Sunshine in Edinburgh
 

Quest for Cheng tartan on Princes Street
 

After running a few errands, we did a little sightseeing in the afternoon checking out Princes St with a stop at the tartan shop on the quest to find the the Cheng tartan.  No luck there.  We walked through the gardens and climbed up the Scott monument and took a short trip to the coast.  Derek's flat was in Leith which is where the Proclaimers are from and where their album "Sunshine in Leith" references.

We headed off to Stirling to visit Stirling Castle and the Wallace monument.  The Battle of Stirling Bridge is where Wallace kicked some English butt.  Since we got an early start and the Wallace monument was still closed, we headed to Stirling Castle for a quick look around without heading inside.  In hindsight, we should have purchased a 3-day explorer pass for 16£ which would have given us admission to all historic sites.  Instead we paid the same price to see two sites only.

With Nessie at Loch Ness
 

Wallace statue with monument in background in Stirling
 

At the Wallace monument, there is a statue of William Wallace which looked suspiciously like Mel Gibson.  Supposedly it had been previously decapitated by locals so it had a fence protecting it when the area is closed.  The story behind the statue was that it was made by a sculptor who was inspired after watching Braveheart hence the likeness to Gibson.

We climbed the tower with a stop inside to see the Wallace sword (probably not authentic).  The top of the tower was like Sauron's tower in Lord of the Rings (or was that Saurumon?).  We then headed off through the Scottish Highlands to Inverness and a drive around Loch Ness.  My second attempt to locate the Cheng tartan in Loch Ness was a dismal failure as well.  We stopped at Urquart Castle (could've gotten in with the Explorer pass) and through a more scenic drive back to Edinburgh.  It was cool and cloudy and I was starting to lose my tan.

We were off in the morning to Arthur's Seat with a view of the city and then to Calton Hill for some more pictures.  In hindsight, we should've recreated the the album cover of the Proclaimers "Sunshine of Leith".

Edinburgh from Calton Hill
 

Derek and Me at Arthur's Seat
 

It was then off to Edinburgh castle.  Admission was 10£ and it was a mini Tower of London except it was on a hill.  We walked the Royal Half Mile before heading back.  In the evening, it was off to a Scottish pub located in a new entertainment complex for some pints of French beer and shots of Scotch.