Queen of the South

Our flight arrived in Manchester later than expected, then we had delays collecting our hire car (but we did get an upgrade!), so we didn't set off north until nearly midday.

Traffic was heavy on the motorway, until we reached the rolling hills between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, then and onto Gretna Green, just over the border.

After a visit to the famous Blacksmiths Shop, where runaway couples from England have wed since 1754, we headed towards Dumfries for the night.

Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South, which is also the name of their soccer team in the Scottish leagues. It was the birthplace and childhood home of JM Barrie (author of Peter Pan), resting place of Robbie Burns, Scotland's National Poet, and, less famously, home of Alex Graham, creator of the Fred Basset cartoon.

We walked through the historical centre, along the River Nith and had dinner at a local pub , before walking back to our hotel to watch the Eurovision song contest semi final.Lue lisää