First brush with the Scottish weather

Day 3: Newton Stewart to New Lanark
Km driven: 234
Explorer Pass day 1: Threave Castle, Sweetheart Abbey and New Abbey Corn Mill.

Driving on the left is logical... if you start on the right (ah ah!) side of the road. We haven't yet have an accident. Thank God there is a copilot to remind the driver of that little fact.

We started the morning with an early visit to Cairn Holy, which is actually a dual site with megalithic burial chambers and their standing stones. I had my thermos of coffee and between the view, the grazing sheep and the stones, my morning was very pleasant.

Cairn Holy I

Cairn Holy II

Cairn Holy II

Our next step was to drive back to Galloway Forest, where Solene dragged me on a short walk above a loch, before taking off to follow the Raider's Road... we stopped half-way at the Otter's Pool to have lunch, without the otters (does the statue count?).

Lunch at the Otter's Pool

Otter's Pool

Otter's Pool

Otter's Statue

 

Next was Threave Castle. That's when the Scottish weather woke up and we walked to the ferry under a pouring rain. The castle is on an island, and visitors ring a bell to call the ferryman (or, for us, a bonnie Scottish lass).

Threave Castle

Threave Castle

The castle itself is only a shell, open to the winds. It was built by Archibald the Grim, and with the rain, it was very grim indeed. Of course, it stopped raining as soon as we came back to the car.

Inside Threave Castle

We drove then to Sweetheart Abbey, a ruin of pink stones on a carpet of immaculate green grass. (We were to learn later that the lawn came in rolls). Very romantic ! We visited an old mill in the same town. Our (white-bearded) guide was a cheerful Scott, with a Monty Python-like sense of humour, which made the visit much more lively (somehow a mariage proposal came up at the time where we discussed the merits of a miller's son).

Sweetheart Abbey

Sweetheart Abbey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweetheart Abbey

New Abbey Mill