Despite being apart of the United Kingdom, Scotland still has separate education, holidays, religion, legal system and print their own notes( still has the same value as English notes, just different pictures/ notable people on them). Scotland only recognizes degrees and diplomas attained in their own country, so if you are planning to work there professionally, forget it!
There are also technical differences in there legal system compared to England. Scotlands legal system is based on Roman law. Verdicts can either be, guilty, not guilty or " not proven". The phrase "Scot free " originates from the not proven verdict.
The animosity between Scotland and England is very obvious as you talk to the Scottish locals. They are very negative and sarcastic about England. When there are sporting events against each other a common shirt worn says AOEE - any one except england- that's who you barrack for!
The United Kingdom is made up of 100's of islands the largest is Britain and Ireland.
On our way to Gretna Green we pass the lowlands, hilly grazing land and forests.
Gretna Green is a town on the border of Scotland / England. It is famous for it's relaxed wedding laws in the 1750's to 20th century. This is where the term eloped came from, as English couples unable to wed due to age or non parental consent were ably to marry in Scotland. It was easy to be a celebrant, £10 and you had to be a trustworthy resident. So, in Gretna Green the blacksmith was the local marriage celebrant, for £1 you could get married.
It has been developed as a major tourist area now, with 10 tourist buses there while we were there. Multiply that by 40 people per bus.....a little gold mine. Unfortunately for our family we have been unable to buy scarves, kilts, boxers, skirts, socks, bags, key holders, hats, umbrellas, jumpers, vests in the Cooper tartan! We however did discover it is mainly purple with a bit of green, actually not that bad!
By the way, you can still get married in Greta Green, although the laws are not as relaxed these days. You have to live there for 3 weeks before you are eligible, but the local shop owner allows you to pitch a tent in her back yard for 3 weeks if you are that desperate.
We pass through national parks and the Lake District, (Grasmere) home of William Wordsworth and Beatrice Potter. Influential poet and writer.
Lunch is at Grasmere, a quaint village known not only for it's literary scholars of the past, but also for Ginger bread, toffee and hiking. We have a Cornish Pastie, which we have been enjoying in previous towns. Unfortunately we were disappointed.
Back onto the bus for a 2 1/2 hr trip to Liverpool , passing several lakes on the way and more villages.
Liverpool was once an important port in Englands history, and is also well known for the Beatles. Yeh Yeh Yeh. It's a very multi cultural town because of it's industrial past, with Irish, welsh and Chinese.
Liverpool is 800 yrs old, and it's name means a muddy pool.
We are staying at the Adelphi Hotel, bang in the centre of the town. It is a grand hotel. Our room is enormous, with a sitting area and cute writing desk, and reading nook. It has huge formal dining and sitting rooms , possibly old ballrooms, full of chesterfields and leather chairs.
Tonight, with a local tour guide we visit the sights of Liverpool. We visit the magnificent Anglican cathedral, that took 74 years to build and was completed in 1978. We viewed the docklands region, which is under going new construction and has many inter connecting canals. The town has obviously seen better times when the port was there major source of employment, it has very old run down areas, but the guide is hopeful that things will once again improve. The population has halved over the last century, from a thriving 800,000 to 400,000 today.
We also saw the Liverpool performing arts academy,LIPA, which is supported financially by Paul McCartney, as is the breast cancer support group.
Our tour guide- Maree taught Ringo to read and has a lot of stories about how they started. She takes us to the key Beatle landmarks- Inc. the Cavern Club- the place where it all begins for the Beatles- the original venue downstairs does not operate now for OHS reasons- 2000 people downstairs with one small stair case out (good to see OHS making an impact!! There is also a Cavern Wall of fame- see if you can recognize any other bands!
We also visit the Eleanor Rigby statue - which is on a park bench dedicated to "all the lonely people"- where do they all come from!
We end our tour with an included drink at this classic old pub- the Philharmonic hotel, where the feature is the mens toilets- even the ladies come in for a look!! Leanne could not quite come at that so I had to describe it as best I could.
The town relied on the Ports in the early days and is struggling these days as the port activity has dropped off and the area has been converted to docklands with accommodation.
All in all an interesting place to visit.
Cheers- Greg and Leanne
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Location:Scotland to England (Liverpool)
Well what so interesting about the male dunnies?
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