Hi Friends! Look at me posting twice in one week! Craziness. I wanted to write a little bit about our recent little getaway to The Borders! We packed so much in to the three days, and I've added some links to some of the places we visited! Back in August when life seemed like it might be alright, we booked (for the second time) to go to Dublin for a few days. We decided to book for the October holidays as I'm off work then, and it seemed like it was going to happen! A few weeks before, the world started going crazy again and our flights were cancelled. We were really gutted about it so decided to start looking for a self-catering wigwam or pod in Scotland. We found the most adorable place in Coldingham (In the Scottish Borders) for a reasonable price and not too far a drive. I'll talk about the pod a bit later on but first I want to talk about our road trip down! We left at 7am on a rainy Tuesday with coffees in hand, and a strict Sophy schedule in the notepad. After the second attempt of driving away (realised we'd forgotten something important before we'd even left the driveway on attempt number one) we drove to Crammond beach first to "watch the sunrise"... There was no sunrise as it was really cloudy, but this didn't dampen our spirits. It was so nice to be awake and out in the fresh sea air before 8am. We stopped for five minutes before carrying on through Leith to Portabello beach. The weather had started to clear up and it was becoming a crisp (and a bit dryer) Autumn morning. After our short stop in Portabello to eat some car snacks (obviously) - we carried on to a very important stop... M&S! ~ I received a really kind gift from one of my students a couple of months ago, as a little thank you for her private lessons her mum got me an M&S voucher! ~ We decided to use this voucher to buy lots of food for our few days away. We bought a cheese selection, crisps and dips, cake, wine, you name it! At this stop, we also went to Starbucks for a classic PSL (It is Autumn after all). We drove through Musselburgh, and on to one of my favourite stops: Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve! The sun was out by this point and it was actually really warm. We walked along a dodgy pier to get to the little grassy trail. We spent about half an hour here before trying to find Luftness Castle... Every castle we tried to visit on our trip was either inaccessible or very expensive to even get into the grounds. We agreed to come back and spend longer at these castles in order to make the visit and the expense worthwhile. We stopped briefly at Gullane beach which was beautiful, before going on to North Berwick. North Berwick LawWe decided to factor in some time to climb North Berwick Law, and I'm so glad we did! This was a definite highlight for both of us. It's not a massive hill - being only 187m - it was the smallest of the Marylins so far. It was quick, steep, and very slippery! Although, unusually I only fell on my bum once! There are wild ponies who live on the Law which was really amazing to see, and when you get further up, there are ruins of an old telegraph station and watchtower. There are boards all the way from the bottom to the top telling you some information about the history of the hill and what it was used for. The reason it exists is actually due to a blob of lava from Arthur's Seat! You can tell that it's been formed from lava, as the rock formation looks like charcoal and it's very uneven! Once you reach the top, there are lots of touristy signs that you've made it (like Arthur's Seat but even more!) I would definitely recommend going up The Law if you get a chance, it was pretty easy and only took us 55 minutes all round. DRIFT.We previously booked lunch in North Berwick to make sure we'd get a table as we knew everywhere would be really busy! A friend recommended this amazing little cafe just beyond North Berwick called DRIFT. The actual building is an old shipping container that has been converted into a modern little cafe. We ordered some coffees and brunch rolls! (They even had gluten free rolls that didn't taste like cardboard!) We absolutely loved it and the view from the window was amazing! The PodThe little pod we stayed in was called The Rambleshack and it was in the wee village of Coldingham. It was a lockbox/self checkin situation so very covid safe, and very easy! There was a little bench top, sink, fridge, toaster, kettle, and microwave! (Honestly they squeezed so much in there!) There were also a couple of plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, some cutlery, along with some other random items. There was a little table next to the amazing round window, and this table converted into the bed! The bathroom was a teeny wet room with a toilet and shower. The pod was really clean, cute, and had everything we needed! Once we'd settled in, we got straight into our M&S spread (Of course). Then... the disaster happened... So we were just peacefully drinking our wine and enjoying our holiday, when I bumped the table and threw everything on it up in the air... There was a massive vase with lavender and lots of water, half a bottle of prosecco, and a giant glass of red wine. I really can't explain how far the wine travelled.. Fully up the walls, on the blind, in our hair, on our clothes, all over our bedding, the floor, anywhere possible. As predicted, I sobbed for the next five minutes while Renee tried to panic clean. I eventually got a grip and started to help, before declaring approximately 54 times that we should just leave and drive home (dramatic???) After a solid hour, we'd managed to get the wine out of most furnishings, apart from our clothing, bedding and hair. The owners were so kind and brought us down some spare bedding so at least we could sleep on dry sheets! We went to sleep with better expectations for the morning. However... We awoke to find there was no hot water, and after the owner checking it and telling us he'd have to call an electrician, we used our great teamwork skills to wash each other's hair with a big bucket we found in the microwave. This took a good hour longer than it was meant to but made for hilarious memories. After we finally made it out the door, we started our adventure for the day! EyemouthWe started our day in Eyemouth by walking up to Eyemouth Fort. It was really interesting and we learned lots about the history of it. It was a great walk up and the views were amazing! We did a little photoshoot at the top (classic) before doing the sunny walk down and across the beach. We walked along to Eyemouth Harbour and saw the 'Widows and Bairns' sculpture. A memorial to the women and children left behind when 189 Scottish fishermen were lost at sea. We were really excited to see a seal as we were walking along the harbour, and learn about some of the wildlife on the shores of Eyemouth. We also saw Gunsgreen House and Nisbett's Tower, which both played a big part in the smuggling trade of Eyemouth in the 18th and 19th centuries. After learning lots along this trail, we walked back to the High Street and bought a few souvenirs from some cute little shops. We loved Occasions Florists the most! St Abbs & ColdinghamAfter spending most of the day in Eyemouth, we drove to the little village of St Abbs for a coffee and some amazing views! I was honestly stunned and how beautiful this place was. We then drove back to Coldingham and visited the surf beach. We found some cute beach houses and then had a walk through the town where we found a tiny antique shop absolutely packed with treasures! We then had a walk through the old Coldingham Priory before heading to the local pub for a meal. We walked home through a little Heritage Trail and then had a much calmer second night, eating the leftover cheese, and thankfully not spilling any wine. Our Trip Home - DunbarWe checked out early the next morning and had decided to drive home via Dunbar, as there were lots of little things we wanted to see. We're very rarely in East Lothian, so decided to make the most of it! However, before we even left the grounds, of course there had to be a final disaster to top off the stay... As I was walking out of the pod and over the decking, I got excited because I saw a dog... I'm not exaggerating when I say I literally flew in the air before falling on my bum. The decking was slippery and I was doing a little half run, so along with all the bags, I had some significant airtime before landing with a loud thud. Renee came running back in from the car, and by that time I had somehow bounced up and was pretending nothing had happened. I got a massive bruise as a souvenir, and we both agreed this was a very relevant end to our slightly disastrous trip! On the way home, we stopped at Dunbar Castle, The Harbour, The Fortress, and The Bridge to Nowhere! It was raining really heavily so we didn't stay long at each stop and decided that we'd like to spend a whole day in Dunbar next summer. North BerwickWe knew we wouldn't have enough time to explore North Berwick properly on the way down there, so we factored in some time on the way home. We went to Tea At Tiffany's for a coffee and to dry off for a bit, then had a look round all the little shops. We loved the classic sweet shop The Sugar Mountain and we enjoyed looking through all the charity shops. We also had a quick stop at the beach for some photos before getting back in the car. We drove through Musselburgh and met one of our friends at Luca's for an ice cream, before getting a chippy once we were back in Fife. A great end to our trip!
We had the most amazing little holiday, and enjoyed having a break from real life, responsibilities, and our phones. I can highly recommend everything that we did (minus the wine disaster) and this was the perfect budget Scottish getaway. We probably spent £200-£250 on the whole thing (including booking the pod, a full tank of petrol, all our food, coffee stops, and souvenirs.) I've linked different things throughout if you're keen to learn more about anything I've written about, or if you're interested in going to any cafes or shops we went to. Let me know if you have any questions or comments!! Love Sophy x
3 Comments
Renee
9/11/2020 11:05:32 am
This was such a fun trip away!! Still not over the wine disaster...
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Granny Maggie
9/11/2020 12:08:58 pm
What a lovely account of your wee holiday, disasters included! Sounds like you visited some quaint places.
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Sophy
9/11/2020 05:51:42 pm
Yes I’d definitely recommend!! Thanks for your support always xxx
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