Crossing the border!

Today was another action-packed day! We could have stayed in York for the entire 10 days and still wouldn't see everything. We would love to come back someday. We woke up and walked into the city after breakfast, and saw the York Minster Abbey. It was breathtaking!!

Then we went to the York Castle Museum, and to Clifford's Tower, which was originally built in 1068! The original was made of wood, and after it was burnt down the stone one that's still there today was built in the late 1200s. The coolest part was being able to go up into the top of the wall and look out over the city.

Then it was time to get back in the car! We headed to Castle Howard, which was ridiculous. People actually still live there! No wonder the peasants in England kept revolting, when the aristocracy had houses like this. I mean, really. But it was so, so beautiful. We didn't even get to see the entire grounds!

And then it was onward to Hadrian's Wall, the original end to the Roman empire and the onetime border between England and Scotland. Not much of the wall was left in the spot we went, but we did get to see the Temple of Mithras, which Tyler wrote a term paper on in college! Likely built in the 1st century, it was a small temple built into the ground as part of a Roman settlement.

The coolest part was that it is located on private land, but the farmer who owns it is kind enough to allow visitors to see it. As long as we don't disturb his cows and sheep. This caveat was tough to fulfill when one sheep decided we were very interesting!

Then we drove the last two hours through indescribably beautiful country scenery, through Northumberland...

...And across the border into Scotland.

We made our way into Edinburgh around 8:30pm, and grabbed some dinner at a local pub. We also stopped in at a Whisky bar and had a flight of Whisky for tasting! It's so amazing to us how each city we've been to really has its own personality, architecture, and general feel. Here's Edinburgh's historical district; the first photo is on the way into town, the second is from our hotel window!

Tomorrow we will check out Castle Edinburgh before leaving to catch our ferry in Aberdeen that will take us to Shetland!