Advertisement
Ben Macdui
Second highest mountain in Scotland in the distance. It's 4294 feet. Today I had to say good-bye to Alison and Rupert. Alison was so nice to make me an earlier breakfast at 7:30 instead of 8 so I did not have to fast walk to the train station. Hoofing it with only my day backpack was hard enough, I did not want to do it with my full backpack and suitcase! I gave Rupert a lot of pets and hugs and Alison and I talked about the area and how I have to come back to see everything I missed. I really hope I do get back soon!
I made it to the train station with time to spare, which was nice. I already had my return ticket from the trip up and was able to hop on the train and find a seat. This train was not going to Edinburgh so I had to change somewhere along the way. When looking at the timetables I saw I should change in Perth. The guy at the information desk said to change in Stirling because trains run more often. I already was to Stirling and the route from Perth to Edinburgh was different so I chose to stick with my original plan.
I am so glad I did! Once out of Perth the train hugs the coast of the Firth of Forth all the way to Edinburgh. It was so beautiful! In one spot we even went past a ruined castle! The best part was crossing the bridge over the Forth. I tried to spot something other than birds but no luck. Shortly after we arrived in Edinburgh.
My hope was to make the 13:10 train to Galashiels but I figured that was not possible since I wanted to also grab something to eat while in the large station. However, the abundance of ready to go sandwiches in the shops makes it super easy to quickly grab and go. This train was also not very full and I grabbed a table seat that I ended up having all to myself. I ate my chicken, pesto and rocket wrap and drank my iced tea while riding comfortably on the train.
I was hoping to get some pictures of the scenery on this leg but sadly it started raining and the windows were all wet. We went by rolling hills dotted with sheep and farm fields. If the weather had been better,
I think there would have been some great views.
Galashiels was my stop only because that was the only town I could find a rental car place near where I was staying and not in Edinburgh. Luckily the rain stopped long enough for me to walk from the station to the Enterprise Rental office. After a short wait I was in my car and headed off. I had to make one more stop in Galashiels, which was the Tesco to pick up some groceries. This Tesco was kind of like a Super Walmart in that it had clothes, home goods and food.
The roads to my Airbnb were good but very windy. At some point my GPS turned off so I ended up making a large circle back to the road I was supposed to turn on. Again, this detour gave me more of a taste of rural Scotland. Finally, I arrived at Hilltop Cottage, my home for the next 3 nights. This place is so cute! It is a one bedroom with a small kitchen and a rather large bathroom. The windows look out over fields dotted with sheep. I am hoping to be able to help
feed the lambs Sunday when the lady who owns this farm gets back. There are also so many pheasants around! I was sitting reading a book and something moved out of the corner of my eye. It was a male pheasant right outside the window! A little while later a female came by. I am glad I found this place, even if it is not in walking distance of any restaurants or shops.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 14; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0356s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb