Edinburgh Castle

We have had a huge day of sightseeing today. We spent the morning in Edinburgh Castle and waited to see the firing of the cannon at 1pm. We then wandered down the Royal Mile past buskers to Dynamic Earth. We even dropped in to the gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse near the Scottish Parliament building. Sophie and Will were very impressed with Dynamic Earth, with a 4D movie about the biomes and interactive displays from volcanoes to glaciers. We had dinner at Pizza Hut and returned tired, after a great day, to our room at the Premier Inn.

National Military Museum in Edinburgh Castle

in the Military Museum

Will and a statue

Inside the Palace in Edinburgh Castle

Firing of the cannon at 1pm

Edinburgh Castle

A William Wallace busker on the Royal Mile

Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile

Dynamic Earth education centre

Display inside Dynamic Earth

Volcano display at Dynamic Earth

Polar display at Dynamic Earth

Evolution - brain - at Dynamic Earth

To St Neots and Cambridge

We have moved out of our rental house for a week during mid term break - saving rent while we are in Scotland. We had to pack up and be out of the house by 8.30am on Saturday morning to get Sophie to a trampolining birthday party. I dropped Sophie and John at Energi and then took Will for a hair cut - at a hairdressers that has been recommended to us. It has taken me 3-4 weeks to find a time when Will is free and the hairdressers is open! I then picked up John and dropped him and Will at the Railway Museum in York before collecting Sophie. The Flying Scotsman wasn't there on display - as it is now being used for tours - and was down in London - but there were plenty of great trains, including the Stephenson's Rocket.

After collecting Sophie from the party, we dropped off our hire car and caught the train down to Peterborough and on to St Neots to stay with Tony and Jackie (John's cousin). After a pizza dinner, the kids watched Real Madrid versus Athletico and were impressed with Ronaldo on the TV, even though he commented to the media that he had played poorly. On Sunday, Jackie suggested that Sophie and Will stay with their cousins, which meant a great day of football (soccer) playing (with Richard and 3-year old Thomas), eating chips, drinking lemonade and playing with 9-month old Bethany. John and I went into Cambridge for sightseeing. I remembered parts of Trinity College and the bridges on the Cam but the markets seemed very unfamiliar. The whole area was packed with tourists for the long weekend. There was a queue to get into Kings College Chapel but we didn't wait as I've been in there before. Instead, we went into the Fitzwilliam Museum, which was very impressive - Italian paintings, pottery and armour, in a huge sandstone building. After another night catching up with Tony and Jackie, we caught the train to Edinburgh.

York Station

Fitzwilliam Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum

Stephenson's Rocket - York Railway Museum

Kings College Chapel

Punts on the Cam

Kings College

Tennis and 'Ye Ha'

After tennis training on Monday afternoon, Will went to matches on Tuesday afternoon at St Olaves in York. John and I took the opportunity to do some more sightseeing in York before watching the games. There was a 'birds of prey' exhibit in the York Botanic Gardens. The gardens are spectacular with sandstone ruins mixed with the garden beds and a tudor building on top of a roman base. Will played well in his doubles match and they scraped through for a win. He was outplayed in the singles but held out well with some long rallies and was pleased with his game, given that he was in the under 12s.

On Wednesday, we continued our walk towards the coast and found a good trail out of Sherburn that combines the Wolds Way and Centenial Way. The day ended up rainy but Will managed to fit in his school excursion to Howsham Mill. The following day, the weather cleared a little and we visited Beningbrough Hall. The Hall is 300 years old this year and was refurbished to display some works from the National Portraits Gallery. We then called in at Monks Cross shopping centre. We have found a reasonable travel agent and are going to them for advice on a few parts of our Europe trip. We booked the Norway cruise through them which helped to get a better price on a similar family cabin to the higher priced tickets. We are hoping that they can line up a package with ferries and accommodation for a week in Croatia, as we will be there in peak time. The remainder, we have been booking ourselves online.

The school play (for years 3,4 and 5) was on Thursday night and Will did a great job as one of the townsfolk in a Cowboys and Indians production called 'Ye Ha'. He then filled in on another part on the Friday afternoon, for the second performance.

Cherries again! Beningbrough Hall

Beningbrough Hall

Portraits in Beningbrough

Flight display in York Botanic Gardens

Beningbrough tea house

Will's tennis against St Olaves, York

Tennis at St Olaves

'Ye Ha' school play - cowboys and indians

Fountains Abbey

The Sports Day was cancelled due to a wet field on Saturday which freed us up to make some travel bookings. We are now starting our European adventure with a trip to Norway in mid July!

On Sunday, we had a visit from Tony and Jackie (John's cousin), for lunch and afternoon tea, with Sophie and Will giving them a tour of various playgrounds.

Today, after sorting out a few emails - including the forms to say that we would be out of Australia during the Federal Election, we drove out to Ripon and visited the cathedral and Fountains Abbey. The National Trust seem to have maintained their buildings beautifully and added cafes and playgrounds around them.

We were back to Terrington, via Harrogate, in time to collect Sophie after prep and Will after tennis training. Will then went back up to school for the 'junior Terrington's got talent'.

Walking trail through paddocks near Scampston

John's part of the walking trail

Ripon Cathedral

Fountains Abbey

Lower parts of Fountains Abbey

Fountains Hall

Will on the piano at Talent Night

John at Fountains Hall

Scampston Hall

I've now downloaded the photos of Scampston Hall. It is yet another historic location tucked in behind the trees. We also drove out to Filey to see the coast and check walking track options.

Our train tickets to Edinburgh for the mid-term break are now booked and we have also booked a 2-day tour up into the Scottish Highlands. We are going down to Cambridgeshire to see Tony and Jackie (John's cousin) next weekend, before heading north. They are also coming up this way for a visit this weekend. We are moving out of our rental for the week of the mid-term break and returning our hire car - as public transport should be fine.

Bridge at Scampston Hall

Goslings at Scampston Hall

Scampston Hall

Filey

Filey town

Hoe Down

John returned from Australia, after Daniel's wedding on the Central Coast and trips to see his mum and my mum. We collected him on Monday evening from York Station after school. I had spent most of the afternoon in Malton after a morning of emails and some organising for the trip to Europe.

We visited the Lavender Farm on Tuesday, spent Wednesday morning talking to a travel agent - with not much luck - and then watched Will's cricket in the afternoon at Terrington. We were hoping to find an organised way to travel in Norway, as it is difficult to line up accommodation and public transport remotely. However, it seems that it will be best to do most bookings on our own. Even cruises seem to be best booked directly online. Will's cricket team did well again, coming away with a win against St Martins Ampleforth.

Sophie and Will went back after school for the Hoe Down. The school has organised various dances in the past and decided to make it a bush dance this time. They both had a great time but are now tired. John and I continued the walk, this time between Rillington and Scagglethorpe and joined a tour through Scampston Hall gardens, focused on information about the garden designer and architect. There was even a bridge built like a pavilion over a specially widened beck (creek).

Will had a trip to Headingley Leeds today to watch the first day of the test match between England and Sri Lanka. He is then boarding - so is going to be exhausted. They both have Sports Day on Saturday and will need to recover some sleep before then.

Roadside forest on the road to Malton

Will takes a wicket

Terrington Lavender - maze

Cricket sculptures at the Lavender Farm

Malton's mini shambles

Will takes a catch at Terrington

Congratulations on another wicket - bowled

The Hoe Down

Cherry tree leaning over the school fence