Interlude Post 2 from Edinburgh, Scotland

We have been so busy, no rest for the weary!  Since Paris, we have biked amongst giant French country chateaux, toured an abbey on a rock (Mont St. Michel), visited D Day beaches and caught the 4 hour car ferry to Poole, England.

Arriving in England, we visited Bath (of Jane Austen era fame), Avebury (largest stone circle in the WORLD) and it's more famous neighbor Stonehenge, which surprisingly did live up to the hype.  The next day we headed west to Devon and Cornwall and enjoyed Cornish pasties (phylo-dough steak pies) and cream tea (thick clotted cream and jam on a scone with a cup of tea).  We visited windswept seaside cliffs and ate fish and chips in viilages that reminded us of downeast Maine.  We saw castle ruins and lots of sheep.  We hiked amongst the windy moors and alongside more sheep and cows and the occasional horse.

From the west we spent a couple of days in London, seeing the sights despite the rain and visiting Greenwich, home of longitude zero and the first clocks used to help mariners determine their position.  The history we have immersed ourselves in is staggering, it's difficult to sort out which King Henry was married to which wife and which ones lost their heads, but it's all fascinating.  From London we headed north, stopping at Leicester (the original), Cambridge (on graduation day unbeknownst to us!), Petersborough (home of a relatively unknown but amazing cathedral), hiked in Yorkshire Dales into a Limestone "Scar" or 80m deep canyon.  From there we went north to Hadrian's Wall, the northern limit of the Roman Empire in its heyday 2000 years ago, and a beautiful hilltop hike.  We managed 7 miles on a rainy day, but the trail spans 73 miles from coast to coast, most of which the thick, rock wall is still in tact.

We've been in Scotland for only 2 days and already are in love.  Its Kodiak weather (cold and mostly rainy with snippets of glorious sunshine), but it's beautiful and laid back with lots of down to earth personality.  We've visited abbeys that were put out of use in the 1600s but still stand today, shells of earlier churches of greatness, including the rescued Rosslyn chapel of Da Vinci Code fame, its intricate carvings are a marvel indeed.  Edinburgh was our destination today, the castle was crowded so we opted for enjoying the external view and walking the streets and exploring the wares and musicians and food smells of this small but vibrant city.  Tomorrow we head to the highlands to do some hiking in the wildlands, hopefully the sun makes a more consistent appearance!

We've only spent 2 nights in a hotel since our initial arrival and it's working out quite well.  The campgrounds here are very nice and everywhere.  We've slept amongst goats (no need to cut the grass with them around!), in view of castles, within walking distance of a metro station, and even in the backyard of a pub.  The facilities are top notch and well marked, so we never worry about finding a place to sleep.  We equipped well in France with a tent that literally takes 2 seconds to set up and an air mattress that rivals the boat for comfy-ness.  There are so many local treats to try that we have done surprisingly little cooking, and we want to see so much in each day that we don't spend much time in the campground other than to shower and sleep.  It is nice to have a hot shower at the end of each day, a luxury we didn't even have on the boat...so in some ways, we're moving up in the world!

As we drive from place to place, we read up on the history or any other interesting tidbits of information we can gather, and have been keeping a written log as we do on Navigator to cronicle our adventures so we can remember the details in the future.  We are taking so many pictures that we have to download and label them every couple of days before we forget where it was we took the picture!  Chris is queing up a couple of interesting video projects once we get back to the slower pace of boat living, and we're having fun collecting the footage he'll need.

Next up is Ireland and we eagerly await the arrival of Kathy and Barbara to come adventuring with us for a tour of the land of limericks and leperchauns.

Until next time, to use the vernacular, Cheers!