On the Road with Marvin 2022!

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Day 58: Sunday 5th June 2022

Worried about the long journey today from near Carlisle to Stafford, we set off early at 6.45am to try to get past the Lakes, as we expected it to be very busy with people leaving from their bank holiday breaks. Luckily, for the most of the way, the traffic was fine, although awful weather which made some of the motorway challenging to drive due to the spray.

Nice weather and quiet roads to begin with

It did get a bit challenging with the rain

We stopped a couple of times at the services once we were nearly there, as we were very early!! The last part of the journey was perhaps the most difficult of this whole road trip surprisingly! A small section of road was closed due to a street party, so we were directed down a narrow lane meeting lots of traffic coming the other way. We were very glad that it was not a big diversion, but the roads in the area generally remained very narrow for several miles, so we were relieved to get to the campsite!

As the weather is still not great, we have not done much today.

Hope everyone has had a nice bank holiday weekend!

Day 57: Saturday 4th June 2022

What a beautiful day it has been today - sun and very warm! A big difference from some of our time in Scotland where we wore lots of layers!

We left fairly late for a walk to a local village, Armathwaite, about 3 or 4 miles away. The path was mostly through woodland, and then along a road with some nice countryside views. It was a really nice walk, although the cars were particularly fast driving past, so we enjoyed the forest sections a lot more.

Armathwaite was a lovely village, with a river running through it as a great spot for lunch, and to read another poem about the river, River Eden. Also able to stop for a drink at the pub as we didn’t stop yesterday!

After walking back, it was still really nice weather so we were able to sit and read in the sun for a while. Of course, we went back to see the Fairy Glen lit up again tonight!! Although we haven’t been here long and are leaving tomorrow, it has been a great campsite to visit.

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Day 56: Friday 3rd June 2022

Travelling back across the border to England today! We have loved our time in Scotland so much. Everywhere was so beautiful and loads to do - we are sad to leave, although have been here a long time!

As we were a bit worried about the traffic due to the bank holiday celebrations, we left around 7.45. The roads were not too bad however, so we were able to stop in Dumfries on the way for an hour or two. We got a bit of shopping, but unfortunately did not have time to look around too much.

We drove through Gretna Green before joining the motorway for the last stretch. Our campsite is near Carlisle, and we are staying here for 2 nights. We were able to have lunch sitting outside - something we should have done much more, as we haven’t bothered to put the table outside up much but should have!

There was a nice walk to Cotehill, a nearby village, where Mum wanted to get a pint from the pub. However, getting to the pub, we found a big street party for the Jubilee, so we didn’t stop as it looked very busy! Never mind!

Getting back to the campsite, we had dinner and then watched the sunset. This campsite also has a Fairy Glen in the woodland area, which is very sweet! We headed there again when it was slightly darker to see the fairy lights. We also saw a hedgehog!

Friday, June 3, 2022

Day 55: Thursday 2nd June 2022

Our last full day in Scotland today! As we only spent one day in Glasgow, we decided to get the train there again this morning. This time, we knew our way around a bit more and had planned where we wanted to go, starting off with a drink at a nice cafe in Enoch Square first.

We then walked towards the Cathedral. The University of Strathclyde has a number of buildings around this area, and we found ourselves wandering around here for a while. It did look nice, and I would have liked to have considered it for my university!

We were able to enter the Cathedral just before it closed for lunch, so had a look around, and admired the stain glass and how big it was. Located next to the Cathedral is the Necropolis, a Victorian cemetery known for its architecture, where the graves of 50,000 people are located. It was huge, so we only saw a bit of it, but very interesting to see the different monuments.

From here, we walked to the ‘People’s Palace’

in Glasgow Green. This was a great museum - lots of information about different aspects of life in Glasgow including the war and sports and entertainment. Just after we came out of the museum, it began to rain! The weather otherwise had been really nice. Luckily it did not last long, and so we were able to walk by the river and find Stereo to have lunch. The food was delicious! It was a really cool place too - great music and a nice atmosphere. We went to the shops for a couple of things before returning to Stereo for pudding.

People’s Palace

We returned home on the train fairly early, as we leave tomorrow and had a few things to do. A really good time in Glasgow - wish we had more time to spend here and in Ayr, as there is so much to explore.

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Day 54: Wednesday 1st June 2022

Quite a busy day today, although a slow start meant that we had a bit less time than we wanted at each place.

Our first stop was the cafe by the river for a coffee, before heading to the post office to get a few cards posted. We then walked to the Robert Burns Cottage. This was about 2 miles away, so it did take us a little while to walk there. We got there around 11.45, and got tickets to go into the cottage and museum.

The cottage was really interesting to see inside, especially seeing the kitchen and beds set up. There were some statues around the smallholdings, although it was very busy with lots of primary school children running around!

From the cottage, there was the “Poet’s Path”, a route which connected up with the museum, the Burns monument and Brig O’ Doon. There was a lot to see in the museum, it was very interactive and interesting to learn about Burns’ life, although I’m not sure I like him very much as a person. We read a poem by Burns in the cottage grounds and again by the Bridge which was really nice to do.

After visiting the monument and gardens, we realised that we needed to head back to Ayr, in order to get to the cafe, Vegan Earth, that we have been looking forward to visiting. They open 12-4 Wednesday to Saturday, so we were very keen to get there and not miss out!

We were so pleased we made it! One of the best cafes ever - great food choices, and really lovely staff who cared a lot about veganism and spreading the message through food, as well as thinking of recommendations for us when visiting Glasgow. We would love to have it as a local cafe!

Great pancakes again!

Having done quite a lot of walking again, we were tired so a quiet evening again after another wander around Ayr. We will potentially go to Glasgow again as there is lots more we missed, although we really wish we could go back to Vegan Earth as it was great!

Day 53: Tuesday 31st May 2022

Up early today to visit Glasgow! We caught the train, which took about an hour from Ayr. Getting to Glasgow station, we were a bit lost getting around, but managed to find the Gallery of Modern Art as our first stop. Unfortunately the exhibition I had hoped to see wasn’t on anymore, but the other exhibitions there were interesting, such as “Revisiting The Work Of Black Artists In Scotland” and “Taste!”

After getting a map from the information office, we walked to the botanic gardens, stopping at Serenity Now on the way. The pancakes here were delicious!

The Botanic gardens were really interesting to visit, especially being able to finally visit the glasshouses, as in both Edinburgh and Inverness these were closed. The plants growing in here were huge and amazing to see! Edinburgh did have the best botanic garden altogether though.

We walked back along the river to Kelvingrove Art Gallery, a big gallery with lots of different exhibitions, including “The Glasgow Boys” and “Glasgow Stories”. Also located here was Salvador Dali’s “Christ Of St John Of The Cross” which we queued up to see - only one group allowed in the room at a time!

Walking back to the main city centre, we stumbled across the hidden lane, a small street full of independent shops. Unfortunately they were mostly closed, but it looked a nice area.

From here, we found the Street Level Photoworks Exhibition, with work from a number of different photographers. As we arrived here with not long before closing time, we didn’t have much time here so only managed to look at the ground level exhibition.

Our last stop of the day was a meal at Mono, which was delicious! It was a cool place with a record store and lots of different food options.

Quite a long day with a lot of walking, but it was great to see Glasgow. Parts of it felt very different from Edinburgh and Inverness, but really nice to see the city and hopefully we will come back on Thursday to explore a bit more.

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Day 52: Monday 30th May 2022

We had planned to go to Glasgow by train today, but decided to stay local today as we have done a lot of travelling recently.

We went on a walk along River Ayr, heading past the university and staying by the river for a few miles. A really nice part of the walk led to some stepping stones and a great location to read another poem. This one was written about a river in Glasgow, but it felt best to read it here as it was a bit more peaceful with less passers by!

We had to do a photoshoot from the nearby bridge of us crossing - if you could use a better camera to zoom in, it would be an interesting album cover for a band?

We continued along, but as the footpath veered away from the river on to the road for a while, we decided to head back. We ate lunch by the river before heading back to the campsite.

The rest of the day was not quite as fun, just sorting out the van and all our stuff. Hope to visit Glasgow tomorrow.