Today broke blue and sunny as we left Berwick Upon Tweed and headed west into Scotland and the interior Borders. Our bus to Galashiels took us through beautiful farmland and we passed a pig farm, the requisite sheep and lambs, and a potato packing plant stacked with familiar potato crates.
The bus took us through small villages where the road was so narrow that, holding hands, we could touch houses on either side. In some cases, cars parked in one lane of the road as there were no sidewalks, the usual parking place, effectively making the two lane road a single lane for traffic.
At Galashiels we changed buses and arrived at Innerleithen, our stop for the night. The good folks at the Traquair Arms Hotel (pronounced "tray kware") let us stow our packs, and we headed across the Tweed to Tarquair House and Wood.
Traquair House is the longest continuously inhabited home in Scotland - and by the same family! Built in the 1100's as a tower hunting lodge it housed a parade of kings and royalty. Expanded and remodeled over the centuries, it gracefully escaped the typical Victorian facelift of furbelows and turrets and today is much how it was 150 years ago.
We walked down the avenue of trees to the house from the Bear Gate, locked "until a Stuart" regains the throne. The temporary avenue had been in use for the last 300 years.
Mary Queen of Scots spent time here, with her husband Darnley, and her son, James I and VI. Her bed and James' cradle are on display.
As the house went through remodels, painted ceilings and supports were discovered and displayed. The original tower staircases is quite the climb with the stair rise nearly 18" high. And there was a creepy doll room.
