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On the trail of Robert Burns. He's the Shakespeare of Scotland. One of their most celebrated sons. Aside from the general historical interest, my dad was looking for subject matter for artwork. Dumfries was where he settled later in life. He was an excise man, collecting duties, in addition to writing.
(click to embiggen)
We parked down by the river, in the only public parking we could find, then walked back up to the middle of town. Behind me, as I took the above picture, was a street closed off to vehicles, but we didn't really know where the Burns places were, so we went into a nearby pub (I think it was called Robert the Bruce, and was in what used to be a Methodist church) got a pint and asked a couple of locals. One guy was a cyclist, and had been cycling in Europe, but hadn't yet been to the States. The other guy had few teeth, and we could hardly understand him. But they pointed us down the pedestrian mall.
This banner ran a good block.
This is the house of Robert Burns.
We went down the street, passed a couple of bars that Burns liked to frequent and found his house just off the end of the street. Then we went on a couple of blocks to St. Michael's Church to see his mausoleum, and we walked around the cemetery for quite a while. See other post. Then we crossed the river and went through the little Robert Burns Museum.
Then we drove to the B&B. We had the address, but no GPS. It took us 45 minutes to an hour, including stopping to ask for directions, twice.
Parked behind the B&B. Note the caber lying on the athletic field, behind.
After getting checked in, we found out that the downtown area was within walking distance! So we went back for dinner.
There's a restaurant in the station house, but we passed it up passed it up, since the rest of downtown was so close... we thought. It turned out to be farther than we thought. But we got to The Globe Inn, where Burns hung out... but they no longer serve food. The bartender gave us directions to another good place, which turned out to be farther than we thought, or hoped. But it was very good. Then we went back to The Globe.
They're kind of a sports bar, but they have a little bar room dedicated to Burns. The place was established in 1610. Burns spent time there in the 1790's. He inscribed poetry on the panes of some of the windows, in the rooms where he stayed. Only a couple of pounds for a dram of whisky there, and there were good ones.
(click to embiggen)
We parked down by the river, in the only public parking we could find, then walked back up to the middle of town. Behind me, as I took the above picture, was a street closed off to vehicles, but we didn't really know where the Burns places were, so we went into a nearby pub (I think it was called Robert the Bruce, and was in what used to be a Methodist church) got a pint and asked a couple of locals. One guy was a cyclist, and had been cycling in Europe, but hadn't yet been to the States. The other guy had few teeth, and we could hardly understand him. But they pointed us down the pedestrian mall.
This banner ran a good block.
This is the house of Robert Burns.
We went down the street, passed a couple of bars that Burns liked to frequent and found his house just off the end of the street. Then we went on a couple of blocks to St. Michael's Church to see his mausoleum, and we walked around the cemetery for quite a while. See other post. Then we crossed the river and went through the little Robert Burns Museum.
Then we drove to the B&B. We had the address, but no GPS. It took us 45 minutes to an hour, including stopping to ask for directions, twice.
Parked behind the B&B. Note the caber lying on the athletic field, behind.
After getting checked in, we found out that the downtown area was within walking distance! So we went back for dinner.
There's a restaurant in the station house, but we passed it up passed it up, since the rest of downtown was so close... we thought. It turned out to be farther than we thought. But we got to The Globe Inn, where Burns hung out... but they no longer serve food. The bartender gave us directions to another good place, which turned out to be farther than we thought, or hoped. But it was very good. Then we went back to The Globe.
They're kind of a sports bar, but they have a little bar room dedicated to Burns. The place was established in 1610. Burns spent time there in the 1790's. He inscribed poetry on the panes of some of the windows, in the rooms where he stayed. Only a couple of pounds for a dram of whisky there, and there were good ones.
