UNITED KINGDOM - DAY 9

We left Liverpool and headed towards Scotland. It was a long day of traveling. We had a bit of a scare this morning with one of the passengers complaining of chest pains. We pulled over and called an ambulance. Wayne was taken to hospital and we continued on our way. We later found out that he was fine. It wasn't a heart attack and that he and his wife Judy would be joining us when we reached Leeds. This was awesome news.

We were behind schedule so we hopped it to make our steam train ride in Windermere in the Lakes District. Beautiful scenery. They held the train for us and we clambered aboard. The girls loved it. Mind you we could have walked just as fast as it went but they loved the ride anyway. After we reached our destination we then boarded an old steamer and made our way along the largest lake in England. The wind was icy but we enjoyed every minute of it. Angelique and Ellexis were cold so they snuggled up with Antoinette while we admired the views.

Upon reaching the other end of the lake we climbed back on the bus and continued traveling through the Lake District. We stopped in Grasmere for lunch and wandered down to the church yard to view William Wordsworth's (famous poet of 'Daffodils') grave. Pasqual wasn't feeling well and didn't venture off the bus and slept for an hour while we wandered around Grasmere.

We left the stunning Lake Districts and made our way closer towards the Scottish border. We stopped in Gretna Green, where all the young women and men use to elope so they could marry. In Scotland, back in the day, people could be married as young as 16, whereas in England people had to be over 21. Since Scotland was part of the United Kingdom, once married at Gretna Green, the marriage is recognised in England. We saw the blacksmith's anvil where many a marriage took place, then continued on our merry way towards Edinburgh.

The wind was blowing an absolute gale and the suspension bridge crossing the Firth of Forth into Fife was closed to all high sided vehicles so our itinerary was changed and we had dinner first then crossed the bridge when the wind subsided slightly.