THIS MORNING AFTER sleeping in a great double bed and after sleeping for nine hours, I got up for a best breakfast yet. Ann still wasn't feeling great so I decided to go up one of the hills. I dressed warmly as it was incredibly high, then away I went. At the bottom of the hill it was relatively windy. After hiking through fields of cacti, heather and muck, I finally achieved the summit. Windswept. I learned the true meaning of the word. I could stand and lean against the wind. It was so bad that I couldn't look into the wind as the cloud droplets felt like tiny spikes. From the incredible view, I took a few pictures then just took it all in.

I didn't want to be too long so I walked back down the mountain. My legs were slightly tired; they were ready to collapse! I finally made it back to Mrs. Graham's. She has been the best hostess yet. A 5-star.

We got into the car and drove to Abbotsford which was the home of Sir Walter Scott. He'd built a huge castle on the edge of the Tweed River. He had a great library and armaments room which I took some pictures of for ideas.

We continued on to Kelso which is supposed to be one of the prettiest places in the world, according to Scott. We ate lunch and I ate bananas, an apple, milk and scones. We drove on along the border to Berwick-on-Tweed then along the coast.

I must have taken a million photos of the huge cliffs down to the North Sea. We headed to the water at St. Abb's where I was told that the excitement of the summer is when a university group of scuba divers leaves from here. Supposedly, the waters are teeming with flora and fauna along with numerous caves at the bottom of the cliffs (Numerous pirates at one time, also witch burnings.)

We continued north to Cove where we went through a cave to the water and shore. There was one building down there. I don't think they get any tenants here. I loved it - I picked up a souvenir shell from this ancient smuggler's cove.

Continuing on along the shore, it was getting late so we followed the signs to Edinburgh rather than keeping along the coast. By 5 pm we'd arrived so we drove aimlessly about looking for a B&B and ended up going to the TIC.

The TIC pointed us in the right direction so along we went. I thought York couldn't be surpassed. It has been by far. As we got to the downtown area, we drove parallel to the Royal Mile. Each building is better than the last. It culminates with the castle at the top of the hill. It is the most impressive castle I've seen yet. Everything here looks extra-old due to the soot. During the Industrial Revolution many cities must have been unbearable. Today we see this from the dirt on the exterior of old structures. Some of them are cleaned but none here. Regardless, I was awestruck and am anxious for tomorrow's grand tour of the city.

We found an acceptable B&B not too far from downtown for £10 each. Everything was moved in, then we immediately went for supper. I ate snacks and we saw videos - Madonna's 'Live to Tell' was on twice. Was I impressed or what?! There was no more food left so we went to get chips then returned to the hotel. As I filled in this journal we watched a video awards program from Montreux, France, with a lot of European tunes, most of which I actually knew. What a relief to actually hear my music after so long!