Edinburgh then next to Amsterdam

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Since last updating we have stayed for three nights in Milnathort, about 35 km north of Edinburgh, with an old friend of Paulette’s family.
On Tuesday we headed south out of Inverness stopping at Aviemore which is an outdoors/skiing/mountainbiking centre. The mountains are less than inspiring by NZ standards but have a beauty of their own and there certainly are plenty of outdoor enthusiasts about. We scored the only decent coffee so far then found the cafe is owned by a kiwi.
Next stop was at the Falls of Bruar where we had a stiff up hill walk to view a very picturesque and dramatic chasm. It was great but the drama was diminished by the major tourist complex with restaurant, gallery and food hall which has been developed at the bottom of the walk. Judging by the number of people on the walk relative to those at the tourist complex I figure the complex is more popular than the walk.
We stopped to eat our lunch at Blair Athol castle.
Wednesday was wet so we had a good (blether) chat with our hostess and after lunch headed to Stirling to visit the castle. The weather cleared a bit and after a good look round this great fortress I spent 30 minutes or so sketching the gate towers which I coloured later and you can see here. On our way back to Milnathort we stopped at Castle Campbell on a promontory high above Dollar. There was a good walk to get to the castle and with almost no other visitors it was more enjoyable than Stirling even if we were caught in a hail storm.
We spent the evening with the family of our hostess and it was great to meet her grandchildren.
Yesterday our excursion was to St Andrews and the lovely fishing villages of south Fife. Crail was our favourite. Later in the afternoon I walked out while Paulette was taken shopping and shetched the tower of Burleigh castle at Milnathort.
This morning we made our farewells and drove into Edinburgh where we walked the streets, visited the Scottish National Gallery and the castle.
First thing tomorrow we fly out for Amsterdam.
Further updates will depend upon when I can find wi fi access.

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