Scottish Borders Trip!

I spent Saturday touring the Scottish-English borderlands. This is where a lot of the fighting went on while Scotland was still trying to remain an independent nation, and England was having none of it. It's a really beautiful part of the country. Most of it looks a bit like this:

Lot's of Sheep! Mom would love it. 

But then every so often before you know it you're in a quaint little town with these amazing ruined Abbeys and instead of sheep you're staring at this:

Melrose Abbey, burial place of Robert the Bruce's heart. Not him, just his heart. 

It also had some really really cool old gravestones:

But the coolest part of Melrose Abbey?

That's right, it's a Hog playing bagpipes.

 All those hypothesis about God being an Arkansas Razorback Fan? 

Apparently the monks thought so...

We also visited the longest continuously inhabited house in Scotland. Complete with secret passageways and a hedge maze!

We visited a few more sites as well. Including Dryburgh Abbey, where Sir Walter Scott is buried, Smailholm Tower where he stayed, and his favorite view of the borders. 

So here's a few more pics:

Sir Walter Scott's viewpoint

My favorite nook at Melrose Abbey

At the top of Melrose Abbey

 Part of Dryburgh Abbey