No' Awa' Tae Bide Awa'

This very evening I've booked a return flight with Ryanair to Glasgow Prestwick for September 26 - October 4. Not sure where I'll be going from there, but I think probably the area around Oban, such as Mull of Kintyre and some of the isles, maybe as far north as Skye. I'll also have to see if anyone's crazy enough to go with me this time... I guess it'll be that much harder now that they know what's waiting for them ( = merciless blogging w/pics).

Scotland XVI: The Borders

Ok, final report from my trip, this one written from home... Sunday I drove from the lovely Lake District up to Selkirk in the Scottish Borders region. I spent two relatively lazy days here, and the only really touristy thing I did was to drive down to Hermitage Castle, a forbidding 14th century structure described by Radio Scotland as "the embodiment of the phrase 'sod off' in stone". It was central in the wars between Scotland and England and the longrunning Reiver conflicts of the late middle ages.

There's a tiny road leading from the A7 across some pretty wild landscape, with sheep and birds on all sides, including straight ahead. I had to stop several times to allow panicking sheep to calm down sufficiently to get on the side of the road instead of running around like headless chicken in the middle of it. I also encountered a large bird - probably a grouse - lying in the middle of the road. She slowly got up and jumped into the tall grass by the roadside, and I saw a couple of tiny, grey-brown balls of feather wobbling around in there. I didn't want to disturb them any further, so I resisted the urge to get out and take pics. Notch this one up as a rare victory for my better instincts.

The Hermitage is administered by Historic Scotland, so again I saved a few bucks on entry. Woo hoo!

No, that's not an entrance. It was, once upon a time, but it was sealed in the 16th century to protect the castle against artillery.





This little door is now the only entrance.





The interior. I'll say this in its favor: It was comfortably cool inside on an otherwise boiling summer day.





The surrounding area looks a bit windswept, but also picturesque.







Selkirk itself is a tiny place, with not much going on. It does have a very good Indian restaurant - I think it was called something like "taste of Spice", it's in the market square anyway. I recommend the duck. The hotel I stayed at was, much to my surprise, run by a Norwegian. The town is a good starting place for exploring the borders and bigger (and more expensive) places like Galashiels and Hawick are very close.

I've had a great three weeks driving around Scotland (and a few days in the north of England), and I higly recommend it as a holiday destination. I know I'll be back there frequently, and not just to get my money's worth on my £800 membership of Historic Scotland...

Scotland XV: The Lake District

Spent most of the day outdoors with Stef, a friend of mine from Huddersfield. Her yorkie accent isn't as bad as some I've heard, but I still have to ask her to go "Queen's English" sometimes, which seems to annoy her and thus makes me request it even when I don't need to. When I do understand her she's usually hilarious though.

We started off at the Beatrix Potter museum in Bowmere. Being Norwegian I had no knowledge of Potter's writings as such, but I knew she was iconic in Britain. I thought the exhibition was very well made, and I guess even better if you have a personal connection with her works. It seemed like the kids there enjoyed themselves anyway. In addition to her literary success Potter also bought a lot of land in the District and willed most of it to the National Trust, thus preserving it for future generations.



This shop name in Bowmere caught my attention, and not in a good way. Apparently it's a retail chain. For assholes.




We then had a hideously heavy brunch in Ambleside before setting off in a boat across Lake Windermere. Stef immediately spotted a house she wanted to own, but when we came to Wrey Castle, she decided she'd live there instead.


Yummy and sweet. I am talking about the dessert, of course. This woman could, and would, beat me up.



Stef's first house:



Wray Castle. Nice building and great views.





We went back on the lake after just 30 minutes. The scenery around here is really pretty and you can see the rest of the Lake District pics here.



We then drove into town and stuffed our faces further on cheesecake and beverages. All in all, a good day out! Sunday I'm heading up to Selkirk, in Scotland... my last destination before heading home Tuesday.

Scotland XIV: The cities

Wednesday we left Berwick and headed towards Glasgow. We made a stop in Edinburgh, to look at the Castle (normally £12 per person, but now free, free, freeeee due to my membership in Historic Scotland) and to grab some lunch.

Adam Smith, father of the science of economics, godfather of free trade and free markets:



View from the ramparts towards Arthur's Seat.



Heidi and a sculpted lion at the castle. Heidi at the back (no, I never get tired of that joke).



We lunched at the Greyfriar's Bobby pub, named after the Skye Terrier who famously watched over his dead owner's grave for 14 years. There's a small statue of Bobby outside the pub.



The puppy and the bitch (bwahahahaha)



I love Edinburgh and I love the castle, but we didn't have much time, as we'd made Glasgow our priority this time, so we left after less than three hours. On Thursday we went for an 80 minute tour bus ride of Glasgow that was both entertaining and informative and I highly recommend it.

Today I've dropped Heidi at Prestwick Airport (she was still breathing when I left) and I'm currently in a hotel in Windermere, in the beautiful Lake District.

Scotland XIII b: Castles

Later Tuesday we spent time at the huge and wonderful Bamburgh Castle, an impressive 11th century structure that could serve as an example of everything a proper castle should be: Mighty exterior, scenic surroundings and an awe-inspiring interior. For once, Heidi and I were in complete agreement: We loved the place.



View from the ramparts:





Can you imagine being a kid (or a dog - the two are quite similar in terms of what entertains them) and getting to play here? Wooo hooo!



We then drove on to Chillingham Castle, originally a 12th century monastery. The place fell into disrepair after the war, and the restoration work has been somewhat patchy, to put it very mildly. To be brutally honest it looks like some madman has scattered centuries of accumulated kitch randomly around the place. It's not worth the exorbitant £6.75 they charge you to get in.

Scotland XIII: Berwick

Ah... we've been without internet access since Monday morning, but much has happened. I'll try to keep it brief. We started Monday with a quick visit to Hexham Old Gaol, which is England's oldest purpose-built prison building. Quite small and a bit hyped if you ask me.

Heidi and some dolls. Heidi on the right.



A common punishment for minor offenses, such as nagging. Yes, Heidi, NAGGING.




Afterwards we drove up to Lindisfarne/Holy Island. For a more thorough description, see my notes on visiting there last year.

Heidi and some ruins from the Lindisfarne monastery. Heidi on the right.




We then drove up to Berwick upon Tweed, a nice little city very close to the Scottish border. Due to the numerous wars between England and Scotland the city changed hands 13 times in 300 years, but has been English since 1482. In the evening we had dinner in the tiny town of Coldstream, where I'd visited last year. The chicken at the Besom was still good, though not as good as last time. The dessert, however, was divine. We got to talking to some very funny and friendly locals (we had a bit of a singalong on Scottish folk songs and Elvis) and Heidi got horribly, horribly drunk (I refuse to see any connection here).

The central parts of Berwick, north of the river Tweed, lie within impressive fortifications from Elizabethean times. The city center has some nice buildings and the seaside part of the wall is just one huge park really - with a golf course between it and the ocean. We walked around quite a bit Tuesday morning.







The beach...



Heidi - surprisingly fresh, despite me having to physically stear her up the stairs at 1:30 am the night before.




There was a signpost declaring the local military museum closed, but inside the courtyard the doors were open, so we went in. We spent twenty minutes happily wandering around empty rooms before the staff finally discovered us and threw us out...

She looks drunk, but it's just Diet Coke...



Heidi at home...

Scotland XII: Hadrian's Wall

Spent the night at a decidedly mediocre motel outside Gretna. The only moment of hilarity was when we discovered that it was impossible to turn off one light in the bedroom without turning on two others... finally, after a couple of minutes of every possible combination, we managed to turn it off by using a seemingly unrelated switch in the hallway. Yes, we were in that kind of a mood.

There was a travel center next to the motel where we had dinner at Burger King in the evening and breakfast at some fancy schmancy overpriced coffee place today. The physical appearance and general lack of competence of the staff in eating places in Wigtown and Gretna has led us to conclude that inbreeding must be a serious problem in these parts. Also, we've discovered that the local sheep seem very jumpy, leading us to believe they know something we rather wouldn't.

This morning I finally got my mp3 player to work again (it has a transmitter, enabling me to use it on the car radio). Fittingly, it started playing "Anarchy in the UK" a few seconds after we crossed the "border"... Heidi has been rather skeptical of my taste in music, but she couldn't find fault with the stuff I've been playing today - we even had a bit of a singalong on "Comfortably Numb" (which is what you wish you were if you ever heard her singing).

Today we've largely been following Hadrian's Wall, driving on narrow roads through a pleasantly rolling landscape. We stopped in at the Roman Fort at Birdoswald, where I took great pleasure in producing my membership proof from Historic Scotland (which gets me in free at English Heritage sites), saving all of £4.50 in the process - meaning I now have £777.50 to go before I break even...





Heidi on the wall, looking only slightly less scary than a hairy, nekkid pict.



Heidi and the sheep. Heidi to the right.



This is SO England...




We then drove on to the Roman Army Museum, which I quite liked, and its sister site at Vindolanda, where they're currently excavating a huge Roman fort. Nice museum and very scenic surroundings.



Here's a quick example of a typical conversation between us, this one from right after these pics were taken:
Me: When I win the lottery, I'm going to build me a temple like that.
Heidi: Build it a little larger, so you can fit your ego in there too.
Me: Or even a little larger than that, so we can fit in your ass.



This is a real size model of how the wall would look way back when:




We're currently in Hexham, where we're lodged in a suite at the rather luxurious Hallbank Guest House (yes, we're rich).





Hexham market place, dominated by the huge abbey.



The old Moot Hall from the 15th century.