Farewell Highlands, Britain and all that History, Hello HOME

Day 31/32, Sunday, July 7, Monday, July 8. 

Glasgow - Amsterdam - Minneapolis - and finally Stevens Point.  

Day when the sun never set.  Sort of like the British Empire, where the “sun never set” on all the lands they controlled at the height of their reign over the world.  

Walked to the Buchanan Bus station.  Collected  from a Greggs Cafe a coffee and breakfast bun (not very good and don’t regret leaving British ‘bacon’ behind).  Rode the last bus ☹️.  Arrived at Glasgow Airport too early (typical of this person who is always on time).  Couldn’t go through security for two hours.  Hung about with more coffee, browsing abandoned magazines, and people watching. 

 Almost everyone had to have their photo taken with Oor Willie, who is a character from a popular comic strip. This one was in the airport.  Random girl posing.  

People often sit on the upturned feet for the pictures.  On Buchanan Street there were a few  and I saw a middle age woman fall off the slippery leg/foot to the concrete.  She wasn’t hurt but the hundreds walking passed had a good laugh. 

The Oor Willie’s are Scotland’s first public art trail.  There are 150 in various cities.  I saw them in Inverness and Glasgow.  It is to raise awareness for Scotland’s Children’s hospitals.  

Took advantage of a chair to stuff backpack into travel bag, along with hiking boots and trekking poles.  It was a bit difficult as the bag had so much duct tape wrapped about to keep it from ripping that it was tighter than its original size.  A thankful option as in Manchester airport there was no place to sit and the process had to be done in the middle of the terminal among crowds of passengers waiting.  And, there were free carts to transport the piles of stuff travelers were lugging about.  A very grateful Lois!

Pre- stuffed 

Stuffed 

Duty Free spending frenzy of the remaining Pounds.  On arrival home found there were still a few notes left over...they are being saved for the next adventure???????

Luggage could be wrapped up like a mummy to protect while going on its own journey in the belly of an airplane. 

Fly to Amsterdam. To board plane we had to walk out on to the tarmac and climb stairs at both the front and back doors.  Odd egg salad sandwich on plane.  On arrival in Amsterdam the process was reversed. Sort of felt like a celebrity and there should have been a moment to pause on the top step, look out at the crowd, smile and wave for photos from crowd adoration.  Did none of that.  Just climbed down. 

Hurry to gate as there was not much time between flights.  Arrived and learned there was a delay for some reason.  Great, time to find a toilet.  Not great, as that meant the flight would be late arriving in Minneapolis.  

Long 9 hour flight.  Watched the movie “Peterloo”, slept for about a hour or so.  Then watched 3 episodes of Les Mis from Masterpiece Theater.  Had a snack, dinner, another snack, warm from the oven cookie, and a breakfast snacky croissant.   

Dinner in a tight space.  

Aisle seat in row 35 next to three people from India.  Each side row had two seats.   So 8 across.  8 times the 34 rows ahead of me meant a lot of people had to deplane before it was my turn. 

Joined the line snaking into the terminal and all those people ahead of me going through Customs and Immigration.  All that took so much time that the connecting flight to CWA was missed by 15 minutes 🙀. No worry, I was already rebooked for the morning.   Maybe no worries but it was annoying to be so close and still so far away. 

Made hotel reservation and then began to call for the Shuttle.  No answer.  That went on for over an hour.  This traveler was getting tired.  Plus it was Hot!  For sure definitely not in Scotland any more.  

All the other hotels chains had shuttles arrive and depart on a consistent timing schedule.  Realized there were others waiting for the phantom hotel shuttle and all of us kept calling, as we had been told to do when making the booking for the room.   Finally the ride appeared.  10 of us got on.  By the door was a sign “gratuities appreciated”.  Everyone said NO WAY.  Climbed off and left that man and his vehicle to go do whatever he had been doing rather than coming to the airport every 30 minutes.  

Comfort Inn Hotel check-in was also a mixed up mess.  They had none of our prepaid reservations, which made my shuttle companions even more annoyed.  

I had to mentally put in action that old phrase “be flexible and have a sense of humor”.  It was difficult as the foot was throbbing and swollen. 

Packed ibuprofen into the checked luggage (my mistake).  

Couldn’t sleep.  Arriving in Glasgow way back on June 5 I was so tired could hardly stay awake until evening.  Coming in this direction could NOT drop off.  Slept from about 11:30 to 1:30 and the rest of the night played flip flop on the king size bed.  And the foot was pounding.  

Elderly couple at breakfast each had 2 bowls of FRUIT LOOPS...and the man picked up his bowl and drank the remaining milk like a little kid.  

Where are the fried tomatoes, mushrooms, haggis, and baked beans?  And NO croissants ☹️

Flying west there was sunshine the entire journey of hours and hours and hours in a long thin tube with lots of other humans.  

These adventures and misadventures have come to a close.  Back to reality.  Looking forward to the rest of summer.  

Have an appointment on Wednesday for an X-ray of the foot and a visit with the doctor.  I expect she will give me a bad time over the fact I kept walking on it.  Well, sort of walking.  

East West Home is Best.  

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”  Lin Yutang