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| Welcome to Scotland |
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| Fun sign at Schiphol |
Team Roger Lowa made it to Scotland! After all the waiting and all the crazy training for a long hike and hoping pandemic restrictions would end, we boarded our jet for Glasgow via Amsterdam. It was hard for us all to believe we'd actually begun the journey, and were so excited, the eight-hour flight went by like a blink. When we landed at Scol in Amsterdam, we didn't have long to enjoy the airport. We zipped past my favorite clock--the man who paints and erases the hands every minute as time passes. He looks for all the world like a real dude stuck behind the clock face!
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| My favorite clock |
It only took an hour and a half to reach Scotland where we received the quintessential Scottish greeting: rain. But we didn't care. We were in Glasgow! Such dorky tourists, we kept nudging each other: "We're in Scotland." "We're in Scotland."
A first real taste of Glasgow came in the person of Gavin, our cab driver. He chatted from the airport all the way to our Ibis Styles hotel near George Square, and we honestly could have used sub titles. He was wonderful and friendly and told us all about his life, his views on his home town and thoughts on accents and Billy Connolly. We had to video him for posterity - see if you can translate!
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| Pete at the Ibis |
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| Bathroom graphics |
After dropping our luggage in our ultra-modern, Ibis Styles hotel, we knew we had to make an effort to stay awake until Scottish bedtime. What better and more Scottish way to start our stay than to visit a Scotch whisky distillery? A half-hour cab ride took us to the Glengoyne distillery where we evidently looked jet-lagged enough that the guides took pity on us and let us join an already-full tour. It was only 12:30 p.m. but we were ready! Our guide Holly was fun, knowledgeable, and explained the whisky making process in a way that made us all want to love it. So far, Cap and Betty are our Scotch connoisseurs. Scout and I are baby beginner Scotch drinkers. After our tour we got a lesson in how to properly taste Scotch and it was eye-opening and esophagus-tingling! Even Scout and Babs have decided we will now like Scotch. Glengoyne single malt at least!Holly at Glengoyne
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In the casking display room
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| Glengoyne is in a beautiful setting |
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Best part: the taste tests!
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Another cab ride back to Glasgow afforded more info about our host country and we were dropped off in time to head out for dinner. Cap/Jan is literally in this country to try fish and chips in every place he can. To that end, we managed to find an award-winning shop, so tiny that four of us around a table blocked the aisle for people ordering. Fortunately, the Scots are incredibly friendly and nobody kicked us out. The fish and chips were delicious, and we checked off another Scottish/British traditional experience!
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| Fish and chips for all! |
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| Merchant Chips--small but excellent |
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| Award-winning! |
Glasgow is an eclectic city with a wonderful and sometimes weird mix of old and new. Buildings and statues from the 15-, 16-, and 1700s blend with modern glass and steel structures. We walked a few streets until our brains, still on Minnesota time, shut down and it was time for bed. I fully admit we were extremely proud of ourselves staying up for nearly two days. I think we had a pretty impressive first day in Scotland.
