After the dinner we had last night, I’m surprised that we woke up at all this morning!  But after a sound sleep we were hungry again for breakfast… This morning, Ross created scrambled eggs and Scottish smoked salmon for Dan, and poached smoked haddock and egg for me… Divine, and a touch lighter than yesterday!!!

  

Properly fueled, we forced ourselves to leave this oasis and move on to our day and our next destination…

Our first stop along the way was Rosslyn Chapel and grounds… What an amazing church, with only the choir complete before the death of its benefactor, the church has survived the reformation, Cromwell using it as a stable, being bricked up for centuries, and being restored and used as a working church… Dan Brown certainly put it on the map, but with or without this notoriety it is a very special place… I even got my trillium fix

note:  this church was built between 1446 and 1480… Before Columbus sailed the ocean blue…. And no such thing a 3 petal flowers in Europe at this time!!!

After half a millennium this church is still magnificent …. Although the castle is a little worse for wear!

Our next stop was St Andrews… Home of the 2015 British Open, and the set up is well under way for this event!  (Sorry Glenn… The Falkirk Wheel got overruled!). The wind was gusting off the North Sea at up to 30-40 miles per hour… Hit a perfect shot off the first hole and you’d be lucky to move it forward at all during one of those gusts!!!
Rather  than golf today, Dan and I decided we would drop a small fraction of that cost in the pro shop!
Now it was time for a quick Bocadillo in the car ( ok all you non Camino types, get your mind out of the gutter… I’m referring to a sandwich!!!) then a Cappucino at a nearby cafe.

As we drove along the spring fields were making good use of all the rain they had received! Beautiful lush countryside, although I did notice it’s a lot more difficult to take pictures while in a moving vehicle than when walking the route!!!

   Fueled for our next leg, we headed off to Dunnotarr Castle.  This is the castle where the Scots hid the “honours” (crown, sceptre and sword)  when the English were besieging Ediburgh Castle… They were then moved to the Chapel of Barras…(our B and B tonight is the Chapel of Barras Farm!). Dunnotarr Castle has an amazingly remote and barren feel to it… And it certainly looks like it would be difficult to attack!

  

Running in between raindrops to visit the castle above rewarded us with a breakthrough in the clouds and some very dramatic skies!!!

None the worse for wear, we headed back to the car, and on to our B and B.  It’s a lovely pastoral setting compared to the lavish urban setting we were in while visiting Edinburgh… Our view from our window says it all!

In the meantime a quick update and pics from Alan and Lisa’s great accomplishment!

 “one bottle of beer on the wall” at the one kilometre mark, followed by the superheroes pose!  Alan and Lisa are joined by Suzanne and John from the U.S.

Alan and Lisa reach the 0 km market…

 … And a very moving sunset at the “end of the earth” to mark their final stage of their journey!

 The hymn was sung, momentos burned, and a special stone was given over to the sea.  All in all and incredible ending to this journey!

Our day is coming to a close… We’ll take a short drive to a nearby village for dinner, then early to bed so we can get up and on the road to meet Ian and Suzanne at Aberdeen airport for 9:50 am!  Only one more sleep, before we begin our next leg!!! This will be fun!

Until tomorrow, all the best and love to all!