Day 2 - Wednesday - July 13, 2022 - Glasgow Scotland

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 We arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 10:00 AM local (5:00 AM body time).  This is, I believe, my fourth or fifth stop at Schiphol.  It is a beautiful airport, but one I hate to pass thru (think Atlanta).  It's large and a pain to navigate (not to mention that on one trip I failed to remove my Victorinox Swiss Army Knife from carryon, and it was confiscated).

We had previously been notified that our connecting flight to Glasgow had been cancelled and rescheduled, but three hours later.  Thus we had a very boring 5 hours to waste.

The view while we waited 

We continued our journey at 3:50 PM and reached Glasgow at about 4:30 PM (1.5 hour flight and one hour gained traveling west).

Look closely and you can see a windmill farm (no not Dutch windmills) off the coast of the UK.  This was one of several I spotted.  Some were much larger than this one, it looked like there were hundreds of windmills  Look closely and you can see a ship crossing in the third line from the left.

I had a first time experience at customs today.  The automated passport reader for e-passports, which the US has, would not pass me.  After three attempts, I was referred to a "real" customs officer who proceeded to ask me many questions before finally admitting me to the UK.  It wasn't until I rejoined the group that Kay immediately said she bet it was my eye.  I guess the prosthetic does not respond or read like my real eye did!  I need to file this for future reference.

We were met by our driver immediately after exiting security and were driven to our hotel.  Here our group leader immediately introduced himself and asked if we wanted to join them for dinner or freshen up.  They were literally ready to walk out of the hotel.  We left all our luggage at the desk who assured us it would be taken to our room. 

We left immediately from the hotel for a 15 minute walk to the Mackintosh Tea Room,









Kay's Braised Scottish Beef.  It was delicious.  I had the Scottish Salmon.  I also had the Haggis which I have always wanted to try.  I was told that the way it is prepared today is a lot different than it used to be.  It has a very slight liver flavor but was delightful and not overpowering at all.


Photo from the walk back to the hotel.

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom with a 2020 population of over 635,000.

We were absolutely exhausted when we reach the hotel at about 9 PM.  After a quick unpacking and shower, we were turned in by 10:00 PM.  We set the alarm for 6:30, but I was awake at 6:00 and feeling much refreshed.  

Ready for our first full day of adventures in Glasgow!

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