17/10/2016 Balogh - Barnard Castle

When we set off this morning, Scotland was crying buckets. It's raining like we haven't seen in the whole 9 days! The landscape today is completely different from the past few days. It's getting greener. The mountains are becoming flatter and more hilly, and at some point it looks like Shaun the Sheep. We are in Dumfries and Galloway. An area that, as a Scottish friend told me, is unfairly overlooked by tourists.

In Gretna Green, we cross the border. My heart bleeds a little as we leave Scotland, but we will definitely come back and now we are looking forward to England. Gretna is extremely unspectacular. As you know it from numerous novels and stories, it turns out to be a mini-collection of houses and hotels, but without a real town center. At least we didn't find any and therefore we just keep driving.

In England, the weather gets better and better and the meadows get greener and greener. Look at these pastures for the sheep! No wrong blade of grass and all at the same height, as if the grass was specially mowed for the sheep!

The sky is getting blue and bluer and in the distance there are wide mountains to see. I have no idea which ones they are, but they look great.

Meanwhile, we are hungry and therefore take a break just before Carlisle and think about where we should look for our accommodation today. By chance, we discover the campsite in 'Barnard Castle'. It turns out to be an absolute stroke of luck. On the one hand, it is super clean and well-kept, and on the other hand, it has a pretty town within walking distance.

Supported by good advice from the always friendly campsite owner, we set off on the pretty 15-minute walk through the forest to the town.

The town is just as pretty as the way to it. We have a cappuccino and have a nice conversation with our table neighbors. After we are strengthened and provided with the essentials from the local supermarket, we set off back in glorious sunshine. A beautiful day!