After being up 26 or so hours yesterday with flights, layover, airport transfers we were up and going at 8am this morning! Don't waste time - make hay while the sun shines and as my mom said "I'll rest when I'm dead" - on we go!
Went to breakfast this morning and I see this 2 guys sitting at a table and I recognize them and they recognize us and one goes "Dee?" - and it was tour guide Ivan from the Panama Costa Rica trip in January 2023 and he was our tour guide and lives there. What I remember most was being on a little tour bus and he said that someone needed a "stop" so he gets off the bus walks up to this house and kisses this woman and a couple kids were playing there - it was his house, his wife, his kids! We have never had a bad travel director or tour guide.
Day 2 Glasgow - and the tour starts tonight as a welcome meetup with the big group. 11,000 steps by 2pm today with our travel buddies and not a bit of rain. Our hotel Voco Grand Central was built in 1883 and is attached to the Grand Central train station which was built in 1879 - and survived both world wars! A few of the famous guests over the years: Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Beatles, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole and probably a lot of am to bright outside - summer solstice coming up June 20, 2024 so yesterday had light 17.5 hours so time to pull the shades at night!
Beautiful historic city on the River Clyde so that is why the historic Scottish horses are called clydesdales! After the city walk all over for the 4 of us we needed a wee pub break at what else but "Smoking Fox" - and yes there was a fox head on the wall smoking a pipe with a Scottish plaid "hat" with a little lager beer and strawberry apple cider for me - and of course ice cream! The locals are so friendly and fun and the staff at the pub were laughing with us as we chat and listen to them too. One more night here and then tomorrow head to the "boat". 9 years now traveling with our buddies Greg and Linda and we are all lucky and silly and goofy!🤓😁
Flying to Amsterdam I looked out at this beautiful sky from the plane window and realize again how nature is so beautiful!
Not sure how they did this but it's in the hotel lobby and maybe 3 stories high of pieces of glass - or I'm assuming it's glass.
First view from our "room with a view" and yes the "wee" word is everywhere.
This is just a picture from the TV screen in our room as it's such a big building it's hard to take phone photo of the whole thing!
One of the exit doors out of the hotel walks right into the Glasgow Grand Central Station and it's pretty amazing and I do like trains but won't be "training it" this trip.
Just in case people are looking for the "way out" of the station Linda and I decided we could point our fingers at the sign and if people weren't looking at their phones they might see it?
This was a beautiful wooden carving in the train station and it is called Beacon of Hope and it is for mental health support or any other support needed to help people.
Not sure if Ross and Greg will be wearing kilts but they did like this tee-shirt but probably wouldn't be a good one to wear on a trip.
This is a coffee bar and we think it might have been an original building to buy train tickets in the old days. It was beautiful as are so many historic buildings all over the city.
So Greg and Ross walking and chatting and Linda and I follow to walk and chat and make sure they don't get lost!
So I saw this pub and it reminded me of my "younger" - way younger - days when we would have beer keg parties in gravel pits that we called hootenannies!
Difficult to see but there was a green little bush - real one - growing out the bricks of the hand high in the air.
I love this sign for the store that moved to a new location not far away.
Hmm - not sure if this is a real police station or not but we have seem similar ones in other countries.
Indeed this is a sportswear clothing store and not sure why they would name it that!
A beautiful opera house but we didn't get inside as we were doing the walking the city tour on our own!
I think this is the first prime minister of parliament and last name is Dewar which is a name in Ross' family a few generations back.
Crazy old guys and Greg wonders how much we would have to pay to use it - there was a phone attached to make the call so I'm guessing someone would tell you how to use it.
Black pudding is made from blood and haggis is sheep liver, kidney, heart and more ground up like burger.
Smoking Monkey Pub - so darn much fun we have after 9 years of traveling together and we first met on a Peru and Bolivia trip in 2015!
I love cider from Ireland, Scotland and England - can't find it good in the US though - dang!
And the map - tomorrow we get on the boat and go to a bunch of historic islands for 7 nights.
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