15 October, 2012

Taking another low key day at the house in Glasgow today. After last weeks two crazy days of air travel, it’s nice to have no pressure to be on the go to somewhere to do something. The plan to get through the jet-lag in Reykjavik worked well. By Saturday night, I was tired enough to go to sleep by ten pm.

I left Iceland on a 730am flight last Friday. I took advantage of the Wi-Fi connection on the bus to chat with a friend in the Rockies on the hour long ride to the airport. It’s nice to be half a world away, yet still remain in direct contact with close friends at home. Though the time difference from pre-dawn Reykjavik meant we were chatting between two different days on the clock. With trans-Atlantic flights arriving and travelers making their connections to destinations in Europe, Keflavik International is an insanely busy place at six in the morning. After getting through security I bought a cup of coffee and went to find my gate. I cannot recall the last time that I boarded an airliner via stairs from the tarmac. It was a special treat for me to walk alongside the nose of the 757 and admire its sheer size and graceful lines.

The flight to Glasgow from Reykjavik is just under two hours. Shortly after climbing through the low hanging cloud layer, I saw clouds glowing red ahead of us in the pre-dawn light indicating sunrise as we made our way to 39,000 feet. I spent most of the flight writing the last post about the Golden Circle coach tour the previous day. I wrapped up with writing just as the outer reaches of Scotland became visible through breaks in the clouds. Flying across Northern Scotland and the Highlands there were no clouds. I was able to take several good (and a few bad that I won’t share) pictures of the mountains and Loch Ness. I was impressed by the rugged nature of the peaks, and struck by the total lack of trees. Like the Vikings in Iceland, the Scots long ago deforested their island. The forests that can be found today are all planted and protected. Shortly before arrival in Glasgow the clouds moved in and I haven’t seen much sunshine since.

Loch Ness

When I emerged from customs, my friend Trisha was there waiting and we were quickly off to catch a bus to the city. On the bus I was busy repacking my gear, pulling the pack out of the duffel used for flying, changing shoes for boots, and stowing my hand luggage and duffel in the large ruck. We talked nonstop, and were both rather giddy that after having actually seen each other for the space of an hour (five years ago while she was on a layover at DIA) in the last eighteen years, I was actually here in Glasgow. We changed to a cab at the bus terminal and were off to the University where she teaches a tutoring session on Friday afternoon. After stopping briefly at her house to see her son off to a mates for an overnight and stow my gear, we headed to city center where we enjoyed a nice Thai dinner and she showed me a bit of the scene.

Saint George’s Square

Monument in Saint George’s Square

Lock on the Clyde & Forth Canal

Local cages where historically dragons were kept after capture.

Following a very low key Saturday (main excursion being a walk on the local canal), we journeyed to Edinburgh for the afternoon on Sunday. After lunch with a friend of Trisha’s who was in Edinburgh on holiday from Hawai’i, we visited the National Galleries. The highlights of the collection (for me) were a Rembrandt self portrait, a Botticelli, Da Vinci, Raphael, and a wonderful marble by Rodin.

Platform, Queen Street Station, Glasgow

The Royal Mile

Note the genuine Scotsman in kilt.

Rodin, the Kiss

Rodin, the Kiss

Leonardo Da Vinci

Rembrandt

Raphael

View towards Carlton Hill

Edinburgh Castle

Dancers and Drums

Today, after having coffee and conversation with some local friends I had never met before, I finally got my telephone sorted to work internationally. This doesn’t mean that I’m wanting phone calls or text messages, though. Please stick to email, FaceBook, or comments here. It is going to allow me to book hotels and access the maps or upload a pic or two to FaceBook on the go.

Tomorrow I plan to take Trisha’s son to the Glasgow Transportation museum (all the museums here are free, to boot!). Wednesday will be a big outing back to Edinburgh with both of her kids to see a special exhibit on witches at the National Gallery and a Warhol Collection at another Gallery. The weekend will bring another excursion to Stirling Castle and hopefully Rosslyn Chapel. There’s a couple days in there that are not booked yet. One of them must be put to use getting next week’s travel to Bath, Glastonbury and London planned.

D and Trisha

‘Til next time. Cheers!