Judith is now on her way back to NZ, it’s been fun travelling with her. We’ve been back in London for the last few days, and had several adventures.
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Border Abbeys
It’s definitely autumn here in Scotland, as is probably obvious from our clothing in the photos. We woke this morning to gale force winds and a dark grey sky. “The wind might blow the rain away” predicted our hostess optimistically at breakfast.
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Bothwell and Craignethan Castles
Bothwell castle is on a cliff above the Clyde river, upstream of Glasgow. In the middle of the 13th century Walter Murray started building what would have been one of the largest castles in Scotland, but before it was finished he got caught up in the wars of independence, and the castle was captured by the English, recaptured by the Scots, etc, etc.
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Doune and Stirling Castles
We were very excited last night to learn that the first castle on our list for today was the one used by Monty Python in the Holy Grail movie. The Pythons actually stayed in the same hotel that we did, possibly in the same room!
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Castle Campbell
Our accommodation in Selkirk last night was very pleasant. Outside the window next to my bed, a waterfall trickled gently all night; the stream running under the building and out onto the common next door.
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Tantallon and Dirleton Castles
Our walking tour has come to an end due to Felicity injuring her leg. So it looks like we’re going on a castle bagging expedition instead.
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Edinburgh
We arrived back in Edinburgh yesterday afternoon on the train, dropped our gear at the apartment we are staying in, and set off to explore. Just down the road we discovered the museum, and that took up most of our time.
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Dysart
I intended to be restrained this morning, and ordered bacon and eggs instead of the “full Scottish breakfast”, but when Felicity asked for haggis I succumbed to peer pressure and asked the waiter for some as well. She only ate half hers, and Judith didn’t eat any after a Google search informed her what it is made of. So after polishing off the lot I was in need of a lot of excersise today.
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Cupar
After a rainy night, we were expecting a wet hike this morning, but the clouds blew away as we were eating breakfast and our coats stayed in our packs.
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St Monans
Our walk today was only four hours, past several picturesque fishing villages with stone harbours. You wouldn’t mistake it for the Mediterranean though, it’s grey and cold, and we all ended up wearing our heavy coats. I can see why so many Scots were keen to emigrate to New Zealand!
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Crail
We left St Andrews bright and early this morning, and set off along the Fife Coastal Walkway. The first couple of kilometres were past the small port, which has been created by placing gates over the end of a river. As it was low tide, the sea was considerably lower than the water inside.
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Dundee and St Andrews
Yesterday we took the train from London up to Dundee in Scotland. Our first sight of the city was when the train stopped for about five minutes on the Tay river bridge, seemingly suspended high in the air above the water.
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Edmonton Cemetry
Today’s visit to a cemetery was not really for tourism purposes; we went to pay our respects to some of Felicity and Judith’s relatives.
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Shakespeares Globe Theatre
Judith has joined us in London, and one of her top priorities was to see a Shakespeare play performed in a traditional theatre. When Felicity tried to book for Macbeth some time ago the only places available were in the pit.
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Highgate Cemetary
I would never have imagined that an hour and a quarter guided tour around an old cemetery could be so interesting. I would have happily continued for twice as long.
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Waterlow Park and Hampstead Heath
Ours plan for this afternoon was to visit Highgate Cemetary, but when we arrived we found that you have to book a tour on weekdays. Just across the fence is Waterlow Park, so we decided to explore that instead.
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Kensington
I’ve been trying to replace my favorite hat, which after many years of faithful service and several repairs is about to fall to pieces. It is in the washing machine now, and I’m wondering if it will come out in one piece. Problem is, every shop we visit has pretty much sold out of hats because it has been so unusually hot.
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Chancery Lane
Today’s adventure started and ended at the Chancery Lane tube station. First on the agenda was the London silver vaults.
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Erith
I’ve ridden my bike about 50 km today, on the Thames path heading east past Greenwich to the Erith Pier and back.
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Notting Hill Carnival
Ever since I realised we were going to be in London for this famous carnival I’ve been looking forward to today. Felicity has been to a real carnival in Trinadad, so she was excited too. It turned out to be quite different than what either of us expected.
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