Thanks to the British Council, I found myself in the UK once again. No Glasto or any other muddy musical festival this year (though I scored myself another likely useless but pretty, pretty pair of wellies!) as I decided I wanted to be a cheesy tourist and explore more of Britain this time. Had a friend/former colleague join in the fun, too!

First stop - Edinburgh, Scotland (oh yeah). It's a compact city with Princes Street, the main shopping district, in the middle dividing the Old from the New Town. Along this thoroughfare are the landmarks Scott Monument, the Balmoral Hotel, the National Gallery & the Royal Scottish Academy. Connecting the Old Town from the New Town are 18th century North Bridge and the Waverly Bridge.

As the name suggests, the Old Town is the ancient city through which the Royal Mile runs. It stretches through 4 streets -- Castle Hill - where the Edinburgh Castle rests, Lawnmarket, High Street and finally Canongate where you'll find the Scottish House of Parliament (the only modern building on the stretch) and at the very edge, the Palace of Holyrood House.

Edinburgh was home base for about 3 days as we took a couple of daytrips to the highlands and castles and such (photos in suceeding albums). Except for a short spell on the first day, it was cloudy and raining all throughout. Can't imagine Scotland all sunshiney with butterflies fluttering about though, so you could say the gloom was just about perfect.