Holy Island

As mentioned in the post below I went on a road trip to Edinburgh recently. There was four of us all together Rafael, Neiva, Coster and myself. The drive north took most of the day with a long stop at the Royal Armoury in Leeds. We stayed Saturday night at a small B&B in Hawick which is about 30 or so miles south of Edinburgh.


Sunday was spent wondering around Edinburgh. It's a beautiful city. I took a lot of pictures but the weather was atrocious and most of them are grey and dismal. The castle is amazing and is really worth the entrance fee, there is so much to see there. The biggest surprise of all was a quick stop in the Scottish National Gallery on the way back to the car park. We saw art by Monet, Raphael, Rubens, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin and even Da Vinci. It was a great way to finish of a fantastic day of sightseeing. 

Once in the car we headed about 50 miles south east and ended up in the Craw Inn for the night. The food we had for dinner at the inn was nothing short of sublime. It's probably one of the best meals I've had since I've been in the UK. And breakfast the next morning was just as nice with the haggis easily the best part of the meal.  Mmmmmm.... haggis! Just before leaving the Craw Inn I snapped a shot of the hanging tree out the back. This is where the last witch execution took place in Scotland. 

Our next stop was the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. To get to the island you have to check tide times as you can only drive along the causeway to the island at low tide. For us it worked out fine as the tide was low around 10:30 am. Once again the weather wasn't great but it didn't detract from the picturesque beauty of the place.  It has a long history and is a very import Christian site. The Lindisfarne Gospels were written here about 700 and along with the Book of Kells and the Book of Darrow is one the oldest living examples of gospel writings in Britain. The Holy Island was also one of the first places in Britain to feel the sting of Viking steel. Just before leaving we stopped at the Crown and Anchor pub to try some of Lindisfarne's famous mead. It was very tasty and Raf bought a bottle to take home with us.

After Lindisfarne we had a long drive home to Notts with a little detour to the 3 Horse Shoes Inn for an awesome steak. 

Great trip!

Wall-to-wall Knights & Armour

On the way to Edinburgh recently we stopped at the Royal Armoury in Leeds. This was my second visit to the museum and I can't stress enough just how much awesomeness oozes from the place. It's basically five floors of a massive building filled with all manner of weapons and armour through out history, from ancient all the way to modern. They even have rwo life size elephants dressed in full war gear - stuffed of course. There are also re-enactments and re-telling of historic battles by actors dressed in authentic costumes from the time. And it's not just your standard static display museum, there are interactive installations so you can hold and try out swords, maces, guns, bows and more all with complete safety.

Best of all it's free!

Here's a few pics of just a tiny fraction of the full sets of medieval armour on display.