George Hotel, Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Sunday afternoon, 23 July 2000:
Yesterday we reluctantly bade farewell to Malin Head and the Inishowen Peninsula, and to the green isle of Erin itself. We drove to Belfast and took the ferry here to southwestern Scotland, but of these portions of our journey there is little good or bad to report. Today is an enforced day off, since I turned in our car in Belfast and we cannot hire another till Monday morning. Our hotel here has character (and Internet access for guests, which is nice) but smells rather too much of stale cigarette smoke throughout. Mine host is a jovial and talkative Englishman, native of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who presides over the lounge from a wing chair in the corner. Stas finds it all a little bit reminiscent of Fawlty Towers.
Fortunately, Stranraer was holding its annual gala in Agnew Park today. We just followed the pipe band from near our hotel right into the park, pretending that the pipers came out expressly to welcome us to the country. At the park we lunched partly on free samples from the Taste of Galloway marquee in the background of the photo at right. Afterwards we attended demonstrations of trained animals: one on falconry, featuring an American hawk and a Bengali Eagle Owl, as well as an actual falcon; and another on the use of border collies to herd both sheep and ducks (though not simultaneously). The children enjoyed a playground in the park for a bit, and then we took a bit of a walk by the seaside, before returning to our hotel to take further advantage of a day of rest (which Sunday custom is rather more strictly observed in Scotland than in the Republic of Ireland, so much so that a laundrette was not an option).
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Fortunately, Stranraer was holding its annual gala in Agnew Park today. We just followed the pipe band from near our hotel right into the park, pretending that the pipers came out expressly to welcome us to the country. At the park we lunched partly on free samples from the Taste of Galloway marquee in the background of the photo at right. Afterwards we attended demonstrations of trained animals: one on falconry, featuring an American hawk and a Bengali Eagle Owl, as well as an actual falcon; and another on the use of border collies to herd both sheep and ducks (though not simultaneously). The children enjoyed a playground in the park for a bit, and then we took a bit of a walk by the seaside, before returning to our hotel to take further advantage of a day of rest (which Sunday custom is rather more strictly observed in Scotland than in the Republic of Ireland, so much so that a laundrette was not an option).
