Heading Home

We spent a very wet half hour in a downpour walking to a Majestic Edinburgh Bus Tour. We decided to do this in order to see parts of the city we did not walk over. It's a challenge to snap photos in the swaying top floor of a double decker bus,  so here's a couple. 

Edinburgh Castle. Crabbies, of ginger beer fame, old dunning warehouses, now housing flats. A corner pub of note. 

After the tour we caught a west bound train to Glasgow to wind up this year's pilgrimage.  Since we arrived to a blue sky and a few available hours, we dropped our bags at the hotel and walked to Tennents Brewery for a tour. 

After a pint and a flight of Tennents, we headed to the hotel to tighten up the packs and ready ourselves for the trip back to Cottonwood. 

Edinburgh

Today ends two blue, sunny days in Edinburgh. Jam packed with visitors from all around the globe, energy abounds while it is also used up by managing the crowds. In our slow, provential way, we have seen a lot and ended up sore footed at the end of the days. 

The Royal Mile with quirky closes and courts and alleys and cobbled streets full of buses.

We made it to the end of the Mile where Holyrood Castle and the new Scottish Parliament stand in contrast to one another. 

Next up was the National Aft Gallery. We saw amazing paintings from da Vinci to the early 20th century. 

Day two found us at the Scottish National Museum. Truly there isn't enough time to see a museum this large,  so we hung out in the Scottish Kingdom and Ancient People areas for about five hours.  Whew.

Ancient doodles on slate. Probably done during a boring meeting. 

One million pounds in 20 pound notes.

Etal, Carham, Edinburgh

We had a relaxing Easter Day by enjoying a walk to the village of Etal and a Sunday Roast at The Black Bull. 

We explored the ruins of Etal castle,  yet another border defense against Scotland,  and in this castle's more recent history,  protection from their neighbors at Ford Castle.

Then we hopped in a narrow Guage rail train for a ride to Heatherslaw and our final miles back to the B&B.

Monday found us heading out in the wee EV, hoping there was charge enough to get it back to Enterprise Car Rental in Galashiels. 

We stopped at Carham, where, in 1018, Malcolm 2 of Scotland defeated Owain the Bald of Strathclyde, kicking off the work of developing the border between the newly emerging kingdoms of Scotland and England. 

The church is said to be near the battlefield. It is a beautiful peaceful place along the River Tweed today. 

We made it safely back to Galashiels with 32 miles of charge left in the car. Blue loved the car; lots of power, great handling, quiet. Once the infrastructure is built to manage the necessity of frequent charging, EV is the way to go. England is on track to sell zero petrol cars starting in 2030, so expect to see creative solutions in the future. 

Then it was on a train to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinburra) and two days of museums, pubs and exploring. 

More Flodden

Today most of our travels centered around the battle at Flodden Field, specifically those sites which were in play leading up to the battle. 

To start off,  we are staying on the Ford Castle estate where James 4 established the Scottish army headquarters, and where he had a dalliance with the housekeeper. He and his army had breached the walls at Ford, Etal and Norham prior to the battle. 

This is Ford Castle today, hugely rebuild and castle-fied for lack of a better description.  It is a private residence. 

The castle chapel. Is the cemetery growing daffodils,  or a garden growing graves?

Norham Castle was next. This is a HUGE site,  and since we are now in England and not Scotland,  the historic sites are free to be explored. A stronghold on the River Tweed, the original Castle was built to defend a Bishop's land holding along the wild,  lawless, and porous Anglo-Scots border. Besieged nine times and captured four by the Scots, it was allowed to fall into disrepair by Queen Elizabeth 1.

Blue in the ground floor storage areas. 

Next was Twizel Castle and bridge. The English army crossed this mideval bridge on the way to Flodden Field, plus they used a ford upstream as there were so many of them. 

In betwixt all this late history we snuck in a visit to a water powered flour mill in Heatherslaw, and our  only Neolithic site this trip: the much weathered Duddo Stones.

Over the Border

Today we took the wee EV back to the car rental folks and asked them to fill it up for us as we simply cannot get it to work. They graciously did so, and once the bugger was filled,  we headed over the River to England. 

Galashiels town center, and a statue called The Man and the Sheep. 

A train viaduct at 123' high. The arches span 43' each. 

Greenknowe Tower, the type of house Scottish lairds inhabited in the 16th century. 

A view of the Borders from Hume Castle. The Eildon Hills are in the center on the horizon. 

The light green plants are wild garlic. So walking this river path smelled like an onion. 

This is Coldstream and the bridge across the River Tweed. We are now in England. 

We visited the Flodden Battlefield. King James 4 of Scotland was killed in the battle, and this resounding defeat led directly to the time of the Reivers on the Borders.  More about Flodden in the coming days. 

Thatched roof on the pub in Etal (pronounced eedle). The first thatched building I've been in. 

Dead hedgehog in the b&b parking lot. The first hedgehog I've ever seen. Sorry it was dead. 

Good night view from our window.