The Scottish Borders

Another fantastic day. I took a tour south to the Scottish Borders. We had perfect weather again (a little cloudy in the morning but it cleared up by late morning and was in the high 70s/low 80s). There were about 10 people on the tour, and I loved the guide! She was young, probably mid to late twenties, and really fun and knowledgeable. We actually talked a lot which is always fun.

We started off a little slow because traffic was diverted because of the marathon, but then we got on our way. The first stop was at Scott's View, named after Sir Walter Scott because he used to go up there for inspiration. It's a beautiful view of some typical border scenery.

Scott's View:

The next stop was to see the first ever Wallace monument. There was a bit of a walk out to it, and it was really pretty. The statue itself is strange. The guy who commissioned it was kind of crazy and he made William Wallace look more like a Roman soldier than a Scotsman. His kilt is on backward, for one thing, and he's wearing a weird helmet. It's huge though, so it's quite impressive, and it was the first one.

Walking to the Wallace Monument:

The first Wallace Monument:

Next we stopped at Melrose Abbey. I loved it! It's so, so beautiful (and the nice weather helped). It's huge, and it was really fun to walk around it. It was hard picking which pictures to put on here (hence the reason there are so many...) because it really is a beautiful place. So look at the ones on facebook when you get a chance!

Melrose Abbey:

Where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried:

After I explored the abbey (free audio guides are always nice) I got lunch at a really nice little cafe in Melrose.

The next stop was at Peebles. Usually the tours don't stop there (just drive through it), but it was such a nice day and it's the guide's hometown, so we stopped for a few minutes by the river. It was really pretty! It was nice to be able to enjoy the nice weather as much as possible. The river that Peebles is on is called the River Tweed. Apparently it's one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the world.

Peebles:

The River Tweed:

Our last stop was at Rosslyn Chapel (of Da Vinci Code fame). Now that's a strange building. Even if someone had never heard about the Knights Templar or the rumors about the Holy Grail and stuff it would still be easy to tell that there's something going on in that building. It's just so mysterious, if that makes sense. The architecture is so crazy, and there are little carvings and inscriptions and stuff everywhere. Unfortunately it's just at the end of a 13 year conservation period, so it's under construction. There's been a metal canopy over the whole building for 13 years, and they started taking it down yesterday. So you really can't see the outside, then they have wooden scaffolding covering the roof inside, so you can't see that either. Other than the ceiling, the inside is normal, but you can't take pictures inside. I bought postcards of what the outside, inside, and ceiling look like, so that's what the pictures below are from.

All you can currently see of the outside of Rosslyn Chapel:

What the chapel looks like without scaffolding:

Inside Rosslyn Chapel:

The ceiling (currently covered by scaffolding):

I walked around the chapel, then did a half hour guided tour. The guide said that before the Da Vinci Code came out, the chapel had about 9000 visitors a year (admission price: 50p). After the book was released, they had 175,000 people the next year (admission price: 7.50)! That is insane. There are all kinds of myths about the chapel, and of course the main one is what is buried under the floor. Theories range from the Holy Grail, to the Ark of the Covenant, to the real Stone of Destiny...

After the guided tour I went for a hike. Rosslyn Castle is near the chapel, so I walked down there, then I hiked around the area (Roslin Grove). There are a ton of paths, and it's really pretty. I didn't have enough time to thoroughly explore all the paths so I definitely want to go back someday (after they finish conservation work on the chapel...).

Walking to the castle:

Approaching Rosslyn Castle ruins:

Going to the hiking trails:

Hiking in Roslin Glen:

We went back to Edinburgh after that. So yeah it was a great day! I'm loving this weather. I'm going to church in about half an hour (the LAST ONE [!!!]), then I don't know what after that.