As part of our short stay in Scotland in 2010 we spent the days looking for historical sites in the Galloway area and one that we spotted on a tourist pamphlet in the hotel was Dundrennan Abbey. We thought it would make a nice change to hit a religious building as opposed to the castles that were likely to make up the multitude of our Scottish visits.

Dundrennan Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, now ruins, though with some well-preserved details. For its part in history it was the place in which Mary, Queen of Scots spent her last night in Scotland in 1568 before she headed to England and was captured.

When we arrived at the abbey we saw a few other cars present and some people heading through the entrance as it had just opened. We approached the entrance and spotted a sign that indicated we should turn left to buy tickets for entry but we were confused as nobody else was. Nevertheless, we obeyed the sign and headed down to a hut, entered, and asked for tickets. The man inside was shocked and remarked that most people ignored the sign and that it was nice to have someone pay for a change. We laughed about it and explored the ruins, noticing that the people who’d not paid were universally older and all Scottish. Some comment about stereotypical tightness might have slipped our lips.

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