Arriving in the UK on the hottest day in recorded we tread as gently as possible so as to raise the ire for others, we came into the Tyne at Newcastle and headed for the borders, first stopping of at Bamburgh (no relation to the Bavarian city but rather the core fortress of this Northumbrian stronghold was named after the citadel captured by Anglo-Saxon warrior queen Ida of Bernicia called Bebba and thus Bebbanburg first established in the fifth century.
Next fearing to be washed out by a high tide (see previously)we took a protracted tour of Lindisfarne, the Holy Isle, before visiting the ruins of Tantallon (a corruption of the descriptor din talgwn, high walled fortress) in North Berwick on the sea cliffs overlooking the Firth of Forth.
The fourteenth century stronghold was constructed by William Douglass and withstood multiple incursions until finally abandoned as a ruin after Oliver Cromwell‘s attempted invasion of Scotland during the interregnum in 1651. Opposite it lays Bass Rock in the firth, originally hosting the hermitage of Saint Baldred but now a reservation for sea birds—particularly a colony of gannets.
Then after setting up camp on the outskirts of the city, we took the bus into Edinburgh (Dรนn รideann) to get a few impressions of the capital—which could of been a visit by itself. Our tour mostly confined to Castle Rock, Arthur‘s Seat, the mountain at the city centre (but we had a nice windshield tour with public transport nonetheless) hosting an ensemble of ancient buildings. There was also the Flower Clock of Edinburgh—presently commemorating the Queen’s jubilee.
