Wednesday, April 18

Wednesday was another day of driving as we headed out of Scotland to Wales.  We left Scotland headed for the Lake District of England which is similar to the mountains in the eastern part of the United States.  And sheep everywhere.  It was lambing season, so Mom's were out with either one or two lambs each.  They were so cute, running after Mom or snuggled up to Mom.  Their tales wag when they run and they were so cute.  We were headed for a traditional Wales dinner serving - guess what.  Lamb!  So we decided not to talk about it and just enjoy all the babies.

Passing out of Scotland we stopped at Gretna Green (first picture).  Just across the border from England, it became popular when England changed its marriage law so someone had to be 21 to marry without parental permission.  In Scotland you could marry at any age and anyone could join a couple in marriage.  So the blacksmith in Gretna Green became a popular guy.  The museum there had marriage certificates going back to the 1800's and examples of wedding dresses from the 1800's forward.  There is also the famous anvil over which the marriages were performed and a  nice selection of wedding carriages.  While we were there, a couple was getting married, he in his kilt and she in a beautiful purple satin dress.  A bag pipe was playing and they left in a vintage car after the wedding.

From there we continued into the England's Lake District to a little town named Grasmere (second picture).  Made up of maybe 20 buildings, we stopped for a visit and lunch.  It sat right on a river and was quite  beautiful.  Known for being the home of poet  William Wordsworth, two homes where he lived are there.  Also of historic interest is the church St Oswald where the Wordsworth family is buried.  The town is flanked by Lake Grasmere (third picture) and Lake Windemere.

We arrived at our destination, Ruthin Castle.  Absolutely beautiful and we all had these awesome rooms with huge beds, modern bathrooms and beautiful chandeliers (fourth picture).  We had drinks in the lounge, then to the dining room for our lamb dinner that no one wanted to talk about BUT it was truly delicious.  We had a cream of leak and potatoe soup, lamb and we finished with a fruit torte with cream.  Then we went to another room that was like a traditional dining hall of the Castle's era with big wood tables and benches.  Our speaker, who spoke both Welsh and English, gave us a wonderful history of Wales, sang some traditional folk songs and crowned a couple in our group, Bill and Wilma, Baron and Baroness.  They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary - highschool sweet hearts.