Week 3 - Scotland and Northumberland
Just before landing
Arrival in Edinburgh was much smoother than our experience in Reykjavík! Within an hour and a half of landing we were with bags, in the rental van, ready to go. It's about an hour drive from Edinburgh to Duns, where we're staying. The scenery is beautiful, so all the drives are fun, though a bit hair raising with curvy roads and driving on the left. We stopped for groceries though, so it was fairly late when we arrived and all we did was eat, bathe, and go to bed. Our hosts have five kids, the youngest being 11, so the apartment (former Gardener's lodgings) is well stocked with toys. This allowed me to spend a couple of days unpacking, figuring out plans, and catching up on laundry while the boys played. This time we're in a little village. There's a park with a playground across the street and market square is right around the corner.
From the park, one can take this path to the market square, it's convenient to just get what you need fresh each day. Also from the park one can take a boardwalk leading out of town across a marsh and walk in the countryside, which I do most mornings.
We spent a couple days in Duns exploring and taking care of business, such as little C's broken glasses.
Wednesday, we went to Edinburgh by train from Berwick-upon-Tweed.
This is Berwick castle as seen from the train station platform. Castles are a regular feature of the landscape here.
Once in Edinburgh we found a cobbler for big C to get his shoes repaired, had a picnic in a park, and rode an open air double decker tour bus to see the sights.
Edinburgh castle is built on an extinct volcano.
Thursday was another stay at home day. Due to COVID, most sights require pre-booking to manage numbers, so I spent all day setting up activities for Friday and next week. There is so much to see here that we're barely going to scratch the surface, but I think I've put together a pretty good sample of various historical periods.
Friday we drove a couple hours southwest to Corbridge Roman Town.
The Roman bridge still stands. Corbridge was a supply center for the Roman army, and their most Northern settlement. It's a great place to climb the ruins and really immerse yourself in the history.
On the way back we stopped at Cragside, a Victorian house, the first to have electricity, with extensive grounds including a labyrinth. We hiked around there a bit.
Then drove home through heather covered hills.
It's supposed to be pretty rainy this weekend, and big C has gone to Glasgow to meet up with a friend, so we're not planning much, but next week is supposed to clear up and we have several days of sightseeing planned, then on to Ireland.