More Holiday Days

I forgot to mention that we made a wrong turn after Jedburgh Abbey and ended up in England.... haha.  Luckily, Daniel pulled off to the side of the road to view the border and we happened to notice the the "Welcome to England--Please drive on the left" sign. haha so we were able to turn around.  Claire has those pictures on her camera.   I'll have to get them.

Anyway, the next morning we woke up and had a "Scottish Breakfast"--it was included in the hotel room price and was really good.  It included sausage, bacon, black pudding, haggis, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, eggs (cooked anyway you like it), a potato scone, fried bread, cereal, porridge, etc.  We could order as much as we wanted.   

Then we went to Sweetheart Abbey.  It was founded in 1275 by Dervorguilla of Galloway in memory of her husband.  His embalmed heart was buried alongside her when she died.  The monks then renamed the Abbey as a tribute to her.  Hence, Sweetheart Abbey.  Precious.


Me and my sweetheart at sweetheart abbey. :-)

 

Inside of Sweetheart Abbey

  

Me standing on the place where the founders body and her husband's heart were supposedly buried



Daniel playing peek-a-boo in the old cemetery behind the Abbey

After Sweetheart Abbey we went to the New Abbey Corn Mill.  It was interesting enough, but the tour guide (George) took forever and he was "hitting on" me the whole time by constantly suggesting that if Daniel died working at the mill, he would gladly take me to Sweetheart Abbey and marry me haha.  I wish I would have taken a picture of good ol' George.  He was a lovely and long-winded individual.  

Me working hard grinding some oats

Power source of the mill -- under construction

 

Daniel with some sort of contraption that makes the mill work smoothly.  If George was here he could tell you about it in about 30 pages. haha



Then we went to some castles.  Awesome.

First we had to "get in the mood."  So we (as in all of the interns) dressed up as different members of the castles household. Daniel and I were pretty important--Well, I was.  I had a crown.. .or a crown like thing. haha Brenden has the rest of the pictures.  They are pretty hilarious.  We had a really fun time. 

 This is Caelaverock Castle.  It was built in the 13th century.  I really liked it because.....

 it had a moat around it!  How cool is that?!  In the 1600's it was converted into a palace and that's what all the elaborate decoration is from.  It was really cool.  There was a family playing hide and seek here.  I really wanted to join in, but didn't. 

After Caerlaverock Castle we went to Threve Castle.  We had to take a boat to get to it because it is on an island in the middle of a river.

Then we went to Cardoness Castle.  It was here that we discovered that mother nature hates us.  Everytime we got out of the car it would start to rain... as soon as we'd go to get back into it, it would stop. Very annoying. 

If I remember correctly, this castle was used more as a residence for a Scottish family. Interesting thing: when you walked into the main door, there was hole in the floor right about you called the "murder hole." I guess that's where they would kill people they didn't like who tried to come over for a visit (like they would shoot through the floor and the person entering).   I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.   

Daniel being daring and sitting on the ledge above a sign that specifically says not to.



My artsy shot of Cardoness Castle. :-) 

By this time it was 5:00 so everything was closed.  We headed back to Edinburgh but not without stopping at the beach first!  That's right. haha we found this "holiday" area with a bunch of trailer homes and it was on the beach.  So we stopped and went down to the water and played--ie walked around.  It was beautiful and mother nature gave us a break and the sun shined down on us the whole time. 

In Scotland, people drink a lot-- this beach was filled with sea glass.  It reminded me of Cassandra (from my study abroad), so I picked up a few pieces and I'm planning on putting them in my "treasure chest."

 The weekend was an epic success.  Daniel and I had so much fun and we loved visiting all the castles and abbeys. 

Plus the other interns are hilarious and we had a blast with them:
Brenden has great stories from his youth and his mission that he shares with us willingly (and we love that he does.  In fact, I really want to put them all on here because they are so funny... (like the time he kidnapped a lamb with his friends and when we asked him what he did with it he responded, "We took it home and watched a movie with it" ...what?  why would you do that? haha so bizarre)  He has other really funny ones, but I don't think I should put them on here.  Those will go in my person diary so I can laugh about them later.

Danny is probably the nicest, most easy going person I've ever met and he was such a good sport when we teased him.  He may or may not have forgotten his tooth brush and throughout the day constantly heard, "Do you feel dirty Danny? Do you feel dirty because you didn't brush your teeth?" haha

and last but not least Claire.  She laughs at everything Daniel says/does (which I'm sure boosts his self esteem) and she's super easy going and witty. She's a blast, plus I LOVE having another girl around. haha

So that was our Saturday.