Day 5

Hello!

Today was, as mentioned, our day off. Now, one might think that we’d spent it lazing around, watching series, but that was not the case. Our wonderful host, and contact person, Pam, took us on a tourist trip along the soulway coast, bordering the Irish Sea. She told us that the area here is a very much forgotten piece of Scotland. Everyone goes up to the highlands, and forgets the beauty of this piece. We started off in a town called New Abbey, nicknamed Sweetheart Abbey, to see the ruins of a castle long gone. It was amazing to see, and the town itself was wonderful, with picturesque little cottages with flowers outside. It helped that the weather was absolutely stunning, unlike yesterday, when it was raining tremendously. It was nicknamed after a woman who lived there, lady Devor Gillor, was so completely devastated by her husband’s death that she carried his heart around until she died herself (just a bit of culture here). Then we went to a viewpoint in Drumburn looking out at the lake district over the sea, so we could see the whole area. After our short stop there we went to the John Paul Jones cottage, the cottage in which the father of the American navy, John Paul Jones, was born. This was interesting to see, but not all that exciting. It was mostly getting to know the area we were in, and the history behind it (tasting the culture, if you will). After that we went to my favourite part of the whole day: a stretch of beach with lots and lots of rocks. We had so much fun clambering among the rocks and finding small sea animals in the puddles left behind by the tide. Pam lost her phone, but luckily she found it back on the rocks. We figured that that was a good time to go on to our next destination: the Southerness lighthouse, a wonderful lighthouse built in the 1800’s, but refurnished in the early 2000’s so visitors could come up again. We had a wonderful view across the entire sea. Then we went to Sandy Hills Bay, where we had some delicious ice cream from the brand Cream o’ Galloway, which, as Pam told us, was produced in the area. After that we went to another small stretch of beach in Rockcliff, where we had the time of our lives because there were so. Many. Dogs. The funniest moment was when a chihuahua dog, smaller than most cats, angrily fell out at a huge dog and the big dog spent the rest of our time there avoiding the chihuahua like the plague. Then we went off to Kippfort, where we tiredly sat on some rocks while admiring the view over the lake, with mountains and forests in the background. After some time relaxing there, we went back to Carsathorn where we had dinner at the Steamboat Inn: fish and chips (we had to have it at least once while in the UK right?). Then we did a quick grocery shop run to get some things we missed. All in all we had a wonderful day.

It was nice to be able to actually explore the area and the culture while we’re here (and not only work) because I was really looking forward to the nature here in Scotland in advance, and I was definitely not disappointed. Even here, on the campsite, we have one of the most fantastic views I’ve ever seen from the top of the hill, looking out over mountains covered with the trees from the Mabie forest and the sea. It was also nice to eat some real fish and chips, as I’d heard so much about it.

Marjolein

#Scotland #somuchfun #hiyamrMeek #touristtour