Bank Holidays?? I love this country.

I've been slacking on my blog.  Sorry.

Last week, some of the interns were informed that Friday (May 27) and Monday (May 30) were bank holidays and they got the days off.  I hadn't heard anything, but in a passing conversation with Colin (my MSP - Member of Scottish Parliament) I brought it up and ended up getting a four day weekend too :-).  Immediately Daniel, Claire and I decided we needed to travel.  About 45 minutes later we had rented a car, and planned to get hotel accommodations and travel instructions fast. 

Me, Daniel, Danny, Claire, and Brenden were in for a road trip.  Awesome. We bought an "explorer pass"--a pass that can get us into about 75+ historical sights for about 20 pounds and we set the goal to get to as many as physically possible in three days.  We did pretty good so far and we're still planning a few trips tomorrow!

We all met at the airport at 10:00am (except for Danny, because he got off the bus at a mall thinking it was an airport.... hahaha) and got settled into our British car--meaning steering wheel on the right hand side and us having to drive on the left!  That whole idea in and of itself freaked me out and I wasn't even driving, Daniel got that job.   After a few back seat driver comments, I was silenced and Daniel handled the rest.  He did such a good job. The roads were tiny and windy, we were driving on the "wrong side" of the road, and Daniel had to shift the car with his left hand.  It was fun.

First we went to Floors Castle.  It's the largest inhabited castle in Scotland (Yupp. Someone lives there!).  We just walked about the gardens because it cost quite a bit to get in and we were kind of on a time crunch, but it was still beautiful and the gardens were awesome.

You can see the castle in the distance.

This is only the mid-section of the castle.... there is way more to it

Me in part of the garden.  It's decorated with a bunch of "M's" to celebrate me (Mandi) being there... Oh, and also the millennium.

There was a small obstacle course for children under 12.  Naturally, Daniel had a go at it.  I just got a picture of him looking very happy on the swings.

This is what all the walking trails on the property looked like.  They were beautiful.

Here is a picture that shows more of the castle.  I still can't believe some family currently lives there..

View from the hill.

  
After Floors Castle, we went to Kelso Abbey.  It was in ruins, but still beautiful. 

After Kelso Abbey we went to Jedburgh Abbey.  I really liked this one.  It had a lot of history and we even had free little audio guides to teach us about it.  Unfortunately, we really wanted to get to Melrose Abbey before it closed, so we rushed through.



Jedburgh Abbey





Old graveyard behind the abbey.  We didn't actually go in it so this is the only picture I have.

 The last abbey we went to for the day was Melrose Abbey.  It's famous because Robert the Bruce's heart is apparently buried there.  Story has it that he really wanted to accomplish a pilgrimage to the holy land but died before he had the chance.  So his best friend took his embalmed heart (after he was dead) and planned on carrying it with him to the holy land but he as attacked by the moors and killed before he got there too, so the heart was brought back to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.



Melrose Abbey



One of the gargoyles is a big playing the bagpipes!!

Site where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried.

Very cute intern shot.

After Melrose Abbey, we headed to our hotel in Dumfries. 

We pulled off the road for a little bit to explore nature.  Actually, Daniel and the others did.  I stayed in the car because it was a pay and park, we didn't pay and I didn't want anything to happen to the car.

Anyway, our hotel was lovely.  I got an incredible fish and chips plate for dinner and Daniel got some pasta.  We then spent the evening listening to Brenden's hysterical commentary on British TV and the interns wrote their weekly email.  Then it was off to bed. 

I'll update on Day II tomorrow.  It's late and I need to go to bed.  But prepare yourself for a lot of castles.