This is what our street looks like when it snows! We had loads of it lately although still considerably less than elsewhere in Scotland and down South. Cees-Jan was very excited that the snow tyres, which had been lying is his storage for three years, for his Volvo finally got some use.
This looks like a little village somewhere in Switzerland, but in actuality it is the view from the Edinburgh Castle with Arthur's Seat in the background! Edinburgh looks very romantic in the snow. CJ's parents were less chuffed though, as they came over for Christmas but just on the day they flew in the airport was closed for six hours because of the snow!
The scenery the following days made up for it though. We made a trip to the Scottish borders and it look amazing in the snow, see
here how it looked only a few months ago. We wanted to make a round trip along St Mary's Loch but unfortunately the road was only cleared halfway and even with snow tyres it would probably have been madness to negotiate the 20% slopes. Not that CJ didn't want to try but luckily Iwona was a bit more sensible.
The fresh-nosed travellers posing in the snow.
These boys were still out, digging there noses in the snow just to get to a few dried out twigs of heather. Nevertheless, they looked pretty comfy in their thick furry coats!
One of our favourite walks is in the Pentland Hills. One because it is nearby (15-20 minute drive) and easily accesible and two because the scenery is beautiful and changes so much with the seasons. Drawback is that it does get quite busy but if you walk up the hills instead of in the valley it gets a lot quieter very quickly.
Today we finally made it to Edinburgh Castle. It's free with a membership of Historic Scotland, which we got a few months ago and had not used yet. But even if we had to pay full price (£11) it would have been worth it. The views over the city are spectecular and the buildings are very impressive. This is the entrance gate.
The castle grounds are build up at different levels. This is the view to the west. Unfortunately quite a few areas were closed off, presumably because of the snow for health and safety reasons. Obviously the authorities think we are all idiots. Well, we are of course, but idiots that know their limits :) Most of the time. 
Some impressive guns in the castle too. This one is aiming straight at the Sir Walter Scott Monument in the Princes Street gardens but in the time these guns were firing that had not been build yet we think!
This is the Great Hall, which is one of a four main buildings on the square at the highest level. You could image that with a few big wooden tables and benches you could have a great dinner party in here!
The view towards New Town (north) around sunset (4 pm!). In the background the Firth of Forth and the snowy hills of Fife. 
