On the Hunt...

...for St John's and St Ringo's church!  It has to be here somewhere.

A Grand Day Out

Last weekend, we headed south of Edinburgh to the Border Country.  Some of you may remember that we almost had a match in Melrose, so we thought we would take a trip down to see what we had missed.  We could have taken a direct, motorway route, but decided to visit Peebles first and then over to Melrose.  We are certainly glad we did!  It was a lovely day out, and our drive took us through some lovely countryside, although it is proving hard to find countryside that isn't lovely (today's word would appear to be "lovely").  Having never been to Peebles, we didn't know what was there (believe it or not, Bob didn't even do any preliminary internet scouting, which his usual modus operandi), so we parked in the first public car park we found, which was next to a small river. 

The photographer, kitted out.

In stealth mode.

We explored the streets near the car park, with a couple of nice shops and sights and thought it was nice, but in a whim we headed uphill and to our pleasant surprise, we found beautiful downtown Peebles!  What an interesting main street it has and what a hopping place it was - people and traffic (boo hiss!) everywhere, but there was so much to see it didn't bother us - too much.  Bob's newest fixation is just about every town we visit and saying that he could live there, and Peebles certainly filled that desire.

A sighting of the very rare tartan patchwork deer (Cervus tartanis patchiatum) whose usual habitat is standing surreptitiously near kilted Scotsmen at Highland Games where the deer's natural camoflage comes into play.

Old

Older (with the coat of arms of Peebles)

Oldest

Oldest-er (or something like that!)

Main street Peebles.  This road would take us out of town and on our way to Melrose.  We could have done without the other traffic.

 

Grand church (Church of Scotland) at the end of the High Street.

And what would a grand church be without a nice pub practically attached to it???

And so, having found our way out of Peebles, we were off to Melrose and drove along the back routes to get there, which brought even more of that wonderful scenery we keep mentioning.  Once in Melrose, it may have taken us as long to find a parking spot as it took to drive there.  We hit that perfect storm of a tourist destination with a rugby match taking place.  Fortunately, after making a few loops of the center of town, we found a spot on the other side of the rugby stadium and walked back to town, which sounds impressive but, if you knew how close it really is, you wouldn't exactly be in awe).  First order of business - lunch!

We chose to eat here, which turned out to be dog friendly.  Unfortunately, we weren't and had left Dougal at home...ahem.

Next on the agenda,the abbey.  Melrose Abbey is an impressive ruin, which is Bob's preferred state of abbeys and castles as they seem to have much more character that way.  It is run by Historic Scotland, so we bought a yearly pass as we figure we will visit a lot of their properties.  It allows us to go through Edinburgh Castle without having to wait in line and, as it is just up the street, we may visit there a few times throughout the year.  We can't really do it justice trying to describe it, so we will let the photos speak for themselves, more or less, starting with a walk around it!

There is an area of the abbey in which you can climb up for a spectacular view of it as well as the surrounding countryside.  It came as a surprise to us, our legs and our cardiovascular systems just how many uninterrupted stairs you are required to climb.  Fortunately, they at least installed a pad at the top of the stairs so that you don't bang your head on the low door at the top, unlike some tower in St. Andrews that could be mentioned and, well, just has been. 

Boo.

Of course, what would an old abbey be without some cool grave markers?

Some like them old...

...and some like them creepy!

Can you spot the grinning skeleton and the flying, kilted pig???

And so, we said goodbye to Melrose.  As we were walking back to the car, the rugby match was in full swing.  A player kicked a field goal (or whatever the equivalent is in rugby) that was not only successful but also ricocheted off a parked car - luckily, not ours!!

Voting in the Scottish Referendum

Rick here:

Today was voting day both here in Scotland as well as at home.  Unfortunately, I am not at home to voice my opinion about the tentative deal between the BCTF and the government.

Here in Scotland, I was able to register and vote in the independence referendum.  I was very excited to be able to have the opportunity to place my mark on the ballot paper.  Let's hope when we wake up tomorrow, the residents of this country made a wise decision.

However, the actual voting process was such a non-climactic event.  We were concerned that my Irish passport is with the home office in Liverpool and I would need it as identification in order to vote.  But when we walked into our local polling station, I was directed to the correct table, the polling officer took a look at my voting card, checked my name in the book, gave me the ballot, told me to go to the booth and then mark my ballot.  I was shocked that I didn't have to show any other ID, or didn't have to sign a declaration.  The entire process took only about 2 minutes!

A Foggy Day...

.. in Edinburgh town!  Not a heavy one really, but enough to make things atmospheric.

Ah, Edinburgh

Hi everyone.

We were strolling home late last night after meeting with some old friends and some new friends, and were struck by how truely stunning Edinburgh can be.  The streets were alive with people, mainly young (but to us, who isn't??), and the bars and restaurants were hopping.  There was a vibrancy in the Grassmarket area and looking up the castle, lit up by soft purple lighting and looming over us, you couldn't ask for a more special experience.  This city is proving to be quite special to us.  It is wonderfully compact so that we can walk to almost everywhere we need to go, which is just as well as finding parking if one drives is almost an impossible task.  The transit available is outstanding and we can easily get anywhere we need, if either our feet or desire wanes.  As you can tell, we are quite smitten.

But...

...and this is a big but.  Three big buts, anyway.

Dispite the glowing review, there are some things that are just simply annoying.  The first is that, as a pedestrian, you have absolutely no rights, as drivers would quite happily treat you as a speed bump if you happen to be crossing a street.  I wouldn't call it agression, just an assumption of the right of way, and coming from Canada where we do, in general, give that to the pedestrian, it seems very strange.  Still, we are becoming very vigilant and fleet of foot.

Secondly, people in Edinburgh aren't exactly smiley's people.  Very few people make eye contact and seldom, if ever, give you a smile.  When dealing individually with someone, they are a friendly and helpful lot, but out and about you can rarely raise a smile.  Come on Edinburgers, it can't be all bad!

And lastly and most grossly, people of Edinburgh please pick up after your dog!!  I will only target our neighbourhood for this one, as it is where we walk the most, but you have to be ever watchful to not step in anything foul.  There, got that off my chest, and off the bottom of my shoe.

In the grand tally board of Edinburgh though, it comes out with a very high, winning score.  We are very happy and lucky to be here.

Cheers for now!

Dougal Days

Just so everyone knows, Dougal is doing well and adjusting to being a Scottish Irish Terrier.  So far, we have only encountered the owner of one other Irish, but there are certainly a lot of Border and Westie Terriers around town.  We are able to take him for 3-4 walks a day, and some of them are quite long, so he is keeping in shape and settling in to his new home.  Here are some photos so that you can see what he has been encountering.

First order of business - recovering from jet lag.

One of these things is not like the other!

Official greeter at Haymarket Rail Station, and oh so happy to see his Auntie Alison.

Along the Union Canal.  Planning our next holiday, perhaps?

A close encounter with a lifesized sheep puppet.  They never really made friends, but delighted the diners sitting nearby.

"Enjoying" the frenzy of the Fringe Festival.  "Dad, can we go home now?  Please!"

Investigating an old mill stone on a walk along the Water of Leith.  He may or may not have christened it.  Not saying which.

At home, surveying his territory and ensuring that all is well, which means cat and bird free, both of which outnumber him greatly.

A Night Out

Here we are today, celebrating the 11th anniversary of our legal Canadian marriage.  For a treat, we headed off to our favourite local restaurant, Mia, which has won that accolade from our one other visit!  Turns out that we are good judges, as tonight was very special.  The co-owner treated us to a free glass of prosecco (that would be one each, by the way!).  Our mains were wonderful, which was to be expected, but we had decided to skip appies to leave room for dessert.  This was a very clever decision on our part, as not only were they delicious, but they were presented to us in a very special way.  Have a look, and don't worry that Rick's dessert looks suspiciously like an eyeball!!