We packed up the car on Friday morning with way more luggage than necessary. It's hard to plan for these trips because you never know what the weather will be. Two weeks ago Aberdeenshire was basking in 24C with blue skies and sunshine. One week later, we had snow on the ground again. The outlook for the weekend was more typical for the time of year - about 8C with a mix of sun and cloud and periods of rain. We were also staying at a very nice golf course hotel in Roxburghe, so we had to pack some fancy clothes for dinner. And in a big departure for us, we were also bringing Casey. As the weekend would likely be mostly touring ruined castles and abbeys, we felt she wouldn't cause us too much trouble. The only problem is that she refused to pack light. Food, treats, water bowls, her bed, some towels and a chew toy all had to be packed up and shipped out. Oh well, her company is worth it.
The drive south was fairly uneventful. We remarked on how long it had been since we had been on a road trip. Shockingly long was the answer. Our first stop was the Horn Cafe just south of Dundee. The equivalent of the big Buckees road stop between San Antonio and Houston (for those who are familiar), it is a must visit for the purpose of picking up a good, authentic Scottish bacon roll.
Once again filled with salty, cured pork products, we hit the road and were in Edinburgh before we knew it. One of the first things on our itinerary was Rosslyn Chapel, just a few miles south of the capital. I guess most people are familiar with the name from Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. It hosted the grand finale, and hence became quite popular. We've been putting off visiting because it has been under renovation for the past few years, it's entire facade covered in scaffolding. Some of that scaffolding has now come down and you can see a lot more of the ornate carvings that cover the exterior. It's not a grand chapel in terms of size, but it probably hosts as many carvings as some of the bigger cathedrals. On the inside every surface seems to be covered in mason's handiwork. Some of our favourites included the ceiling of stars, the ubiquitous Green Man, the panel of the seven deadly sins and an ancient saying carved in to a lintel that Fiona particularly liked - "Wine is strong, the King is stronger, Woman is stronger still, but Truth conquers all." I think we agreed that despite the tourists and the hefty entry charge (9 GBP/person!), it is definitely something we are glad we stopped to see.
We then hopped back in the car and continued our journey southwards. Our next stop was Thirlestane Castle, near the small town of Lauder, and home of the Dukes of Lauderdale. To this day a wing of the castle is still occupied by the family. It was a truly grand and regal building - more of a fortified manor house than military castle. It was built from a nice red stone and had lush fields of green spread out in all directions, covered in sheep and the season's new lambs. As is becoming more the fashion, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the castle. There were quite a few things that we would have liked to share as the rooms were all amazing. There was a fabulous billiards room, with a spectacular old table, and many libraries filled with old volumes that drive an old book enthusiast like me to distraction. There were paintings hanging in every room, and several of the downstairs rooms were set-up as they used to be to give an idea of what the servants had to put up with back in the day. The laundry and kitchen were quite neat. We most enjoyed the children's nursery, which had old elaborate doll houses and toys of old kinds, some of which were out and available to be played with by any kids on the tour. We held back, but thoroughly enjoyed looking back at what it was like to grow up a child of privilege in those times. Our last stop at Thirlestane was the tea room, as it was approaching lunch time. The tea room was an experience. With this being Easter weekend, it was the first time it was open for the year and much of the staff was new. They were all very friendly and enthusiastic, but clearly out of their depth. There were dirty dishes left on the table and a running battle with the cash register that they didn't resolve until Fiona pointed out that maybe they didn't need to put in the decimal point when entering food prices. All of this would normally have put us off, but there were several things going for the Thirlestane tea room. The first was the fact that the staff were very friendly and were clearly trying really hard. The second was an amazing ham and cheese sandwich. We're not talking about your normal reconstructed ham slices here, but chunks from a demerara and orange crusted ham. Combined with a strong local cheddar, fabulous home-made bread and a couple of bread and butter pickle slices and you have a top notch sandwich. The final reason was the lemon sponge cake. We felt we could have eaten the entire cake. I think we'll always remember the experience by the word "shocking", though. Not because it was terrible, but it was the word our waitress used repeatedly when apologising for their mis-steps. The previous table occupants tea-pot was on our table for the entire meal. Even though she had taken our order and served us a bunch of things that weren't tea, she came by and asked us if we were done with our tea. We said it wasn't ours. "That was left out on your table? Shocking!" She also then realised that from our table near the kitchen we could very clearly hear the chatter of the staff in the kitchen as they went about their business. "You can hear everything we say from here. Shocking!" It was kind of cute and left us in a pretty good mood.
We wound our way through the hills and valleys of the Borders towards our next stop. The scenery is quite different from Aberdeenshire - not as wild, but I would venture to say more beautiful. This was especially the case around Melrose, where we stopped to see the ancient ruined abbey. After driving in past a sign warning us of "Peacocks and Children on the road" - neither of which we observed - we parked the car and took Casey for a walk along the river. She loved it and ran around in her usual fashion, stopping once to wade out into the river and introduce herself to some ducks. With her sufficiently tuckered out we left her in the car and went to the Abbey, with about an hour before closing. We've seen quite a few similar churches, but I think Melrose tops them all. The grounds were immense, housing the what used to be a thriving Cistercian complex which became immensely wealthy farming sheep in the surrounding valley. The red colour of the abbey ruins was set off against the green of the hills and a great accent of yellow gorse. We wandered around the ruins sighting pieces of carved masonry that had survived the turbulent history of the Abbey and taking in its grandeur. There was also an amazing carving made by the architect, stating who he was and his other works. Then there was a gargoyle in the shape of a pig playing the bagpipes. No one quite knows why this particular gargoyle exists, but it helps put a date on the earliest known existence of the bagpipes. We climbed the bell tower for a better look and were greatly rewarded for our efforts.
With an increase in our already great appreciation for Scottish history we finally headed off for our hotel. Pulling up at the Roxburghe we were blown away to see another spectacular old manor house, set on the ground of green rolling hills. There's even a croquet pitch in front. The check-in was easy and friendly and we quickly settled into the room. It took a little longer for Casey, but she eventually got over the newness of the surroundings and is now at home enough to just conk out on the bed. We washed up, put on our good clothes and went to the main lodge for dinner. After a quick drink in the bar, we were shown to our table. The menu was limited but we each found something we liked. I had a seafood theme, with a scallop and mullet starter, and then a really nice sea bass fillet, served with chive gnochhi. Fiona had some really nice, mild goat cheese paired with a poached pear to start an then a perfectly cooked piece of duck that she was kind enough to share with me - a little piece at least. We split a great chocolate mousse dessert, but before we got there we had to finish off a nice 2005 Bordeaux that instantly shot up the list of our favourite wines.
By the time we got back to the room we were exhausted and sleep came quickly. We didn't even have time to set the plan for the next day, or the rest of the weekend. I think we've come up with a good list of things we want to see, but not just a plan to get them all in. The list includes: Hermitage castle, Caerlaverock castle, Floors Castle, Kelso Abbey, Jedburgh Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, Smailholm Tower, Abbotsford House, Scott's View, St. Abb's Head & Traquair Castle. That's a lot of hustle and bustle, but after all the beautiful sights and scenery that we have seen today we are quite motivated.
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