Tuesday 19 May 2015,
It rained on and off during the night and during the day. The weather here is certainly variable!
We were low on diesel and so I mistakenly stopped at a BP service station where the price of diesel was 132.9 pence per litre. ₤61.00 later the Merc was full. (45.90 litres @ ₤1.329 per litre = ₤61.00) This has to be the most expensive diesel in Britain!
We left the Lake District and headed towards Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall. Our first stop was the Housteads Roman Fort and Museum at Vindolanda. It was hard to tell what was original and what had been reconstructed. So we headed off to the English Heritage managed site at Birdoswald in Cumbria. There is the ruins of a Roman Fort here as well as being able to wander for miles alongside Hadrian's Wall. It was something of a challenge to take an interesting photo of a stone wall!
I had always assumed that Hadrian's Wall marked the border between England and Scotland, but it seems as though is slices its way through Northumberland and is no where near the border

Remains of the Roman Fort at Vindolanda, Northumberland

Reconstructed tower on Hadrian's Wall at Vindolanda, Northumberland

Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, Cumbria, with dark thunder clouds	Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, Cumbria
Briar beside Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, Cumbria	Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, Cumbria

It was raining when we arrived and rapidly changed into brilliant sunshine, although we could hear thunder not far away. We sat in the sun in the courtyard of the English Heritage office/museum complex and ate our lunch. As we drove to our night's accommodation in Blanchland, Northumberland we passed through driving rain and the temperature outside the car suddenly to 3˚C. Sleet splattered on the windscreen. A few miles later the temperature was back up to 7˚C and we were in sunshine again.
We arrived at the Lord Crewe Arms at about 4:00pm. The heating in our allocated room was faulty and it was way too hot. The new control valves on the oil heaters were faulty and they couldn't be turned off. Consequently the room was like walking into a sauna bath. We were moved to another larger room; a cottage and settled in.

Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland, Northumberland

The front bar, Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland, Northumberland

The back of the Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland, Northumberland

From the back of the Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland, Northumberland

We joined four other people from a farm just outside of Bristol for dinner. It was a pleasant evening.

Wednesday 20 May 2015,
We had perfect weather today with a few clouds about and the temperature reaching about 16˚C. We left Blanchland, Northumberland at about 8:15am and headed north into Scotland and Loch Lomond. We had to put some more air in the back tyre of the Merc.
The first thing we noticed was the number of unsightly wind farms littering the countryside. I thought Australia had a lot of these but southern Scotland seems to have more than its fair share.
We deviated on the way and went to Stirling for a short time. We saw the castle but didn't go in.

Street in Stirling, Scotland	Street in Stirling, Scotland
Stirling Castle, Scotland	Street in Stirling, Scotland

We arrived at the Oak Tree Inn, Balmaha, Loch Lomond just after 3:00pm and checked in.

Southern end of Loch Lomond	Loch Lomond at Balmaha, Scotland
Fisherman on Loch Lomond at Balmaha, Scotland	Loch Lomond at Balmaha, Scotland
Loch Lomond at Balmaha, Scotland	Fisherman on Loch Lomond at Balmaha, Scotland

The cottage where we finally spent the night (upstairs only)

A lovely old barn alongside out cottage, Balmaha, Scotland

We have a nice room although it is a little on the small side and the internet connection is a little suspect or non existant. The room gets very warm from the sun shining through the south facing skylight and although we can open the window for ventilation, the window is next to the flu from an extractor fan from the kitchen or compressor near the kitchen, which is immediately below us, and is quite noisy and fills the room with cooking odours. The staff assure us it will quieten down at about 9:30pm. This is probably the worst hotel we have stayed in during our trip so far.
We wandered around the lake for about an hour, chatted with a couple from Lancashire, and took quite a few photos.
The noise from the kitchen fans finally got to us and we asked to be moved. We were moved to a cottage and had to carry our luggage about 100 metres up the road. We had the upstairs room of a three bedroom cottage. It is quiet, but hot, and the windows only partially open. There is an internet connection but it has been hijacked by BT Hub even though I logged onto the hotel server. It is still very ordinary service and accommodation.

Thursday 21 May 2015,
We finally cooled our room down by opening two of the three windows wide open (the third wouldn't open) and had a peaceful nights sleep. The internet in our room seemed to have fixed the previous night's problem and I could check our emails. We were on the road again at about 8:15am. We headed south from Balmaha to the bottom end of Loch Lomond and then north up the western shore of the lake. The weather closed in and we drove through constant rain. We climbed through some quite strange terrain, with patches of snow on the distant mountains. It was a very bleak environment. Then we slid down into Glencoe.

Between Balmaha and Glencoe, Scotland	Between Balmaha and Glencoe, Scotland
Between Balmaha and Glencoe, Scotland, just before Glencoe	Between Balmaha and Glencoe, Scotland, just before Glencoe
Glencoe, Scotland	Glencoe, Scotland
Glencoe, Scotland	Glencoe, Scotland

 The peaks were all in fog and some of the valley was almost in half sunlight.
 

We took plenty of photos and moved onto Fort William. Ben Nevis (4,406 m) is just behind Fort William but was covered with fog and we could only see a little bit of snow on the lower levels. We stopped in Fort William and visited the mineral museum. We then continued on through Glenfinnan on the shores of Lock Shiel and up to the fishing port of Mallaig.

Between Glenfinnan and Mallaig, Scotland	Between  Glenfinnan and Mallaig, Scotland
Between Glenfinnan and Mallaig, Scotland	Fishing boat, Mallaig, Scotland
Fishing boat, Mallaig, Scotland	Between Glenfinnan and Mallaig, Scotland

By the time we got to Mallaig the rain was constant. We stopped from time to time and I got out into the rain to take photos. I took a few photos around the harbour and then we headed back to our night's accommodation at the Princes's House Hotel in Glenfinnan. The room is large, quiet and very comfortable with easy internet connection. It rained all afternoon and night.
We had salmon for dinner at the bar. It was beautiful. After dinner we drove to the viaduct made famous in the Harry Potter films. This entailed parking the car and undertaking a 500 metre walk in the rain to get close enough to take decent photos.

The railway viaduct at Glenfinnan, Scotland

The railway viaduct at Glenfinnan, Scotland

The Glenfinnan Viaduct was complete enough by October 1898 to be used to transport materials across the valley. It was built at a cost of £18,904. The viaduct is built from mass concrete (contains no steel reinforcement), and has 21 semicircular spans of 50 feet (15 m). It is the longest concrete railway bridge in Scotland at 416 yards (380 m), and crosses the River Finnan at a height of 100 feet (30 m). The viaduct has featured in Monarch of the Glen and three of the Harry Potter films.3]

Friday 22 May 2015,
We left Glenfinnan just before 9:00am. It was an easy four hour run into Edinburgh. We put ₤25.00 of diesel in the car at Fort William and topped it up in Edinburgh with another ₤38.00 worth.

We found our accommodation, Ardmor House in Pilrig Road easily enough. We have a huge upstairs room with a large bay window overlooking the street. We were welcomed by Robin who told us everything we needed to know our room and how to get about Edinburgh. He gave us a map and clearly explained where he thought  the hire car should be returned. We trusted the GPS instead and ended up in thoroughly the wrong place. A very patient British Rail employee explained how to get to the hire return office. Obviously we weren't the first to be given the wrong instructions. In hindsight, Robin's instructions were stop on and way shorter than the route we took.
We walked up Princes Street from the Europcar drop off point at Waverley Railway Station and looked at Edinburgh Castle across the valley. Edinburgh has people wandering about everywhere. It is very busy and has quite a number of beggars sitting on the footpaths plying their trade.
We bought sandwiches from Tescos and returned to our room on foot by about 5:00pm.

Saturday 23 May 2015,
We woke  to a sunny cloud free day.
There were parking restrictions out the front of our B&B this morning for a parade. The parade was in honour of all those killed in a train accident.
"Early in the morning of 22 May 1915 a troop train left Larbert, near Falkirk, carrying 498 members of the 7th. (Leith) Battalion The Royal Scots en route to Liverpool to embark for Gallipoli. Just before 7am the train crashed into a local train, parked on the wrong line, at Quintinshill, just north of Gretna. A minute later a Glascow-bound express ploughed into the wreckage. As a result of the crash, and the ensuing fire, 216 men died and a further 220 were injured. Most of those killed were buried in a communal grave in Rosebank cemetery, Pilrig Road."
During the day, we watched two parking inspectors in action, one here and one on the Royal Mile Walk. Each must have written the ticket and then taken 8-10 photos of the scene, just like a crime scene. About four photos of the car from different angles, including the number plate (front and back), the traffic warning sign, and the ticket attached to the windscreen wiper. A lot of these parking offences must end up in court, and the inspectors have become very diligent in their jobs.
We did the twenty minute walk from our B&B into the heart of the city. We walked down Princes Street and took photos again of Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Monument in memory of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). We then walked up to the castle. I didn't realise that the Edinburgh Military Tattoo was actually performed in the car park out the front of the castle. It has quite a slope on it, which doesn't show on the TV performance.
I had recorded an MP3 of Rick Steve's "Edinburgh Royal Mile walk." So we listened to that while we ambled down High Street and Canongate.

We checked out St Giles Cathedral, Old Parliament House, John Knox House, the Writers' Museum (although we didn't go in), Canongate Church and finally the Palace of Holyrood House, plus numerous shops selling jewellery, tartans and whisky. There were a number of venues advertising live music each night.

We walked back to our B&B, arriving at about 2:30pm. We had walked for nearly five hours.

Versatile Cast Iron Phone box, Edinburgh

A group of people having a barbeque on the Common across from our B&B

Sunday 24 May 2015,
Another warm and sunny day in Edinburgh. Breakfast was at 8:30am and the taxi came at 9:45am to take us to Waverley Railway station. We arrived at the station at 9:58am for our 10:30am train to London. Upon reading the Departures board we saw that the train to London was leaving on time at 10:00am!! We rushed to platform 2 and were about to board the waiting train, only to be told that this wasn't our train. Ours was the 10:30am train to London leaving from Platform 8, over the other side of the station. So much for my small town mentality. I never expected that they would have trains from Edinburgh to London running every 30 minutes on a Sunday morning!
Our two booked seats were in a group of four seats around a table. From Edinburgh to Newcastle the other two seats were occupied by a middle aged couple who were going to Newcastle to watch the "football" game between Newcastle United and West Ham.

The train from Edinburgh to London, before it filled up with other passengers

The Belgrave Hotel, 86 Belgrave Rd, Pimlico, London

From Newcastle to London we shared our space with a first generation English/West Indian fireman and his friend who had been up to Newcastle for a bucks night. We had a good chat with them.
We arrived at London's Kings Cross Station on time at 2:50pm and caught a black cab to our hotel on Belgrave Road. The old cab driver had a cockney accent and drove his brightly painted London cab with precision as he cut in between buses and other cars and generally gave the London traffic a good "hurry up." He had to do a few detours because of road closures "Gotta go over Westminster and then back across Lambeth." he said. Eventually (₤30.00 later, fare and tip) we got to our hotel and checked in.
The room is small but comfortable. It has no views except for a few walls and nearby rooftops. One nice feature is that as well as WiFi there is a cable to actually plug the laptop into the modem. I like that kind of solidarity!
We had dinner at the Victoria Street Station. They have a massive food hall and we opted for the "eat as much pizza and drink as much soft drink as you can drink" for a grand total of ₤20.00.

Monday 25 May 2015,
We went down to the Victoria Station for a quick breakfast at about 8:30am and then found "The Original" Hop On Hop Off bus just around the corner. There were road closures all over inner London due to road works and the Bupa 10,000 being run this morning. As a result the prerecorded description of what we were supposed to be seeing was out of sync or completely wrong.

We got off the bus and visited The Tower of London. We did the free guided tour with our allocated Beefeater, Bill. Bill was a tyrant but had a great sense of humour. There was a 40 minute wait to see the Crown Jewels and so we decided to give them a miss.

After spending a bit of extra time at The Tower we decided to try and walk to Chancery Lane but got hopelessly lost. The GPS on my phone doesn't seem to work very well in cities where there are tall buildings all around.
There is a competition on in London to photograph all 70 Shaun the Sheep located around London. I have photographed only four of them.

We ended up at St Paul's Cathedral and spent about an hour or so looking around.

We got back onto the Hop On Hop Off bus and headed back to Victoria Station which is our home base. We had dinner in a local pub and returned to our room just before 7:00pm.

Tuesday 26 May 2015,
Our last day in London was warm and sunny. We headed off to Prêt à Manger for breakfast at Victoria Station. It is a pretty impressive place, with fresh food and five cashiers ensuring that everyone is served within seconds.
After breakfast we caught our Hop On Hop Off bus into Piccadilly Circus. Picadilly Circus was much smaller than it looks in the movies. Took a few photos of some of the statues etc along the way.

I bought a map of the City of London as my phone GPS is still slow and unreliable. We then joined "The Original Tour" free walking tour of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Our guide, Adrian, was very good as he regularly checked with the Police along the route to find out the latest plans for the day. He soon gleaned from the Police there would be no Changing the Guard outside the Palace as they were rehearsing for the Trooping of the Colour in the nearby Wellington Barracks. He further found out that they would be finishing at 11:30am and marching up Petty France and Buckingham Gate Roads. We had front row places as they marched past.

Grenadier Guards - White plumes on left of bearskin; evenly-spaced tunic buttons.
Scots Guards - No plumes; tunic buttons in threes
After the Guards had gone we walked down to take some photos of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
We then did a thirty minute cruise on the Thames (included in our Hop On Hop Off tickets) from Westminster Bridge down to Tower Bridge.

 From the Tower of London we recaught our bus and rode to Blackfriars Bridge. We alighted and walked up to the Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane. The vaults are two levels below street level and each shop is accessed through a 4" thick fireproof door. There was a huge amount of silverware for sale and the prices were also huge. A small canteen of silver cutlery was on sale for ₤8,600. We had lunch in cafe across the road from the vaults, then walked back to Trafalgar Square.
We thought we would take the Hop On Hop Off bus back to Victoria Station but an apparent taxi strike in the area had all the tours re-routed away from Victoria. So we did the 45 minute walk down The Mall to Victoria, had a snack at Prêt à Manger and reached our hotel at about 5:30pm.

I found another three Shaun Sheep to photograph along our route.

Wednesday 27 May 2015,
We fly out from London to the Newark Airport via Zurich at 12.20pm today.
The taxi arranged by Great British escapes failed to arrive on time. We phoned them and were told they would arrive in 15-20 minutes and after they hadn't arrived after half an hour we were told they would probably be another half hour. They claimed the delays were due to road closures in our area for the opening of Parliament.
We decided to hail a cab out in the street and had a delightful journey to the airport. There were extensive road closures that continually blocked our route but our driver was unphased and explained that he would "just go down here and then back track down another road etc etc."
I think we saw nearly every possible way to get to London's City Airport from Pimlico.
We hailed him at 9:40am and it took an hour to get to our destination. It cost 60 pounds and I gave him a "fiver" to buy himself a beer for doing such a good job.
London City Airport is a strange place. It is uncrowded with very few people and offering minimal services. The duty free shops are almost non existent. It only services small planes, probably up to 100 passengers. So our Avro JP100 fitted in quite well. There are no air bridges, passengers walk out onto the tarmac and up the stairs onto the plane. The plane then taxis the length of the runway, as there are no service exits like at larger airports, turns in a cul de sac at the end of the runway and takes off. There appears to be an Olympic sized rowing course running parallel to the runway, about 100 metres from the runway.
Our one hour thirty minute flight was uneventful. We have a 2 hour wait in Zurich before flying out to Newark in USA. The flight from Zurich to Newark was 8½ hours. It was quite tiring. We arrived at Newark at about 8:15pm local time. It was about 30˚C and raining. By the time we picked up the car, a red Nissan Sentra, it was 9:15pm, dark and raining. The GPS said it would take 3¼ hours to get to our hotel in Suffern. I couldn't believe this was correct and it was a pleasant surprise when we unexpectedly arrived at the motel in Suffern at 10:15pm.