Scotland XI: Wigtown

This morning Heidi suggested we take a quick stroll down to the beach, which is just a few hundred meters from the hotel in order to "wake up". While there it started to rain sideways, so both my jacket and pants got soaked, despite my umbrella. Before that a hyperactive labrador pup jumped on me and dirtied my clothes. Hell is truly other people.

The beaches were "combed" by machine. Clearly, the local council has too much money.



Heidi and some wormlike sea creatures. Spot the difference.



We set off towards Wigtown, which is known as Scotland's "National book town". It's a nice, but quite tiny place, with some wonderful shops, mainly second hand and antique stuff. On the way there we saw, way the hell out in the sea, this huge rock. It was quite a stunning and unexpected view. We later learned it's a volcanic rock called Ailsa Craig, 338 meters high and situated about 16 km (10 miles) from shore.




From Wigtown (I'll provide you with a list of the literary loot I got later)



A mercat cross.



Two clever store names - The Cauldron and The creaking shelves.



This has GOT to be the worst combination of names ever.



After lunch and tea in Wigtown we set off for Gretna, where we're spending the night. On the way we drove up to see a couple of cairns, 4-6,000 years old. The view from up there was quite stunning.

Cairn #1:



Cairn #2:





Stunning views:



Heidi and the stones. Heidi is the one in the middle, with the camera.