Guest writer: Travel day! We started with a sneaky bacon sarney at one of those strange English bakeries that’s sort of a bakery, but kind of a cafe, but kind of a cake shop, but not great at any?
We had 2 travel options for the day straight up the M6 or a slightly more scenic route along Hadrians wall, we were in no rush so along the wall we drove. The rules around trespass in the UK seem somewhat wobbly as trampers and ramblers wandered their way through clearly working fields along the wall, but everyone seemed good natured about the whole thing. We stopped in at an ancient temple or two and a little bit of the wall itself, It’s impressive just driving alongside it to be honest..
We entered Scotland and, as as is traditional, the skies opened; hail, sweeping rain and wind. This was the first hint of bad weather we had run into. A light hearted message or two to the Scottish friends about their country followed but it only lasted half an hour and we were again blessed with the lovely dappled light we had become accustomed too.
Our destination for the day was Schloss Roxburghe for dinner, accomodation and a round of golf the following morning. The castle itself was stunning. Driving up you pass along a perfectly manicured lawn up to a magnificent country home, complete with a tasteful bar, fancy restaurant and stunning gardens. We settled into the bar quite quickly, Steph started editing and I listened to a Podcast while we shared a drink or three :)
Dinner was a lovely three course Scottish festival including gazpacho, haddock and creme brulee, along with french and Spanish wines. We finished with a walk of the grounds and a little nip of whisky in the bar and we were done for the day!
I won’t spend too long on the golf, I played fine, the course was spectacular and my caddy a very attractive lady, but she wasn’t paying enough attention and kept wandering off to take photos of flowers. Aside from that minor inconvenience I can’t say enough good things. The piece of land is spectacular, sweeping along the hills and down by the river, the views are excellent, and the course challenging without being punishing. Combined with the accomodation and the food the whole experience was a 9.5 out of 10. (0.5points lost for the really weird martini Steph got that we’re pretty sure had sweet vermouth and oregano infused olives?)
