and get me a ticket to visit them at their house in York. It was in the middle of February, which meant that the weather would most likely be rubbish, but it had to be done. Despite weeks of gloom, the day I got there it was actually sunny and nice. Still quite cold, but sunny!

I flew into Manchester. They picked me up and we went straight up to Hadrian's Wall and walked around some other Roman Ruins in the area Dad and I are strategizing on how we would have approached the wall. The wall, which was originally 2/3 higher, sits atop a high plateau. So getting over it was not easy!

That same day we went to the well-preserved Warkworth Castle and the beautiful Dunstanburgh Castle along the northern English coast near Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border. This place was truly a sight! Perched atop a hill overlooking the North Sea surrounded by sheep grazing and beautiful green grass.

No trip to the UK is complete (for me) without visiting a brewery. The Black Sheep beer had made its way into my belly years earlier after crossing the ocean in one of my dad's socks. It was a long-awaited introduction: