After freshening up and sorting through our laundry, which is neatly folded and still warm from the dryers, we head into town for dinner. We're all very hungry and decide to give the Bon Accord Hotel dining room a try tonight.
I choose the steak pie, since I haven't ever had this traditional pub dish. It arrives steaming hot with roasted potatoes and a side salad. The pie is a concoction of beef and vegetables in a thick, savory sauce enhanced with a delicate hint of something alcoholic, perhaps wine, perhaps whisky, all topped with a golden, flaky crust. It's very rich and I have a difficult time eating even half of it.
Partners in crime, Robin and I tell Dana about the stone at Crichton and Dana reciprocates with her own tale; a wild evening as a teenager when she and her friends attempted to steal a street sign and ended up at the police station. If the bar weren't so crowded I'm sure we would have been making a spectacle of ourselves, but no one seems to mind the cackling and general hilarity pouring forth from our little corner.
We stroll the streets of Melrose, window shopping – this time at Talisman Books. I make a mental note of their business hours, as I have a mission to complete in Melrose. One of my children's schoolteachers is originally from Scotland and has a friend who owns a shop in Melrose. She wasn't sure if it was a news agent or a bookshop. The news agent has been ruled out by the proprietor's name being listed on the sign above the door and this is the only book shop in town.
In the morning, after visiting the bank, I plan to return to Talisman Books (what terrible misfortune to be obligated to go to a book shop) to inquire after Mrs. Godfrey and send her friend's well wishes from the States.
Back at Torwood, I cast a sidelong glance at my traitorous camera. I have another task ahead of me in the morning as well; I need to buy a new camera. Knowing that the next day will be very full I make an early night of it, snuggling down beneath my blankets before the sky has gone completely dark.
My mind refuses to stop whirling in anticipation over our plans for the next day. Tomorrow I will be visiting the border abbeys, places that should have been havens of sanctuary, yet saw so much pillaging and plundering, plotting and politics during the war of independence.
As full and fun as this day has been, I close my eyes with the knowledge that tomorrow will offer amazement of its own.
Scottish cuisine has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own, but shares much with wider British and European cuisine as a result of local and foreign influences, both ancient and modern. Traditional Scottish dishes exist alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration.
Scotland's natural larder of game, dairy products, fish, fruit, and vegetables is the chief factor in traditional Scots cooking, with a high reliance on simplicity and a lack of spices from abroad, as these were historically rare and expensive.
Read more about Scottish cuisine at Wikipedia.