United Kingdon June 2016

About a year ago Dave asked if the brothers would like to go on a trip to Scotland and England.  Of course was our response.  So we started planning and making arrangements.  Wade let Dave know that we could not go to the U.K. and not take Travis.  Travis would spend hours talking to Howard about his mission and family history.  They consented we could invite him and Carla.  It seemed like so far away before we would be going but before we knew it, the day was here.

June 1, 2016 came quickly.  Our flight left at 4:50 p.m. from SLC to Amsterdam.  Funny thing,  a friend of mine, Susan Schmul Lofgren,  had told me they were taking a trip in June heading to Germany.  They were at the airport on the same plane as us.  I also ran into LuAnn Barker who was also on the same flight with her son, daughter in law, grandchild, and friend headed to Germany.  Small world.

The first leg of our flight lasted 10 hours.  We arrived in Amsterdam around 10:35 a.m. on June 2.  Travis and Carla headed right to catch their next plane and we headed left. In case you missed it (see previous blog) Carla was not able to get a VISA to the U.K. so they planned a trip to Denmark and Germany so they would not lose all of their flight credits.  That was a hard split always praying that everything would go well for both of us.  We boarded our next fight and arrived in Glasgow, Scotland around 12:40 p.m.  Going through customs was easy and only took about  30 minutes.  We took the 500 bus which dropped us off a few blocks from our hotel and headed over.  Thanks to Dave for great directions we had arrived at our hotel in one piece.  The older I get the more anxious I get and the anxiety had kicked into high gear by then.

After doing some research before the trip, we had decided that there was not tons we wanted to see in Glasgow and would rather spend our time in other places.  So we took advantage of Thursday afternoon to explore Glasgow.

We headed up to Sauchiehall Street.  It’s a long street with department stores, hotels, cinemas, restaurants and tearooms as well as art galleries and a range of smaller businesses. The street ends, or begins depending on which way you start, with a large enclosed mall at the end.

  

 Leaving the new modern street we headed to an older part of town.  The architecture was amazing.  We passed the train station and headed to George Square.  George Square is the principal civic square. It is named after King George III. George Square is the headquarters of Glasgow City Council, and has a collection of statues and monuments, including those dedicated to Robert Burns, James Watt, Sir Robert Peel and Sir Walter Scott.

Train Station

George Square

Monument to Fallen Soldiers

City Building 

By then we were hungry so we headed to find a restaurant for dinner.  We found this Pub called Waxy's.  It was like a giant tree house with all these off shoots.  You truly could get lost in it.  There were 6 bars split over 3 levels leading to various rooms.  You pick your own place to sit then go order at the bar and tell them where you are sitting.  It was very slow service and we wondered if they couldn't find us.  Wade and I took advantage of Fish and Chips the first night in the U.K. The food was not all that great but it was a fun atmosphere.  By then we were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel.

Wade and I needed a few incidentals we had chosen not to pack because of carry on regulations.  We headed back to Sauchiehall Street and a little convenient store we had found.  Got what we needed and then headed back to the hotel.  On the way we passed an ice cream store called Desserts.  We could not pass it up.  We were very glad we did not. It was delicious and just the right treat to end the day.  The hotel was on a little side street just up from what appeared to be a school.  On our way back from dinner we heard bagpipes and drums and lots of people in school uniforms walking towards the school.  On our way back from ice cream the group had formed a parade line and marched right passed the hotel in a small parade.  It looked like to us some type of graduation ceremony.  We don't know where they were headed but it was fun to stand and watch them go by and listen to the music.   I didn't have my camera or I would have taken a picture. 

The next morning Dick said that Wade and Dave had been on the Glasgow television news.  We saw the reporter and camera as we strolled down Sauchiehall but didn't think twice about it.