Scotland - Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders

This was my third visit to Scotland and I was lucky enough to connect with my friend who lives outside of Edinburgh for a day in the Scottish Borders, or at least a small section. We focused on a few of the Borders Abbeys: Melrose, Dryburgh and Jedburgh. It may not surprise you that we found all three abbeys undergoing restorative work, so we weren't able to walk amongst the ruins as we would have liked. The abbeys were built in the 12th century and of course, have been subjected to the multitude of wars between the Scottish, between the Scottish and English, and time and Mother Nature. It was disappointing we couldn't walk around as much as we would like, but you we could still get a feel for the places and appreciate the size of the abbeys. Melrose Abbey has a museum that was included in the admission and we did walk through there. I feel like we kind of rushed, partly because there wasn't much sense in dawdling, partly because I wanted to see as many of the abbeys as we could and lastly, my friend had to get back home after dropping me at my hotel. 

Melrose Abbey is where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried (according to the lore). It also has a stone sculpture of bagpipe playing pig. 

Dryburgh Abbey is the resting place for Scottish writer, Walter Scott, but again, due to restoration/construction work, we couldn't get to it. On the drive to Dryburgh we passed Scott's View and stopped for some photos. It was amazing from where we stood. 

Our last stop for the day was Jedburgh Abbey which was pretty impressive. I have multiple versions of essentially the same photo, so I must have been trying for something, but I can't tell you what, and I'm not sure I got it. Still, I think this is a lovely photo that captures the size and massiveness of the abbey.

This was my big day out. I didn't have too much time in Edinburgh on this trip, but I did get a little culture on my first day in the city (this is a little out of order) as I was walking to my hotel. The city was buzzing on this drizzly Saturday afternoon, plenty of tourists and locals. I don't remember the tram from my last visit, but it was pretty easy to use, and I look forward to using it more on future visits.

        

I had just a day and a half in Glasgow because my original plan was to stay there after my trip to the Orkneys and then leave for Bracknell the day after the Genesis concert. I was in the Kelvingrove neighborhood and planned on re-visiting the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I was here back in 2017 and was lucky enough to be there when they had a special exhibit on comic book illustrators. I really like this place. They had COVID protocols in place and it was a week day, but there was a lot more people than I would have expected, but to be fair, the place is so big there was enough personal space. I was hoping to see the floating heads again, and I was not disappointed. I don't know why, but I just love that exhibit. I also stopped by the Dali painting, Christ of St. John on the Cross, which has the powerful colors that I love in Dali.

The museum also has a nice collection of 'classical' artists, including Van Gogh (shown below), Cezanne, Matisse, etc. 

Actually, the museum has something for everyone: classical artists, exhibits on Scotland and Scottish history, geological, zoological, cultural; special exhibits like the one I saw a few years ago and one they had this year on the Bosnian War and the Bosnian refugees and the Scottish connection. And of course, Elvis.

The area around the museum has a park, where I walked until the museum opened, a few coffee shops and restaurants. It is in the vicinity of the University of Glasgow so you'll see lots of students, but also families and a lot of activity. I really enjoyed my time in the city.