But as we were driving past Portobello we spotted an incredibly high tide, with huge clouds of spray flying into the air as large waves crashed into the promenade, so we stopped to take some photos.

Unfortunately I got a little bit too close and a wave came over the top of me, soaking me from head to foot!

By the time we’d been home for me to change into dry clothes then driven to Haddington it was too late to see the inside of the church, so we had to make do with walking around the outside.

The church sits on the banks of the River Tyne, which is home to an array of birdlife, including Mallards, Moorhens, Goosanders and Black-headed Gulls.

Founded in 1136 by King David I, it was Scotland’s first Cistercian abbey and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Now in ruins, the abbey suffered greatly at the hands of English troops who pillaged and burned it over the centuries during numerous Border skirmishes and battles. It still makes for an impressive sight though.

Although now partially-ruinous and open to the elements, the main tower still stands to its original height of 26 metres.

The whole of the abbey is richly-decorated with carvings of plants, flowers, saints and numerous grotesque gargoyles.

Considered to be one of Britain’s most beautiful religious buildings, the ceiling of the south transept is particularly noteworthy, with the central bosses representing various saints.

One of the highlights of a visit to Melrose Abbey is the possibility to climb to the top of the main tower, up a winding spiral staircase. As well as the beautiful views over the town and the surrounding area, it affords the opportunity of a better look at the carvings, which extend to the very top of the abbey despite the fact that they would have been out of sight for most people.

Next to the abbey is the Commendator’s House, a small tower house dating back to the 15th century, and altered in the 16th century.

Originally it would have been the home of the abbot, but it now houses a museum displaying numerous Roman and medieval finds from the area.

In the garden of the Commendator’s House we saw a pheasant, its bright plumage contrasting with the dull winter grass.

Looking back at the abbey from a distance it’s easy to see why this Gothic masterpiece receives the accolades that it does.

The central tower is a four storey structure, built in the early 15th century.

Alterations were made to the castle over the centuries, including the addition of an Italian-style loggia around 1600, with carved stone columns.

On the top floor of the main tower is a room with a vaulted ceiling, at the centre of which are two grotesque carved faces, possibly representing the Green Man.

At the very top of the castle it’s possible to get out onto the battlements, from where there are great views down Dollar Glen, and up to the Ochils.

Below that in Princes Street Gardens is a children’s fairground, and beyond that is the open-air ice rink.

It really is a beautiful scene, particularly at night when the lights shine out of the darkness, with the back-drops of Princes Street and the Royal Mile on either side.

The German market and Highland village market on Princes Street itself offer a variety of gifts, food and mulled beer and mulled wine to keep out the cold!

There are other events throughout the Christmas at various locations in Edinburgh. We visited one of these tonight on the way home – a Norwegian carol concert in the atmospheric setting of St. Giles’ Cathedral.

For more information, visit the Edinburgh’s Christmas website.

There are several rough tracks criss-crossing the area, and while cycling along one of these we discovered a model boat race on one of the man-made ponds.

The modellers weren’t the only ones enjoying the water, there was also a bevy of swans floating around in search of food.

After sharing our lunch with the graceful birds, we continued along the track, joining the John Muir Way as it snakes its way around the coast. We had a view of the power station at Cockenzie (ash from which was used to create this area) but as we got closer to Prestonpans we noticed something far more interesting – a seal!

Lying on the just-submerged rocks of Little Ox, it was sunning itself as the water lapped around it. We cycled further around the coast and walked down onto the beach at The Cast, where a rocky outcrop at the end of the shore would allow us to get closer to the seal.

We soon realised that there were two seals. One stayed over by it’s sunspot, while the other came to have a good look at us. It was circling around the two sea sides of the rock we were perched on, diving down under the water then surfacing again in a new position. At its closest it was around 15 metres from us.

We stayed here for about an hour watching the inquisitive seal as it dived and swam on the current. It really was a treat to share an experience with an animal who seemed as curious about us as we were with it.

Then we continued cycling along the John Muir Way, dropping down onto the concrete sea defences at Prestonpans. Picking along the shore were groups of oystercatchers and curlews, hopping and wading their way through the rock pools.

With the sun starting to set, we turned around and headed back towards Levenhall Links, stopping briefly on the way to take a photo of the top of Prestongrange House, now home to the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club, poking through the trees.

Once through the gardens, the castle comes into view, standing on a rocky outcrop, partially-hidden by trees.

Built in the 13th century by the de Vaux family (Norman knights from Rouen in France) and extended in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, the castle is a wonderful mish-mash of different styles, inter-connected by a maze of passageways and doors.

The oldest part of the castle is the large round tower, inside of which are one six-sided and one seven-sided chamber, the latter with a beautiful pointed vaulted ceiling.

There were other round towers at the other corners of the original castle, and the remains of their bases can still be seen below the later square-section building work.

The Haliburton family built the gatehouse, kitchens, and east range in the 14th and 15th centuries. The gatehouse is a magnificent full-height affair, and would originally have had a drawbridge to cross the moat below.

The kitchens feature a pair of fireplaces which I think are the biggest fireplaces I have ever seen, with massive chimneys reaching from ground floor level all the way up to the top of the castle.

Under the east range is a tunnel vault which was used for storage, at one end of which are a pair of bread ovens, and at the other end a prison.

The latest part of the castle is the Ruthven Lodging, named after the family who built it. This features a huge hall on the top floor, now open to the elements but once covered by a decorated wooden roof. At one end of the hall is an ornately-carved buffet.

The view from the main road gives little clue to the size of the castle due to it being obscured by trees, but once up on the rock on which it stands, it’s clear just how big it is, stretching back along its perch.

This is a most impressive castle with an interesting history, and is one of my favourites. It really is a sight worth seeing.

Our interest began with a pair of stone wyverns – mythical dragon-like creatures – which stand on Grange Loan.

I read that they had been placed there after being removed from Grange House, and had originally stood either side of the main gateway to the house. So we started trying to figure out where the gateway had been.

The National Library of Scotland’s map site is invaluable for this kind of research. As well as several town plans made by the Ordnance Survey in the 19th century, there are also estate plans, and as luck would have it, The Grange was one of those covered.

The earliest detailed map we could find was the 1849-53 Ordnance Survey map, showing Grange House isolated in the surrounding area.

The next map is the 1876-77 Ordnance Survey map, which shows the surrounding area starting to be built up to the north and east.

By the 1893-94 Ordnance Survey map, to the south has also been developed.

However, we managed to find a feuing plan dated 1864, although by the layout and surrounding developments it appears to be from much earlier. The grounds of Grange House itself are less developed than in later maps, and the main entrance is at the north-east corner of the property, at the junction of Dick Place and Lauder Road.

We believe it is this entrance which was originally flanked by the wyvern gateposts. Looking at the corner today, the original angled gateway is still visible, but filled in with a coal shed and a small access door.

Just down Lauder Road from the old main entrance is Lauder Loan. Now a dead end, originally it was an access road to the estate after the main entrance moved to the south-west corner.

As late as 1962 there were two 17th century buildings along this road, one probably an estate office, and one a stables. However these were demolished in the 1960s or 1970s, and the remaining rubble is piled up in the garden of one of the new houses.

Moving down Lauder Road and turning right into Grange Loan, then right again into Grange Crescent – a new road built after Grange House was knocked down – it becomes apparent that a lot of features from the old estate are still visible. The old house was built on a terrace, and was surrounded by terraced gardens. Behind the new houses are a number of the original garden walls.

Continuing along Grange Loan we reached Lovers’ Loan, an apparently centuries old path through The Grange estate. Now marked by one of the wyverns, it’s clear that the walls are original. Looking over the west wall is the Grange Cricket Club on what was once land belonging to Grange House, and on the far side of the pitch the western boundary wall of the original estate can still be seen.

Lovers’ Loan is a great wee lane, threading its way from Grange Loan almost all the way to The Meadows. It still follows the route marked on the 19th century Ordnance Survey maps, and the walls follow the same curves and corners as all those years ago.

With all these tantalising clues and features hinting at what was here before, it’s a real shame that Grange House didn’t survive.

We drove to the meeting point just outside Edinburgh, and from there we were transported via LandRover to the launch site in Peebles. There were eight of us passengers, and we all helped to get the basket off the back of the trailer and unpack the balloon.

With the balloon now attached to the basket and laid out flat on the ground, the inflation process began, with air blown into the balloon’s opening with a large fan.

With the balloon filling with air most of the passengers got into the basket and Pete (the pilot) turned the burners on to heat the air. As the balloon became upright, the last two passengers (including myself) climbed into the basket, and moments later we left the ground and started to rise. The word which describes the situation best is “calm”. Unlike with a plane where you are connected to the ground and travelling at speed (with all the associated forces and friction) until the moment of take-off, leaving the ground in a balloon feels effortless, drifting upwards slowly and calmly.

It really was a very relaxed experience, climbing high above the trees of the park which served as our launch site, and crossing over roads and houses below.

The park was next to the River Tweed, and as we crossed the river a swan started to take off.

The balloon’s basket offers a unique viewpoint from which to look at Peebles, and with the sun low in the sky the colours were warm and the shadows long.

I found it quite difficult to judge how high we were when looking at hills and fields, but sheep made it much easier to appreciate the height we had reached.

By this point we had been in the air for almost an hour, travelling gradually north-west. After crossing several forests, we started our descent and as an area of empty fields opened up behind the old house of Lamancha we made our way towards them.

The closer we got to the ground, the faster it seemed we were travelling, but in reality it was probably because we’d had such a relaxed journey so far that the contrast seemed even greater now. The landing was uneventful, with just two gentle bumps before coming to a rest. With the burners off, Pete jumped out and started the process of deflating and detaching the balloon. The rest of us joined in, and it wasn’t long before the balloon was all folded and back in its bag.

While Pete headed off to find the LandRover – our driver had seen us come down, but didn’t know exactly where we’d landed – we waited in the field as the sun began to set, contemplating the fantastic journey we had just made. After a while, with the light fading fast, the lights of the LandRover appeared on the horizon preceded by Pete’s silhouette as he showed the way.

After loading the basket and balloon back onto the trailer we made our way out of the farm, and set off for Edinburgh.

For more information on hot air balloon flights in Scotland, contact Alba Ballooning.

When I got to the castle there was a long queue across the parade ground, but it was moving quite quickly.

The battlements were busy with a mixture of locals and tourists – and no wonder with such good views.

St. Giles’ cathedral on the High Street was lit up against the backdrop of the last of the evening sun.

Opposite St. Giles’ are the Edinburgh City Chambers, which had a wintry scene projected onto its facade.

Edinburgh Castle was looking similarly resplendent in its illuminated state.

Beside the Scott monument was a fairground, two Christmas markets (one German, one Scottish), and an ice-skating rink down in Princes Street Gardens.

The Bank of Scotland was also lit up against the night sky.

Looking back towards Princes Street on my way home, the Scott monument looked fantastic, rising like a rocket from the lights of the fairground.