Andrew was obsessed with the frost and ice at Vindolanda so when we got back to Edinburgh I set him loose on the Edinburgh Christmas ice rink in St. Andrew’s Square.
Emily joined him on the ice rink; they both fell down and they both had fun.
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The boys took a side trip to Eire on Tuesday but the whole family ventured South of the border on Wednesday to visit with friends in Gilsland.
Of course no visit to Northumberland would be complete without including some aspect of Hadrian’s Wall and this occasion was no different as we managed to take in Housesteads and Vindolanda,
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Monday we took advantage of our Lothian Buses Ridacards and took the #41 bus from our hotel to George IV Bridge at the High Street. From there it is but a short walk, uphill, to Edinburgh Castle where we bought an Historic Scotland 7 day family pass which gets us into both Edinburgh and Stirling castles as well as many more historic sites.
We arrived at the Castle Esplanade around 12:45 and made our way up to the One o’clock gun battery just in time to witness the ceremonial firing of the gun at precisely 1 p.m. This coincides with the dropping of the timeball mechanism at the top of Nelson’s Monument on Carlton Hill the original purpose of both being to set the maritime clocks on ships needed to navigate the oceans.
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