Chapter Thirteen: Up to Scotland

We decided to be brave and rent a car so we could roadtrip around Scotland and have the flexibility to get lost in it's beauty.  Daniel actually adjusted really well to driving on the left side of the road and getting used to roundabouts and moterways. 
On our way up to Scotland we stopped in York (an old viking town), and camped in the peak district ( a national park region).  Our first stop in Scotland was Edinburgh, pronounced: Edin-Bura.  We adored this city and had such a great time exploring it.  There is a castle on a cliff where many Harry Potter scenes were filmed, and it is right around where William Wallace is from.  We arranged to couch surf with a man in Edinburgh, thinking he would be some Scottish guy in a kilt, but coincidentally, he was from India.  His name was Shakar and we had a wonderful time exploring the city with him and talking about India.  He cooked us a homemade Indian meal and showed us one of his favorite Bollywood movies. 
We loved our time in Edinburgh and would love to come back to it some day. 

Welcome to Scotland!

Edinburgh

Old town

William Wallace

Flags everywhere for the Jubilee weekend.

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A street performer

How tartans used to be made.

City view from a little mountain.

This is a shot of the little mountain we climbed to overlook the city

We found an unfinished Grecian tower on the top of another hill.

Scotland was not nearly as crazy over the Queen's Jubilee as England was, but still, there were quite a few shops who dedicated their window displays to the event.

Shakar made us a fantastic Indian dinner

Us with our wonderful "Scottish" host, Shakar.  He was a great guy and we had a wonderful time with him.

The Queen's swan.  In the UK all the swans belong to the Queen.  This seriously cracks me up!  I wonder if she has named them all!?

Portland Square!

Baked goods from Bakewell!

Remnants of a castle on the hill in York.

We had lunch at the oldest pub in York.

A man playing the piano in the rain outside of the Cathedral.  Loved it!

York Carthedral

We decided to get lost along the coast of the North Sea and found a darling little castle on the shore that we had all to ourselves.

Fields and fields of mustard seed.

Daniel decided to start his own women's footware company.

The castle where Harry Potter was filmed in Edinburgh.