Day 4: Craigmillar Castle, Border Country & Peebles Arrival

Posted: October 2015

Today I departed the city of Edinburgh for my adventures of the southern border country. A major part of this adventure is driving for the first time here on the opposite side of the car and opposite side of the road. After a delicious and dangerously sweet breakfast this morning, I was picked up by my driver and rode out to the airport to pick up my car. The young lady at the counter was extremely friendly and helpful. She even gave me a free upgrade from a basic economy car to a fully outfitted 2015 Jeep Cherokee with GPS and all the other media necessities. 

I was pretty nervous once getting out of the airport driving, but luckily I didn't have any issues. It all started to make sense pretty quickly. 

I drove my way on to the outskirts of Edinburgh city center to get to the east end of the city to Craigmillar Castle. What a treat! This castle was initially built in 14th century, then being added onto in the mid 17th century. Before the 18th century, the castle was abandoned and left to ruin. The castle has been recorded as one that was stayed by Mary Queen of Scots. 

Since the castle is in ruins, there is some room for imagination to picture what life was like. There were very few markers of information inside the castle, so to help navigate and understand what I was seeing I purchase for only a few pounds a souvenir guidebook. 

Here are some of the photos from my adventure at the castle. Again, I got lucky with perfect weather!

From there, I continue my route down to Peebles stopping along the way to take some captures of the beautiful countryside. Next I arrived in Peebles to the cottage apartment I am renting for a few days. It is tucked down a close off of the main street. This little gem is easily accessible to all the shops and activities here in the town center. It is a lovely, bright and perfectly decorated 2 story apartment - reception area off of the main entrance features a large fireplace, TV nook, sitting area with views of the church next door, a full galley kitchen, couch with foot rest for lounging, and a bistro breakfast table for two. Upstairs is a large bedroom with a king bed and a twin daybed. Off the bedroom is a spacious bathroom and closet. The owner was so kind to put together a basket of treats as a welcome including biscuits, crisps, fudge, wine, snack bars and lotion. Here are a few photos...

If you are interesting in booking this adorable apartment, visit here.

Once I settled in, I went for a quick walk to find something to eat. I picked up scones for my breakfast tomorrow, then popped into the Country Hotel for a delicious lasagna meal as a very late lunch. Then, I walked down the road a bit to Sainsbury's for grocery shopping so that I can make up my own breakfasts and dinners over the next couple days. What a steal. I only spent about $32 USD and got a full bag of groceries that would have cost over $60 at a store like Safeway. Very reasonable. I now have enough food and snacks for $32 where a single meal in a pub runs around $15 USD. Plus, I can control my calories a bit more this way.

I will post more photos of Peebles as I walk through the village tomorrow. I also plan to visit Melrose Abbey. More to come!