Day 17 Wednesday July 8th On to Glasgow


Started off in a bit of rain and about 14 degrees (about 58 American) but it warmed up and cleared during the day. Passed by Blackpool which is still a favored holiday resort, picking up lately as the economy slumps and Spain and Portugal become a bit pricey. We start off on a major highway (British standards of course) initially flat and well treed, the lake district. We note a lot of Irish ‘Viking-Irish’ names as Vikings came over from Dublin to settle the area.
We pass impressive well constructed fieldstone walls..lot of sheep again.


Very popular holiday area with many hikers..you can tell the Brits - short pants, hiking boots and white legs…narrow road, lakes, trees, boats. Very impressed with the Village of Ambleside.
On through rambling hills and stop in Grasmere (grassy lake) and visit the graves of William Wordsworth and his family. There are two graves with a husband and wife team of Wordsworth so I point out the wrong one to a couple of tourists who promptly take a picture. Beautiful village with a stream running through it and we purchase some gingerbread (milder than in Canada but quite good).


Carboot sales are quite popular and similar to garage sales in Canada. The actual historical background for Tories and Whigs relates to Irish and Scottish horse thieves respectively.
Into Scotland at 1:30 pm through lowland hills, 5 million in Scotland.
Island has the shamrock, England the rose, Wales the Leak and Scotland, the thistle (defender of the nation). The story goes that the Vikings were attacking Scotland soldiers at night and took off their boots to sneak up at night. One Viking stepped on a thistle and cried out waking the Scots who repelled the attack. Thus the thistle (nice touch).

Some more infill….

..the Scots wear the Sporn (sp? Purse actually) to keep their kilts down and to keep their valuables. The English say that they are cheap, ie. Can’t get copper out of their Sporns.
..a croft is a small house and a crofter is a shepherd.
..Scots are famous for their inventions (not all invented in Scotland, but still invented by native Scots) which include: whiskey, tar, rubber (Dunlop), TV, telephone (Bell in Canada), penicillin, refrigerator, steam engine, golf, cloning (Dolly..apparently now stuffed and in museum) etc.
..no death sentence in Europe.
..no large RV’s and few RV camping spots and they are small and do not have the same services seen in North America.
..2nd Scot flag seen often is yellow with the rampant lion in honour of Robert the Bruce (more on him later).
..hotels rarely have ice machines but rooms are always fully equipped with iron/board, hair dryer, tea & coffee, good TV services.
..many of the younger hotel staff are from across all of Europe, so many different accents abound.
..national bird of Britain is the robin.

We stop at Gretna Green where Smithies marry runaway couples. Pictures of local cows are taken and this is the first chance to buy Scottish souvenirs and the troops go wild. Tams, scarves, St. Andrews golf stuff…and Estelle buys a tartan Viking type hat with horns..some great (read comical) photos taken.

We stop in Glasgow (means green place) which is 50/50 catholic/protestant and their big sport is celtic football with the catholics supporting the green/white Glasgow ?, and the protestants, the blue clad Glasgow Rangers.

We do a very quick driving tour of Glasgow viewing the 12th century cathedral, university buildings, St. George’s Square etc. before heading to the hotel, Glasgow Thistle which proves to withln walking distance of the centre of town. Anne and I head off into town as the offices empty and the streets are very busy. We find the Square and the statues of Victoria, Robbie Burns, and Walter Scott. Unfortunately the museum is closed as is the old lighthouse building famous for its interior architecture. We take a photo of the outside and head down to the river Clyde and follow it along back to the hotel. Again only pay as you go internet service and dinner is in a large two tiered dining area with three tour groups and the noise makes chatting a challenge (nice touch).

Glasgow is a busy city but well laid out on a grid system. It is known for its universities (Strathclyde and Glasgow), museums, concert halls and its Georgian squares. We pass the oldest building in Glasgow, the Provost (small but did get a photo from the ‘coach’).