12:00 pm
What a day! 1st, the bus to Moffat came on the wrong side of the square, so I missed it. So, I ended up in Galashiels (a lot ‘nicer’ than the guidebook claims). I came here since it’s supposedly the ‘hub’ of the bus system in the Borders. I enquired about how to get to Dumfries. ‘Very easily, go by Carlisle.’ Carlisle? EECHH!!! It’s in ENGLAND!!!! I just hope I won’t be stranded there for too long!
(Of 28 days in the U.K., I spent a long 45 minutes in England!)
3:23 pm
I just passed a ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign. (There is no ‘Welcome to England’ sign. Further evidence of England’s desire to quelch Scottish nationalism, and Scotland’s desire to assert herself as a separate nation.) My ‘stay’ in England lasted all of maximum 30 minutes! It looks a lot like Scotland (!). I actually encouraged the local economy by buying something! I got to the stance from which a bus to Dumfries departs, and, to my delight, the next bus was in 22 minutes. I’ll be there in about a half hour. The Cumbrian accent (the little I heard) is actually quite different from the Scottish accent (speaking generally, of course, since there are so many different Scottish accents!) Coming into Carlisle, I saw a sign saying ‘Hadrian’s Wall’. I came this close to staying in order to see it!
6:58 pm
I made it to Dumfries!!!!!! Since I discovered I had a whole £100 extra in my account and there are no youth hostels here, I decided to treat myself to a B and B. It’ll cost me £16/night. I have my very own room!!! Boy does that feel weird! A B and B also means restaurants, so this will be an extravagant weekend. Hell, I scrimped and saved for the last month! Ayr youth hostel is full. I’ll see if there are any cancellations Sunday morning. If not, I might just stay the day and get something very close to the bus station in Glasgow. It’s too bad that today was basically wasted. Did you know I’m this close to Carrutherstown? I thought I might ‘pop in’ tomorrow, just to say I’ve been there.
Tonight, I’m definitely going to see a movie. I have an hour to kill before I leave, so I’ll enjoy the semi-quiet (lots of traffic) of my own room and get ahead with Wallace. I decided that if I find any other Wallace books, I’ll buy one with the money George gave me. Don’t ask how I’m planning to pack! I’ll figure it out Monday night! Tuesday morning! My last weekend in Scotland…