St Cuthbert Way Day 1, April 16, Easter Sunday
Start Tweedbank train station
End Abbotsford and across Tweed at Kingsknowes Hotel
Miles walked: 5
It is all my daughter’s fault.
She lives very near us at the moment, but is going back to school in July. We intended to travel and take advantage of her free pet care and house sitting, but never did. Hmmmm, we never took a trip to Europe in all these years. Perhaps something easy the first time like the UK. Hey, there are some long-ish trails– we could hike all the way across Scotland and visit castles. Well, perhaps compromise on something shorter with lots of history and spiritual stuff, and bed&breakfasts each night, using a tour operator and luggage transport service to take everything except our daypack…
So KK and I are in Glascow, jet-lagged after a six hour flight out of Newark. We take a train to Edinburgh and explore briefly in all-day drizzle. (The city has many opportunities for discovery, and we reserved some days after the hike to do just that.) We stop in a little taco shop for hot tea, and I try the haggis tacos like a tourist.
Another train takes us to Tweedbank, where we start hiking on Abbey Way along the River Tweed. We stroll to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, and take a delightful audio tour.
The inside of the mansion has many artifacts and weapons and plaster decorations in a bold theatrical style.
Later we went across the river to Kingsknowes Hotel to a charming room overlooking Abbotsford and the Tweed, with decorated plaster ceiling that is a call-back to Abbotsford’s style.
The room is a little intimidating after several recent nights in a tent on the GET, but I will endeavor to endure.