Yesterday, Glasgow was hopping. We could not believe how many people were out on the streets. This morning there was nary a soul to see. Of course it was Sunday morning and people might be sleeping off the revelry of Saturday night. We learned that the last call in Britain is 11PM which seems early compared to the US.  John said the locals make up for it by starting early and hitting it harder, so by 11 they are ready to call it a night!

Glasgow was a bit surprising. It has had a reputation of being a “gritty” city. It now seems to be emerging to become a modern, hip city, at least in certain areas of the city. The downtown area, with its large pedestrian walkway is as modern as seen in any city. There are all the fancy shops and restaurants. However, right next to our new, modern Radisson Blu Hotel was an old abandoned building with trees growing out of a few windows. Work remains to be done to continue modernizing Glasgow.

It is again cloudy and a bit misty and the streets are damp from an overnight rain. I do see some blue sky in the distance.  We”ll see if our luck has run out regarding the  weather.

We stopped in Gretna Green, a small village right across the border in Scotland that became famous in the 18th century for “runaway marriages”. The marriage age in Scotland was considerably lower (girls 12, boys 14) than in England and you did not need parental approval.  Young  people went there to get married at the blacksmith shop (anyone could marry you if you had two witnesses). The blacksmith seemed appropriate as he “joined” metals. Quite an industry grew up as a result. People still come here today to get married, although the age laws have changed. 

Our short visit to Scotland has ended and we are now heading to the Lake District of England. Locals simply call it Lakeland or the Lakes; there are 15 lakes in the National Park. The poet, William Wordsworth, was born (1770) and died (1850) here. About 40,000 people live in the Lake District. Tourists overwhelm the area in the summer. Our guide, John, took us to the local church in the little village of Grasmere to show us the grave of Wordsworth and his family. We then were on our own to have lunch and view what the tiny town had to offer. One of the major attractions was a tiny shop that makes and sells their local version of gingerbread. You cannot help but smell the aroma that permeates the town. John warned us it was not the usual type of gingerbread we are familiar with but urged us to try it, so we did. He is correct; it is unlike anything we attribute to gingerbread. It smells like it but that is the end of similarity. It looks like a cookie (think graham cracker), is somewhat hard and tastes a bit like toffee. We tasted it and passed on the remainder to others on the bus.

Travel through the Lake District is slow because of the small and twisting roads, but it is a beautiful drive. I can see why people are attracted to the area. Green everywhere, sheep grazing, small lakes, rolling hills and tons of trees and forests. Beatrix Potter (author of Peter Rabbit) is another famous name associated with the area. She loved coming here and after gaining fame and fortune she proceeded to buy up land to prevent development in the area. Needless to say she is revered here.

We arrived at our hotel (MacDonald Old England Hotel & Spa) in the lakeside village of Bowness by 2PM, left our luggage and joined the group who had signed up for the combination boat ride and steam train ride in the area. The boat passed a few small hotels, fewer houses and a lot of open land as we sailed south for about 35 minutes.

 

At that point we left the boat and got on a very old steam train for a 15-20 minute ride back toward our hotel. The steam-driven engine was old, but the cars were ancient! Our bus met us at the station and drove us the rest of the way to our hotel.

We had a few hours to kill before our cocktail party and dinner at the hotel. Yvonne showered and I decided to check out the cute town. Unfortunately it was 5PM on a Sunday and those shops that had been opened were now closed, except for a couple of souvenir shops. The only activity was at pubs and restaurants.

Tomorrow we leave for Wales.