Hogmanay

Last week for New Year’s,  Jack and I went to Hogmanay,  a big festival in downtown Edinburgh. There were concerts and a street party and all kinds of events. We got tickets to the street party and rented a hostel for the night. It was very fun – they lit off fireworks every hour from 9 pm to midnight, each time getting better until the finale. There was music, mulled wine and all sorts of German food. Security was very tight but nothing happened as far as I know, besides people getting so drunk that they were unconscious in the street. Jack and I didn’t sleep at all that night, and caught a tram back to where the family was at 9 am the next morning, because Mom and Ryan wanted to leave early to go to Fort Williams.
I slept for about 18 hours, and when I woke up I found out Mom had gotten us tickets to ride the train that they film some of Harry Potter on. It was beautiful. We went to Mellaig,  a small fishing town and then caught the train back. After that we headed down to several small towns on the way to York, not stopping in any of them very long. There was a lot of flooding going on in the UK – a town we visited not long ago, Whitby, was completely cut off because of the flood, and several streets in York were underwater. After York we revisited Chester, and now we are in Wales.
We have just left Caernarfon for the second time, after visiting it, Conwy and Bemaris again so Ryan could see it. We’re on our way to Stone Henge,  then Salisbury and then up to London.
It’s only five days until Ryan leaves, which is why we’re moving around so much. Re-visiting the castles was fun,but I’m more excited for Salisbury and the cathedral there, which is supposed to be beautiful. I’m not sure how it compares to York Minster, but I think it’s supposed to be bigger and better.