Arrival Date: 2014-08-23
Departure Date: 2014-08-26
Accommodation: Mercure, Ayr
The beginning of our August bank holiday weekend got off to a sad start as our guinea pig Mushroom very suddenly fell ill and passed away just a couple of hours before we were due to leave. The plan was originally for me to pick Helen up from work (as she was working the Saturday), then get something to eat in Manchester and get on the road early. Instead, we went home to say goodbye to Mushroom first, then ultimately decided we should still go away and have a good time to remember her. So we dedicated this holiday to Mushroom.
We arrived in Ayr soon after midnight on the Saturday night after a long drive, checked in, and went straight to bed. The hotel was right in the centre of the town, and you could see straight down to the beach from our room, it was beautiful in the evening, and even more so in the morning.
First thing in the morning, we got breakfast and took a walk down to the beach, the sea was beautiful and it was a lovely mild day. We found a dead jellyfish washed up on the beach, Helen had never seen one before and was fascinated by it. We took a few pictures, but Helen couldn’t keep her eyes open in the sunlight; these are the best ones we got!
After the beach, we went back to the hotel room quickly to make sure we got all the sand off our feet, then went for a walk in to the centre of Ayr. We found a Primark and bought a couple of pairs of cheap sunglasses for the day, then went to the tourist information centre to see what was in the area. First stop was the Robbie Burns museum on the outskirts of the town. The museum was newly built and very fresh-looking.
We saw Robbie’s old parlour chair and writing desk, lots of his original poems like “O Once I Lov’d A Bonie Lass”, his family Bible, and more!
After the museum, we took a short trip around to his birthplace and old house which is just around the corner. There was a little golf-cart like bus system used to get there which was interesting, the driver was very entertaining and spoke to us about all the decorations in the gardens in the surrounding area. On the route between the museum and the birthplace, there are lots of little sculptures and such, each is made in the image of a Robbie Burns poem or life experience. Helen particularly liked the mouse from “Tae A Moose”, and gave it a little bink on the nose.
The birthplace itself was very interesting, a lot smaller than we’d have expected, it was a long, thin barn-like building. It was split in to a few sections from one end to another, it was animals, living, kitchen, sleeping. Each room in itself was very small, it was hard to imagine a whole family living there.
After this, we walked back to the car and started off along the coast, first stop was Dunure, a small harbour village with a small castle ruin and a park at the top of the adjacent hill. We parked at the top of the hill next to the park, and went off exploring the castle ruin.
You can see in one of these pictures Helen looking a little grumpy, I promised her lunch, and it was already close to 2pm. We walked down the hill in to Dunure village and found a tiny little café that served the most delicious fish-finger butties we’d ever tasted on some soft cheesy bread. A great little quiet find, looking out on to the harbour.
The café was family-run, with the dad in the kitchen, the mum at front of house, and the daughters both running food and waiting tables. It was a lovely little place.
2 Comments