Day two at Traquair

What a beautiful place. The weather has been warmer and sunnier today so we had a good look round the outside of the house and a quick look inside when in need of a rest from the talks. 
We started the second day of the Beyond Borders Festival with a walk and talk with Alasdair Allan MSP author of ‘Tweed Rins Tae the Ocean’ and Catherine Maxwell Stuart (21st Lady of Traquair), a lovely walk through the grounds of the estate and down to the River Tweed. I enjoyed it so much I even bought the book!
Next an interesting talk hosted by Nicola Sturgeon with Sigrid Van Aken CEO of the Postcode Lottery (the world’s third biggest philanthropic organisation, I’ve been subscribing to this for many years and was unaware of the great work it does) and Christopher Lockyear from Medecins Sans Frontieres. 
I then went on another walk entitled ‘A Ukrainian Odyssey’, exploring Ukraine’s regions and their links to Scotland. We were accompanied by several Ukrainians and it was particularly apt as 24th August is Ukraine Independence Day. 
After a quick lunch, we enjoyed hearing Nicola Sturgeon talk about her new memoir, listened to a couple of other interesting talks and then headed home. It’s been a fascinating and busy weekend which has given me plenty of food for thought.