The Lake District and on to Glasgow Scotland

---

Today dawned a little wet; as we hit the bus, there was a very light drizzle. As we departed Liverpool to head toward the lake district, the skies opened up. Our coach driver was fortunate in a way; he had to deal with wet weather but no traffic. Oh well… we settled in for the two hour trip to the lakes.
Our first stop was a bit unique: a ride on a steam locomotive. Due to the light traffic, we arrived quite early, in plenty of time to enjoy a scone and coffee. Here we learned firsthand about the great scone controversy.
It seems the cities of Devon and Cornwall differ on how one should eat a scone with clotted cream and jam. Devon puts the cream on first and the jam covering the cream. Cornwall is the opposite, jam on first and cream to follow. We were told that, in some pubs, people come to fisticuffs over which comes first. I went the Devon method, while Tom, our tour director, prefers Cornwell. Either way the scone is delightful.
After the scones, we boarded the steam train for the 25 minute ride to the port where we would board a ferry across the largest lake (10.5 km) in the region Lake Windermere to the town of Bowness. The steam train took us on a tour through history. We learned this line was one of the most important in the area, carrying all manner of goods from coal, wool, gunpowder, and soap, plus passengers and so much more. The line is a fraction of its former glory but the period cars and the old stem engine puffing along was great fun. Soon we arrived at the port and boarded the Swan, built in 1936, for a ride across the lake.
Unlike the start of today’s tour, the sun came out right about the time we arrived at the rail station. The skies were now beautiful and blue and the temperature was very pleasant. We boarded the Swan and headed to the upper deck, right in front, for an amazing view of the lake and the surrounding landscape. The lake was calm, with sailboats dotting the waters, through which paddle boarders cruised with kayaks with canoes dotted about. Quite picturesque. This is where Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter and others worked their art.
After our cruise we arrived to the crowded port of Bowness. It was time for lunch and we sought an option away from the crowds. Seems like everyone was heading towards the main town, so we headed the other way. There was a small tourist stop with a café, some shopping, a bar and fast food sold out of a mobile store front.
We chose the café and Cathy, Sonya, Leonore and I enjoyed a lite lunch of sandwiches, soup and salad. We shopped at the gift shop for a bit then headed back on the bus for our trip to Gretna Green.
Our first tourist trap stop was Gretna Green. There is an interesting history, however, that make the stop significant. It seems back in the day the marriage age in England was 21, but in Scotland, just over the border it was as low as 12! So Gretna Green was the spot to get married if you were young, dumb, and in love. The interesting part is that there was no need for a religious person to perform the marriage; anyone of prominent position in the presence of two witnesses, could perform the wedding.
Well, it turns out the village blacksmith was a citizen who fit the bill. So young lovers from England flocked to the blacksmith shop at Gretna Green to get married over the smithy's anvil; how romantic. For his service he was paid a modest fee and a few points of beer! After a fashion, the smithy became quite the wealthy man.
Now as we know at the tender age of 16, life changes in a flash, so many a marriage ended before it began. To stem the tide of failure Scotland instituted a 15 day waiting period, called the cooling off period, to help the lovers fully u understand their fate.
Interestingly enough many still married and to this day many a young lover still flock to Gretna Green to be married such that with a population of 2700, over 5000 marriages are performed in this very spot each year. Kinda cool.

We arrived in Glasgow and took a coach tour about the city. At one time this was a major port city with tobacco as the major commodity. The city is highly industrial yet architecturally beautiful. It was getting late so we went directly to dinner.

Now, dinner tonight was in a local hotel restaurant. I enjoyed a meal of leek soup, chicken and a brownie sundae. Cathy enjoyed the same with the additional of gluten free, and taste free, bread. It was not special but adequate. Not every meal on tour is a gourmet feast.

After dinner was a special time for Cathy and I. We decided to do a pub crawl! At 8:45 we were joined by Colleen (Pennsylvania) and off we went. Our goal was to find a pub with local music and beverage. Our first stop was Molly Malone's, a mere three blocks from our hotel.

Malone's was a 300 year old pub that was fairly empty on a Sunday night, but there was a musician playing guitar in front of the meager crowd. I ordered a pint and we sat down. Unfortunately , our musician was nearing the end of his set and by 9:20, he was done.

He came to our table and we asked him for a recommendation of where to go next and he suggested Dram, another old pub. It was a bit of a hike so we hailed a cab and arrived by 9:30. We are very glad we followed his suggestion for this was an even older pub and off to the side room was a group of local men and women who were just jamming. Not performing just playing and enjoying the music. It was fantastic.

The songs were local, passionate, and amazing. Nothing was scripted, musicians came and went, each playing their music and none trying to be the star. Absolutely perfect. The songs were based on folklore and passionate about Scottish independence, the pitfalls of love and stories, especially an entertaining ditty about a manky hanky. You had to be there.

Soon it was time to go and I thanked the musicians. They turned and said, “Aren't you going to sing?”

Not prepared for such a request I politely bowed out but they insisted, so, to my amazement, Colleen took center stage. She sang, a capella, a beautiful little verse she had heard on a previous trip to Scotland, when suddenly the musicians followed in and we were treated to a second verse. The perfect end to a perfect day.

---