Day 4 - Friday 5/29/15 – Hadrian’s Wall, Lockerbie, Stirling

Hadrian's Wall at Housestead's Fort

It was another full day.  We woke up at 7:15 to rain, but we have found that it is not usually a long-lasting rain.  We had breakfast in the dining room with the other group of 5 that were staying there.  Four of them are walking Hadrian's Wall which is a pretty tough walk.  The older woman walking said yesterday was tough with the wind and the rain, about 10 miles up and down.  She looked exhausted.

We had the full English breakfast (since we were in England):  2 kinds of sausage (not black sausage), beans, broiled tomato, sauteed mushrooms, 1 fried egg, toast, and a potato triangle like one gets at Wendy's.  We sat by the window and I saw a neat bird - a pied wagtail. 

This B&B was large but not that well-kept.  The room with twin beds was quite small.  We left a little before 10 in the rain, but by the time (5 minutes) we got to Housestead's Roman Fort, it had stopped raining.  The fort was built into the wall and the visitor's center was quite nice.  However, the walk up to the fort was about a mile up.  Sheep were everywhere, most with two small lambs, and there were sheep turds everywhere!!!  Made walking a bit challenging.

It took a while to make it up, but we got a rest in the museum next to the fort where we watched a short movie on the fort.  We had to walk a bit further up a grassy, turd-filled hill to the actual wall.  Bill was quite thrilled to get his photo taken on the wall.  It looked like we would have to walk back down the hill to enter the fort (little more that stone foundations) until Bill found a small fence we could squeeze through.  I wandered around a little and then started back down.

At the museum, I looked down the hill and spied a huge herd of sheep walking rapidly to the paved road where it looked like they were heading uphill.  It was a really funny sight to see almost 50 sheep meandering along a road.

Back down at the Ticket office we went to use the toilets.  Good old British humor...next to the toilets was a display of the latrines used at the fort explaining how that worked.  I loved it.  One of the old Park Rangers took me over and made sure I saw the sponge on the end of a stick in the rendering of the latrines in fort times.  That's what they used instead of toilet paper.  Ick.  He told me that is where the saying came from:  don't get hold of the wrong end of the stick!!

Outside there was a doggie water bowl with a sign over it saying:  Dogs welcome but please leads at this end (at the head) bags at this end (at the rear).  Hydration station - Please drink responsibly.

As we were getting in the car we saw our first midges (tiny black flies/no-see-ums) and a couple got in the car.  So they do exist.

We drove a few miles to Steel Rigg, another Hadrian's Wall parking area.  This one had a beautiful view and the wall was near the car park.  Finally we were off to Stirling, 130 miles away.  It started to rain and did so on and off until we reached Lockerbie.

We made a short stop here to see the memorial which is a cemetery at the edge of town.  They have a small visitors center with a lovely older woman who was close by when the plane dropped on them.  She said it was like a nuclear explosion.  The sun was out, and the memorial lovely and touching.

We stopped just short of Glasgow for gas and a quick bite at Costa, a Scottish Starbucks.  I got my first toastie - like a grilled cheese but with the filling between 2 slices of bread and also on the top.  It is broiled, not grilled.  I got it out of the sandwich display and the counter folks broiled it for me.  I got a cheese and tomato one, but they come in all kinds of combinations.  Bill got a BLT.

We made it safely through Glasgow and on to Stirling in no time.  And we found the Ravenswood B&B with no trouble.  We even got a place to park.  They only have 4 rooms with room for 3 cars, but one group was on Harley's so we all fit.

Stewart the host met us at the door and was totally hospitable (about 40 yrs old).  We got the only room left, but it was the only one on the ground floor, so Bill was thrilled we didn't have to haul luggage up and down.  It is a huge room compared to last night and has a double and a twin bed. 

Stewart recommended a place for dinner that we could walk to...a nice pub in a residential area about a 25 min walk called Birds and Bees.  The walk was down a beautiful residential street.  The houses were all so neat and tidy and with beautifully kept yards and flower beds.  And we got a great view of the Wallace Monument on the way.

We knew it would be crowded on a Friday night, but we were more than happy to sit at the bar.  The bar staff was delightful and entertaining.  I wasn't sure what kind of beer I wanted so they gave me hefty samples of two to try.  I picked one and was happy. 

I also saw them serving a soft drink called Irn Brew that I had read about.  They gave me a sample of that, too.  It is really popular in Scotland but apparently the recipe is secret.  It is a strange orange color and has been produced since 1901.  I think it tastes a bit like butterscotch.  Bill tried it and liked it so much he ordered the diet version with his dinner.  He had a whiskey to start.

We shared a starter of fresh sauteed mushrooms in a creamy garlic sauce served on a toasted bread that was divine.  We both were in the mood for burgers, so we got the one on special tonight with bacon (English style that is like ham) and goat cheese.

Have I said how amazingly pleasant all of the Scots we have met have been?  That still holds.

Bill is now in the lounge area reading and with a wee bit of Scotch that is laid out for guests.

Tomorrow we hit the road for Loch Lomond.