Gallivanting Geismom: The Wonders of the Borders of Scotland

As promised, here was my morning view with the sun shining down on the River Tweed. Can't ask for much better than that!

We've visited this are of Scotland quite a few times and we always enjoy coming back. The scenery is amazing and the people are super friendly. When I looked at the tour book in the room I was hard pressed to find something that we hadn't done over the years. (If you recall, Marty worked in Scotland 2 weeks/month for about 3 years and I would come with him about 4 times a year when we would venture out on weekends.)

One thing I did notice that was unbeknownst to me was Kailzie Gardens. It is located just east of Peebles ( a lovely border town), and since we had to make our way in that direction to get to our hotel near the airport, it seemed the perfect stop to break up the trip.

We entered through the cafe which is in a historic building on the edge of the property.

We decided to head to the walled gardens which were originally planted in the 19th century. Along the way we noticed these markers.

They were information signs. If you pulled on the marker, a side panel popped up giving you tidbits of information pertaining to the area where you are walking. Pretty clever, don't you think?

We walked through the garden gate in the stone wall and what beheld us was pretty amazing.

Glorious colors, laid out in perfection, with the mountains in the background, highlighted this morning by a brilliant blue sky.

Are you impressed? We certainly were!

There were various sections lined by hedges, offering different varieties of plants as well as some decorative statues, making each turn a pleasant surprise.

The sundial dates back to 1811.

As you might notice, many of the blooms have faded due to frost, but some are also changing to fall colors, adding a different type of beauty to enjoy.

There is a glass house within the walls that dates back to the 1870's and it is filled with potted plants that featured some gorgeous blooms.

Aren't they brilliant?

From here we decided to take one of the paths to explore a bit more of the grounds outside of the walls.

There was a duck pond. But no ducks.

and I was fascinated by this row of bushes, all what appears to be the same plant, but each a different color. Isn't that interesting?

The sky was starting to look grey, so we decided to move on to our next destination: Peebles.

Once again, we've been to this quaint village quite a few times. The appeal never gets old.

We parked in the free lot then headed over the pedestrian bridge to get to the main part of town. Marty wanted a selfie from the bridge.

When we visited two years ago, we had stopped into the Oven Door Tea room for a cream tea. The owner of the shop is delightful, and she even sent me her recipe for scones, which were melt in your mouth delicious. I've continued to follow her page on facebook, so we decided to pop in again today.

The place was super busy and had a long wait for a seat, so we decided to see if we could just purchase a couple of items to take with us to enjoy later. The waitress was happy to let us in, and then I spotted the owner, and she remembered who I was by name! I wish that I cold remember what the name was of the item that I chose, but believe me when I say that it was delectable!

On the way back to the car park, Marty insisted that he needed my photo on the bridge....with no one else around....which isn't that easy to do on an active pedestrian bridge. And, can you really even see me?

So, I decided that I needed a photo of Marty on the bridge, but I wasn't as picky and I'm fairly certain that if you look hard enough, you will see that there is someone else crossing on the bridge. But I'd venture to say that their presence doesn't distract from Marty at all. You might even need a magifying glass to see him!

With treats in hand, we headed to the car and began the drive to Falkirk to see the Falkirk wheel.

We decided to buy a coffee and enjoy our Peebles treats while watching the wheel, since it was raining at the time.

It certainly did not disappoint.

While watching the wheel at work, I couldn't help but be impressed by the engineering that went into constructing this 23 years ago. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift, and is the only one of its kind in the world.

If you aren't aware, there are a series of canals that run through Great Britain and Scotland, and people have traveled on them, in house boats, for centuries. Generally there are a set of locks that must be maneuvered through in order to accommodate for difference in elevation between the canals.

There is a 79 foot height difference between the Forth & Clyde canal and the Union canal. It used to take the better part of a day for a canal boat to go through 11 locks to get from the top canal to the bottom one.

The wheel accomplishes this transition in 5 minutes using the energy of 8 tea kettles according to the information in the visitor center.

The canal boat is maneuvered into water filled gondola (either top or bottom depending on direction)

and once it is inside, and the gates closed, and the wheel begins to turn, lifting the boat inside.

Here it is nearly up to the top level.

Once at the top, it can maneuver its way to the Forth & Clyde Canal.

It really was quite fascinating to watch.

And apparently this swan family enjoys watching as well.

When we were in the visitor center, I spotted an ice cream stand that had Scottish Tablet ice cream, and decided that I would love to have a dish. So I did.

But it's a good thing we leave tomorrow, because at this rate, with all of the treats that I've enjoyed, I'm going to start looking like a whale!

We decided to call it a day and headed to our hotel near the airport. We've stayed here before: The Macdonald Houstoun House. It's 6.8 miles to the airport, which is extremely convenient when one needs to leave at 6:00 AM and it's still dark on the roads.

Here is the view from our room. We are in an annex off the back, and what you see is the main part of the hotel where the restaurant is located.