Ready to Head to Scotland
Bags all Tagged and Ready to Load

Reclaim or Claim?

Walking Around Dumfries House

Such Old Trees Deserve a Name

Dinner at the Aston Hotel

 

Touring the Campus of the University of Chrichton

 

Word of the Day

Tapz - Really awkward or outlandish shoes; shoes thought to be on the cutting edge of new fashion industry.

Our day started out at 5 AM…and if you want to know what time BW Babe and I went to bed last night, it was well after 1 AM when we felt that we’d managed to do everything that we needed to do. BW Babe, The Queen of Snoring, told me that I was snoring almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. We had to pack our luggage in such a way that we could check two bags each at the airport and have one single carry-on bag each (of course, the best laid plans…but I get ahead of myself). I lugged BW Babe’s bag and my bag down to the lobby of the hotel and had the desk clerk stow them behind the counter. Then, I returned upstairs to our room so I could grab my other bag and my laptop bag. BW Babe joined me later with her other bag and her carry-on bag. Gradually, the others joined us in the lobby and we proceeded to the breakfast room where we enjoyed a nice breakfast. I decided to eat light this morning so I wouldn’t end up with an upset stomach if our plane hit any turbulence.

After breakfast, we all grabbed our luggage and headed out to where the taxi picked us up. I was rather amazed that we all fit with all our luggage. It was a tight squeeze but we made it. Off to the airport. We arrived at the airport where we hauled all our luggage inside to the ticket counter. Remember that best laid plans thing? Well, coulda, woulda, shoulda, became the watch-word for today. I coulda put my large check-on bag onto weighing counter first. I didn’t. I shoulda. Thankfully, the airline worker helped a little but my one and only free check-on bag ended up being my lighter (previously carry-on ) bag. Thankfully, my cousin didn’t have any check on bags so she was able to check my heavier, regular suitcase on as her bag. Then, we were left with BW Babe’s two bags. She was able to check on her heavier suitcase first and then at an added cost we ended up having to pay for her additional bag and an excess weight fee. Anyway, the fee was hefty. We “think” we’ll have to go through this again (different airline) when we return to Dublin in five days. BW Babe and I think we can save money next time by correcting my shoulda mistake and checking my regular suitcase (the one that got lost) as my free bag, BW Babe would check her regular suitcase as her free bag, have our cousin check BW Babe’s one additional check-on bag as her bag, and then we’d pay for my one lighter carry-on as an extra check-in bag. Hopefully, we think, maybe, this will save us some money. I hope. Regardless, the airline that we were flying today was LOTS cheaper than the one that we’ll be flying next time so…I’m hoping we’ll be money ahead?

The plane that flew us to Glasgow today was nearly empty (I’m not sure why they limited us to one carry-on bag but it is what it is.) The flight only took a bit more than a half an hour with no turbulence. Yes! Nicer yet? The luggage all got to Glasgow on time and in good condition. Yes! Yes! Our new guide and driver, Donny, met us outside the baggage reclaim area and herded us efficiently to the van. I’m not too fond of this new van. Two of us will be having to ride facing the rear and I’m not at all sure if I’ll be able to stomach this. I’ll have to stock my purse with ginger chews. In the meantime, I was able to take one of the front-facing seats and we headed away from the airport toward Dumfries. But first...

Our touring luck seems to be continuing in queue. Sometimes there could be a debate as to whether that luck is good or bad but, I’ve decided, on my part, that our luck has been very good...even though plans don’t always seem to fall into place. We decided that Dumfries House would be a good stop on our way to our hotel in Dumfries for the night. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Dumfries House, a tour had just departed and the next tour wouldn’t be starting for another few hours. So, we decided to enjoy a private walkabout around the grounds surrounding the house/mansion. As our cousin’s friend said, trees like these are given their own names back home, and what a story they could tell. Sweetening our luck, we enjoyed a very nice lunch at the café. BW Babe and my cousin enjoyed the Haggis pie. Since they had that, I ordered the jacketed potato with mixed filling. Let’s replace the word “mixed” with “mystery” because the only word I understood when I asked what fillings I had to choose from was “cheese” and I think she told me that she’d run out of some fillings. Anyway, I went for it…and I ended up with a baked potato filled with shredded cheddar cheese and tuna salad. It tasted pretty good but I’m not quite sure that tuna salad would be on my list of fillings in the future. I think BW Babe and my cousin made a better choice. However, in a fit of temptation, I ordered a chocolate lumpy bumpy cake. A sweet ending of our tour.

We arrived at the hotel in Dumbries at around 5:30 PM and checked into the Aston Hotel…which is a former “mental” institution, as our barmaid informed us. I, at this point, remarked that I supposed that the place must be haunted. Our barmaid immediately perked up with a few tales of places in the hotel that she wouldn’t dare walk after dark…tales of hearing someone breathing when no-one is around. We were sitting at the bar because…once again, BW Babe and I were having problems with our Internet and the hotel was moving us to another more Internet-friendly room for our stay. Crazy Americans! BW Babe mentioned to the barmaid that she thought that the ghost of Ballygally Castle followed us to Scotland to mess with our Internet reception.

Dinner? After we had moved into our new room and unpacked, and set up our electronics successfully, we enjoyed a wonderful meal here at the restaurant located in the hotel. The Brasserie 59. Our fellow tour members highly recommended the Smoked Haddock (Steamed Fillets of Haddock on a Bubble and Squeak Mash and Horseradish Cream). I’m glad we trusted our cousin’s husband and their friend because this was the best meal that BW Babe and I had since we’ve been to Ireland and Scotland. We’re already trying to figure out how we can make something similar with fish from The Lake. Yum!

BW Babe and I finished up our evening with a long walk around the surrounding campus of The University of Chrichton before making our way back to the room for the night.

Random Quote of the Day

The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time.

Colette (1873 - 1954), Paris From My Window, 1944