We left Waverley at 9:00 to go to Berwick upon Tweed, about 40 minutes away just past the Scottish border.
We were heading to the Holy Island to see the ruins of the monastery of Lindisfarne. When we got to Berwick (pronounced Bear-ick), we found the bus to the Holy Island runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It was Thursday. A bus would take us to Beal, which was still about 5 or 6 miles from the Holy Island. So, it was another taxi ride.
Royal Border Bridge, a railway viaduct
We got the driver to take us to the causeway to the island. It was £15 for the ride. The sign at the causeway informed us it was 3.5 miles to the island.
The posted tide table showed that 11:10 was safe to cross. It was not yet 10:30 so we waited around.
By 10:45 cars started to inch their way across. We set off walking along the causeway where there is barely room when a car passes. But soon we were able to walk on the sand or seagrass off the sides of the road.
We were at the carpark on the island by 11:45. We could see a lot of people lining the main street.
We asked a bobby, who told us people were waiting for Prince Edward who was at the castle and about to pass along the street for a tree planting ceremony
We headed to a pub but it didn’t open until 12 so we checked out a jewellery store. As we were waiting for the pub to open, Prince Edward’s car drove past. Robin didn’t know who Prince Edward was.
We had fish and chips at the pub.
After, it was off to Lindisfarne Priory and museum where the exhibition explains about the Lindisfarne Gospels, a medieval illuminated gospel similar to the Book of Kells in Dublin with its Celtic illuminations.
As we got to the Priory, it started to rain making it difficult to visit the ruins.
We ended up looking around the Lindisfarne winery because it was inside. It features mead and fruit wines. We got the taxi driver who brought us to the causeway to pick us up on the island and return us to the railway station in Berwick.
Lindisfarne Castle
Because we had 22 minutes until the train for Edinburgh arrived, Scott and Robin decided they need to try out the local pub. The Castle Hotel was closed and we ended up at the White Horse where Robin and Scott downed a pint. We had to hoof it back to the railway station with less than 5 minutes to board the Edinburgh train. Back in Edinburgh, the sun was shining. We did a bit of shopping then back to the flat to finish the last bottle of champagne.
We phoned for up some Indian food at Zest and went to Robin’s flat to watch the Euro semi-finals between Spain and Russia while we waited for food to arrive.
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Royal Border Bridge, a railway viaduct
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