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After so many weeks in more rural parts of the country, being in Edinburgh was bound to be a bit of a shock to our systems, and so it has proven. It's no fault of the city's — it's imposing and attractive, in many ways looking like a looming version of Bath. Add the fact that we've all been feeling less than 100%, and the weather has been resolutely Scottish, and it's not really been a fair shake. But, if our weather luck was going to run out, best that it happen in a city, where we can tour a

The kids were very keen to visit Loch Ness to search for its famed monster, so we all bundled into the car to make the 45-minute trip up the road to Fort Augustus at the south end of the loch. Because we had someone in sick bay yesterday, it was all a bit spur-of-the-moment. Just as we arrived, there happened to be a boat departing that very minute for a scenic cruise around the lake, so we hopped aboard. We lucked into a gloriously sunny day and had a lovely, informative tour. Amongst other tidbits, we learned that Loch Ness

With one child somewhat under-the-weather, it was a smaller than usual walking party that headed out to visit Steall Falls, the second-highest waterfall in Britain, in the shadow of Ben Nevis. Looking back down the valley at Ben Nevis Compared to the Hidden Valley, it was a pretty easy path, but there were still enough scrambles to keep things interesting. No ropes? No problem. Looking westward down the valley. The waterfalls drop 120 metres into the wonderfully named "Waters of Nevis" river, which flows out into the Loch a few miles away. The riverbed was an excellent spot for some rock-bashing. Walkers

The Glencoe Valley was the site of a massacre some 330 years ago. Some of the targets of the attack escaped to Coire Gabhail, or the "Hidden Valley," which was, in those days, quite difficult to find. Nowadays, there is a large carpark and a constant stream of walkers heading up a well-marked trail that takes you scrambling up a steep climb, over rivers, and alongside waterfalls. We had a properly Scottish weather experience on the day we tackled the hike — rain, snow, and sunshine all in the space of a few hours. Setting off in the rain and

You can just drive to the Giant's Causeway visitors centre and do the short 1km walk down to see the rock formations. But since the (very helpful) tourist board website recommended approaching the causeway via a coastal walk from Dunseverick, and we've turned into such ardent hikers on this trip, we opted for a ~7km hike instead. We have had so much stunning weather and scenery these last few weeks, that it's almost become a bit ho-hum. This walk was beautiful, with each successive headland revealing another spectacular set of cliffs and bays. But the causeway rock formations are the

The good weather followed us from North Wales to Ireland, and we've been blessed with glorious (and probably quite unseasonal) days of sunshine. We're staying in a cute little cottage in Ballycastle, a 5-minute walk away from the water. It's a beautiful corner of the world. A beach playground just around the corner from our house? This is the stuff five-year-old dreams are made of. The kids had their first ever horseback ride. Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge — one of the more famed attractions in Northern Ireland, in part due to its featuring in Game of Thrones — is just a ten-minute drive

Once our visit to the Titanic Museum was complete, we didn't really linger around Belfast, preferring instead to head to the Causeway Coast for more outdoor adventures. But we still found a little bit of time to wander around the city centre. Belfast City Hall St. Ann's Cathedral The view out over Belfast from Belfast Castle.