Leaving Cambridge I headed to Edinburgh via Newcastle with the hopes of glimpsing some of Hadrian's Wall.  This was not to be, although the ancient Roman wall did pass directly through Newcastle, none of this portion remains to be seen today.

Despite my failed attempts at discovering the wall I did have a good (albeit wet) day wandering this bustling city.

I did find a wall, just not Hadrian's.  This is part of the old town wall dating back to the 13th century if my memory doesn't deceive me.

Pride of place in the centre of town is this imposing statue of Earl Grey.  This fellow playing an important role in bringing about the Reform Act of 1832 and the abolition of slavery in Britain..... And yes he invented earl grey tea (apparently to mask the strong lime taste of the water in the region)

The keep is all that remains of the castle after which Newcastle got its name.  Some pretty spectacular views from the top...

Situated on a river, Newcastle has a lot of bridges

This is the Millennium Bridge (I'm getting the impression that a lot of building went on in Britain around the turn of the millennium)

Eventually I crossed the border and set foot in Scotland for the first time.  I landed in the capital, Edinburgh is a very beautiful city. I only saw a little in my two days (too little!) there but the architecture is stunning, there is an overabundance of statues, plenty of history (of course) and a surprising number of hills.

This is one of my first impressions, its a monument to Sir Walter Scott (he is sitting in the middle).  The Scots appear to be very proud of their writers.

Just wandering the streets.

This is the National Museum of Scotland, the Grand Gallery was impressive by the shear amount of open space.  There were a lot of exhibitions, we only dented the surface in the few hours we spent there.  Did you know that Scotland is moving away from England?  Give it a couple million years and they will be two separate islands again.

This is St Giles Cathedral, I still don't know what St Giles did, but the cathedral in his name was pretty impressive.  I particularly liked it for its rough stone work.  It didn't have the same polish as some of the cathedrals I have seen around Bath, which made it seem more... timeless.

Of course there was a fair amount of spectacularly intricate carving as well.

We then made the decision to climb Arthur's Seat, its a tough ascent but the views from the top are amazing!  You realise just how big the city really is.  On the descent I found what looked like a path... it wasn't.  Turned out getting down was more of an adventure than anticipated.

Look its me, on top of the world :)

Of course a visit to Scotland would not be complete without whisky.  Our Scotch whisky experience included a barrel ride through the whisky making process, a small tasting and a visit to the largest collection of Scotch whisky in the world.

This is only one cabinet, there were more than 3,000 bottles!

Lastly but definitely not least was Edinburgh Castle.  Its still a military base today and has played a vital role in the various battles between Scotland and England.  Of course it was also the birth place of James VI (of Scotland, I of England).

A very big gun!  Its called Mons Meg.

This is Holyrood Palace its where the queen resides when she is in Scotland.