To our surprise there was a lake nestled in a basin near the top. This explained all the waterfalls gushing over the land as we climbed up.
The local sheep were seriously friendly... I think living off food scraps from the thousands of climbers.
We found a trig mark at the top
The token..'made it to the top' photos were taken
The walls were pretty impressive, this one continued over the hill you see in the background and then all the way back down the mountain.
We lucked in with some great weather for the weekend and managed to be visiting the area on the weekend of the annual Windermere airshow, including a low flying Vulcan Bomber that opened up the throttle over head and roared away with a deafening sound.
Later that evening we found an idyllic spot lakeside to watch the sun setting over the hills.
Work then took us to Manchester where we stayed at LCCC at Old Trafford. The balcony of our room was pretty much a box over looking the grounds. Pretty cool, although we did'nt see any cricket action that day.
From Manchester we headed north to Scotland. The picture below is the first glimpse we got of Scotland's coast line as we crossed the border.
While staying the night in Edinburgh we realised that the boss had sent us north and the start of the Edinburgh Fringe festival. The annual international comedy festival. We work hard each day and then enjoyed the festival and the city's tourist sights each evening.
There were buskers....
Lots of Scottish icons.....
Great little Scottish pubs for meals and great Scottish beers.
The city centre is quite compact and the proximity of our hotel to the centre meant we could simply walk around the city in the evenings to explore.
Here is the hive where a lot of the Fringe festival was centred.
We went to out two nights to watch some pretty good comedy and enjoy the festive atmosphere.
On the evening of the last day we climbed the big hill in the centre of the city to check out the surrounding area. A nice little city.
We headed north to the Scottish highlands in search of the real Scotland.
Thistles.....
Castles in the mist.....
and Scottish Highland cattle.....
We drove to the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis and contemplated a stroll to the top, but with Ken in sandals and me in jeans with out jackets it wasn't a goer. We walked up for an hour in the evening sun.....
.....before returning to the base for a great Scottish pint at the pub.
We took a week off work to go to Sweden and catch up with Becka and Ola. This pic was in a little cafe where we replenished our energy after an afternoon of retail therapy.
We hired bikes and did the our door tourist thing, biking around the islands, enjoying the last of the summer sun.
Then out for a picnic dinner water side.
On the last weekend we went to a Swedish food and drink festival, Smak Lust. There were lots of demonstrations and we sampled breads, sausages, oils, spreads and other unknown things from the different areas in Sweden. With free entry and lots of free tastings it was a great afternoon out. The pic is me with a reindeer taster.
Then back in London, Larry and Matt moved out of the Orphanage and into a run down grubby little Pub. Fun to be had by all. After a day of cleaning the main house area, we ventured down to the basement where there was plenty of old beer to be had. (vintages ranging from 11 years to 3 years past the best by date). 
The boys worked all day cleaning and fixing the lines until the old beer was flowing... a little malty... but after a few you're none the wiser.
Its just one of those things you've always wanted to do.... and now we can.
What'll it be tonight boys?..... My shout.
A few weekends back we jumped on the tube to join the rest of the chaos at the Notting Hill Carnival. A carnival started in 1965 by a small group of 500 immigrants from the Caribbean.
Now its massive. An impressive street party for three days with food, parades, costumes and music from the Caribbean.
That funky Caribbean sound play out along the streets.
So thats about all. Count down is on now for Africa on Oct 7th. Will see how much more we can squeeze in before then.
