Scotland the damp

I've just been woken by the tap of steady but light rain on the window & the sound of numerous seagulls in the distance. We're in Aberdeen @ staying close to the water. The beach area has been done up with shops, cinemas etc but as Daz commented - with all thd large ships it still has an early Port Kembla feel. (Early because before all the security you could drive/ walk around there & look at shops & docks all lit up at night.) Daylight seems tone getting longer as we move North, 11.20pm last night & there was still pink, orange & aqua light streaked across the horizon.
The city itself is interesting as the overall effect is grey and the stonework is quite flat, 2D. Sounds dreadful & dreary but it's actually just soft & mute, like it's trying not to be noticed too much.
Took quite a while finding a B&B here - lots of people live in the city during the week for work then head home on weekends to the various outlying villages.
We're heading off to Inverness today so we'll get to see some of those villages & probably a few more castles!
We had a great time in Edinburgh, so busy seeing we didn't have time for blogging. Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace & lots of street exploring - fantastic. Had another of those 'can't believe I'm here' moments standing in Mary Queen of Scots chambers, just incredible.

Kids survive walking the walls of York - not sure they're soldier material!

Kicked off York with a ghost trail tour around the streets, not as scary as expected but mord humour & history so still good. Bram managed to get himself beheaded 3 times in a demo of the botched death of a previous Duke who is said to haunt ' the Shambles'.
Next day we went to the Dungeon interactive museum & it certainly kicked up the fear factor, heart rate didn't slow for 20 mins after leaving!!!
Did the local open top bus tour to learn about the layout & history of the town & it's all pretty compact so we were able to get our bearings quickly. Managed to balance the history with some retail therapy so all good.
Last morning we set out ti scale the walls......using the carefully maintained paths considerately restored by thd Victorians etc. The kids have already aclimatised, 22C @ they were complaining about the heat along with the locals! Admittedly the wall was warm but not humid like home - think they need a stint with the Romans to nock them into shape :)