After our visit to London we move to Scotland, destination Glasgow.

The arrival in the Scottish city is peculiar: we are amazed by the sound of bagpipes that comes from the outside of the airport (a first taste of the local pageantry) and we are ‘shocked’ by local accent that makes English spoken by Scots, at least at the beginning, difficult to be understood by us.

Once recovered our baggage and rented a car (a black Ford Fiesta that will accompany us in our adventure without create particular problems or satisfactions: in short, an automobile with no infamy or praise) we start our adventure with a British car!

Even though Brits claim to drive 'on the correct side of the street' first meters are little fun: it's exactly the contrary of what we are accustomed to and at the first roundabout we are puzzled on which way is the correct one, luckily we follow the example of a car that goes before us. However, driving on the left is not as complicated as commonly believed, the first kilometers everything seems strange, but you get used fairly quickly, besides Scots are generally well educated and show really a great patience with the crowd of foreign tourists that often drive in the center of the streets and turn on the wrong way!. We soon identify the hotel where we are going to spend the night (Tulip Inn, located just a 5 minutes walk from the centre).

The change of temperature from London is clear: We pass from the hot London summertime (30 C) to a windy Scottish climate (15 C) and we soon have to turn our summer clothing into some warmer ones. Even local people, certainly used to this climate, are dressed in a fairly autumn style.

Unfortunately (also because of the chilly rain that starts to fall down as soon as we begin our walk in the city center) the city of Glasgow does not transmit us some sensations to remember: we find it relatively ugly and without special attractions except for a race bagpipes in George Square, the Cathedral and the vivacity of Buchanan Street.

The next morning the BBC alarm us with little reassuring news about alleged terrorist plans in the UK-US flights and the resulting blockage of all airports in UK. Today we move to Edinburgh: here it is still relatively cold, the weather is windy and the sun is hiding, but we are already getting accustomed to the Scottish summer and the festive atmosphere of the Edinburgh International Festival that breathes in every alley of the city puts all these drawbacks in the second floor.

With its towering medieval castle that stands out in the city centre, the Scottish capital is truly beautiful. The Royal Mile (the middle path that starts from the castle nearly a mile long and formed by four different roads that contain some of the major attractions of the city) dominates throughout Edinburgh. The Festival in full swing attracts young people from various parts of the world and makes the atmosphere particularly joyous and almost frantic. Throughout the Royal Mile we admire shows of various kinds that, alone, makes the visit of the city really pleasant. Also notably is the architecture of the town that seems to emerge from a classic movie or a novel by Sir Walter Scott.

We also visit the Castle, truly remarkable with its panoramic view of the city. To enter the castle we buy the Explorer Pass that provides access to various historic sites throughout Scotland (there are different durations available: we have chosen the option for 7 days) If you are going to visit more than a historic site in Scotland we recommend to purchase it to reduce somewhat the costs of your visits.

At lunch we decide to have a taste of a typical Scottish dish (well it seems that nowadays this is reserved just for tourists!): the Haggis, a sort of pudding made of lungs, liver and heart mixed with sheep fat kidney, onions, salt pepper and oats boiled in the stomach of a sheep and accompanied by a puree of turnips and potatoes. It results a very good and spicy meal although quite heavy to digest.

In the afternoon we complete our visit along the Royal Mile throughout its length and we plunge in the festive atmosphere of the festival with its local folklore, made up of young people featuring William Wallace with their face painted, girls who mimic street fighting, clowns and various bagpipers; walking down the street we find precisely the musical group of CLAN WALLACE, a musical group well known by lovers of this kind of music, It seems that a component of the band is a direct descendant of William Wallace who has participated as an appearance in the movie ‘Braveheart’ by Mel Gibson.

In the evening we reluctantly leave the city and head north towards Kinross where we have booked a night at Burnbank Bed and Breakfast. Now we are (almost) expert drivers and along the few miles that separate us from Kinross we enjoy the first taste of Scottish countryside with its delightful colors before sunset.