We should have taken the 8:50 A.M local bus to Carlisle. Instead, we tried to take the National Express bus from the P & O ferry port in Cairnryan, but it was full. So we took a taxi to Stranraer, a port city (left), then a bus to Dumfries, and then a train to Carlisle, England, where we arrived six hours later. If only we had known!
Carlisle is a town, with a large modern shopping center that even has a Merry-Go-Round. We bee-lined to the Visitor Center to buy a guidebook for Hadrian’s Wall, get a city map, and make accommodation plans.
The houses in this area are all made of stone, with slate roofs, and multiple chimneys, all with several flues.Can’t you see the chimney sweepers dancing on the roofs as in Mary Poppins?
Though No. Ireland, Scotland, and England all use the pound, merchants only want “proper money” and frowned on our Ulster (No. Ireland) bills. I don’t know if it a political thing or what, but each country’s currency has the same value. We may have to go to a bank to exchange the bills.
Tomorrow we will bus to the start of Hadrian’s Wall, and then walk back to Carlisle–about 12 miles. Since we will only have a light pack, it should be a good way to get our legs prepped for the rest of the journey. It will be cold and overcast…I hope we get some good pictures.
Lovely to read this and see the pictures. I sure hope I’m your first reader and responder this morning.
You’ll be happy to know that although I’m home recuperating from surgery, I’m not laying down on the job. I’ve just been asked by a website for women in science to write an article on the rights women have achieved since the early 1960 and the ignorance I find among women of those rights. I was in the process of doing that when I received this email about Carlisle.
Sonia,
Glad to hear you are well enough to write the article. Both yesterday and this morning you were the first to reply. It must be “the wee morning hours” in Florida.
sometimes its really hard to figure out which bus or train to take. i remember rushing to the bus station in santiago with a fellow pilgrim and then watching the bus to portugal pull away just as we reached the station. and then rushing across town and making the train to lisbon by half an hour.
Phil,
Sounds like an ordeal in Santiago, glad it worked out for you. Guess trying to figure out schedules and best routes is part of the fun of traveling, even if it can be frustrating at times.