Scotland

We drove south towards Edinburgh with fewer stops because we knew we needed to pace ourselves to make it back to London in time for our flight to Paris.

We visited Stirling Castle which was undergoing some extensive renovation work and we were intrigued with the pale, golden colour of the stone of the great hall.  We had become used to the dour grey of the other old buildings we had seen and were startled by the beauty and light of the limed stone.  It would have been good to be able to see inside but we were only able to peer in the doorway where the work was happening - it seems the inside will be just as remarkable as the outside when it's finished.

The castle is very well kept and it's position, high on that rocky tor seems invincible.  Looking down from the walls the symetrical mounds of earth that once formed the royal gardens are clearly visible - I wonder if they will ever consider restoring these gardens to their former glory?

From a public phone near the castle we called Will's (Roger's Best Man) parents, Bill and June who live not far from Edinburgh, on the Firth of Forth and arranged to visit them that afternoon.  They made us very welcome and we had a lot of fun with them and ended up staying the night.  We met Kerry (Will's sister) and her husband Sean and their little girl and had a very filling dinner and too much to drink in the local pub - it was a lot of fun.