Tag: 27. März 2021

Ihr findet die alte deutsche Version hier (Teil 3 und 4 in einem).

July 2, 1974 (Tuesday)

The next day we plan to hitchhike to Loch Windermere. The weather is wonderful and we have no problems being picked up.

Windermere is a beautiful town, with clean parks, rich villas and only older, venerable buildings. Unfortunately it is also ’highly touristic’. In any case, nothing keeps us there for long. We slowly walk back, singing, dreaming and playing guitar.

July 3, 1974 (Wednesday)

We spend another day in Kendal, when we actually want to look at the castle complex, but then we are too lazy and  look at it from below, from a distance.

In the vicinity of our domicile we meet a lady who is dragging her dog for a walk, and we start a conversation with her. „You shouldn’t hitchhike,“ she says, „Men are so bad!“

[I think the other nights we slept in the youth hostel in Kendal and not with John.]

July 4, 1974 (Thursday)

We do it the following morning anyway, or let’s better say, we try! There are almost no vehicles on the road we have chosen, not to mention cars. It then starts to rain, and we both regret not having brought our parkas with us instead of the waterproof but cold oil jackets. After three hours we are close to tears. We are really well equipped!

A lovely young couple then finally takes us with them and drops us off at a parking lot after an endless and beautiful up and down hill drive in a breathtaking gorge. A bus full of college boys is parked there. They would love to take us with them, but the driver won’t allow it.

How we arrive at the youth hostel in Patterdale is not recorded. But all sources report that we are reaching it alive. Patterdale is in the heart of the Lake District. There we meet a group of Scottish girls, two Irish and two girls from ’Birmingim’. One of the Scottish girls, Janet, is waving the blue and white flag and pleading for ’Scotland the brave’ to be made the national anthem. I later play chess with her, even though I haven’t practiced it for three years or more. Still, the game ends in a stalemate after three hours and I’m very proud.

In the evening my best friend and I turn pale , when we set eyes on the Scottish dinner. It consists of at least five courses, with vegetables, potatoes, pastry, bread, cheese, everything your heart desires. We, on the other hand, eat our Chinese coolie meal and are happy that we don’t have to stuff our stomachs so decadently. 😉 😀

July 5, 1974 (Friday)

The next day we have to walk a long distance, but then we get a good lift with a large family from Northumberland, all red-haired, all in a good mood and chatting, typical ’Nukassel breed’!

A red-haired truck driver finally takes us as far as Glasgow, and he has to deliver his whiskey in Cambuslang, of all places, on a street parallel to Woodlands Crescent, where Margaret lives [see 1973 diary, we met her and her 2 daughters in Rowardennon and had a remarkable journey on foot over Ben Lomond to Loch Ard, it seems that I have not written anywhere that we planned to go and see her, we did, and we did 😉 ]. If that isn’t luck! No searching for buses in a strange city. In the warehouse, the driver’s cabin is immediately surrounded by the young workers and we are being talked to from two sides. Unfortunately, we only understand every tenth word. This is Glaswegian!

My best friend and I flee and drag ourselves and our luggage up the hill to Woodlands Crescent, accompanied by a happy crowd of children who imitate our slightly bent posture and accompany us to Margaret’s house. That’s a good thing, because house numbers don’t exist (the poor postmen) and the children help us with our inquiries. When my friend unpacks the guitar, they are completely delighted and cannot be moved from our side. Heather and Janet do not remember me, but Margaret is delighted and welcomes us very warmly.

In the evening we all go to the local pub to celebrate our arrival. There we also meet Eddie, Margaret’s friend, our rescuer from Loch Ard, who has put on a lot of fat since last year. In the pub, we again are immediately surrounded and meet some charming young men. It happens that we agree with two of them, Tom and Patrick, to meet again in the pub the next evening.

July 6, 1974 (Saturday)

During the day we are invited to the grandparents‘ home with Margaret and daughters, a lovely, amiable couple. Margaret’s father knows a lot about Scotland and recommends that I read the book ’Kidnapped’ for a better understanding of the highland mentality and atmosphere. (Although this is a children’s book. I remember hearing this story by R. L. Stevenson as a series on the radio.) [There is also a follow-up book called ’Catriona’. I have read both books.] I am particularly interested in the meaning of these often recurring prefixes in place names, such as  ‚Aber‘, ‚Kin‘, ‚Drum‘ and ‚Kyle‘. For example, ’Aber’ and ’Inver’ are words for confluence, as in Aberdeen and Inverness. „And Lochaber“? I ask him. He doesn’t know this name, but thinks that two lakes should flow into each other there. One look at the map and you can see that he is right. Unfortunately I don’t remember everything he tells us, otherwise I would have been able to guess the geographic location from many Scottish places by their names. [I did a little more research. With „Lochs“ there are often places with „Kinloch …“ in the name. They’re all at one end of a Loch, not somewhere along the banks, but at one end. Then there are different places with “Drum” or “Drumna”. Most of them are located on a watercourse that either flows into a larger river or into a lake (Loch). But that’s not always the case, so I can’t be sure.]

In the evening we meet our two young men and have a good time. Patrick has a bit of a rough, gruff manner and unexpectedly twists my wrist around. I am really angry about that and he apologizes immediately. Apparently this is ’the Glasgow way of playing’. By the way, Pat works in Alexandria, which I find somewhat confusing. But then it turns out that it is a suburb of Glasgow. Later we accompany them a little further in their direction. But we notice a wild brawl from afar, apparently nothing unusual in Glasgow, and the guys send us back with kisses, which again comes very unexpectedly for me.

(To be continued)