We flew Icelandair from Boston to Reykjavik and connected to another Icelandair flight to Glasgow. I remember reading about the airline years ago and envisioning their planes as cattle-cars with backpackers crammed together in seats with no legroom. It turns out that they are really no different than any other airlines--there was no shortage of backpackers, but seat room was reasonable. However they *do* charge for everything, including meals, but this wasn't a big issue since it was a 5-hour flight that left Boston at 9:30PM and got to Reykjavik at 6:30AM--not exactly prime dining hours anyway.
Arriving in Reykjavik is like landing on the moon. The airport is on the cost in the middle of miles and miles of lava fields, with almost no evidence of human activity. (Picture of this in an upcoming post). We had a 90-minute layover in Reykjavik, but had no problem making our connection. Although the Reykjavik airport is modern and really nice, but a bit of a madhouse since all of their flights from North America arrive at the same time and all of their flights to Europe leave 90 minutes later. So, it was on to Glasgow, arriving at 10:30.
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| Coming into Glasgow |
As soon as we arrived in Glasgow, I went to an ATM to get British pounds (Scotland is part of Great Britain). Because my regular bank (the lovely Wells Fargo) charges $5.00 for foreign ATM withdrawals, I set up an account and got an ATM card with my credit union, which does not charge for withdrawals. I confidently inserted my credit union card in the ATM machine, laughing inside at how I had outsmarted Wells Fargo and bypassed their evil fees. And the ATM rejected my credit union card--three times. As I later discovered, I had forgotten to tell the credit union that I was going to use their card overseas. Let this be a lesson to you kids out there. So, I wound up using the Wells Fargo card, and donating $5.00 to them.
Armed with cash, we immediately got on a bus to the main bus station in Glasgow, and got on another bus to
Edinburgh, so there are no pictures of Glasgow (yet). Two hours later, we were checked into our hotel in Edinburgh (Hotel Indigo in the New Town area, for those of you who are familiar with Edinburgh).
Incredibly enough, it was not raining, as I had been assured it would be. So, so we spent the afternoon taking a preliminary stroll down the
Royal Mile in the Old Town part of Edinburgh, in preparation for a more intensive visit the next day. Everyone I have talked to about Edinburgh has raved about it, and I now understand why. It's a very walkable, compact city with lots of things to see. The Royal Mile is the main street in the old part of Edinburgh and it runs about a mile (incredibly) from
Edinburgh Castle at the top to
Holyrood Palace at the bottom. Below are a few quick shots from our walk down the Royal Mile (more to come in tomorrow's report).
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| Some buildings, mostly from the 1600s and 1700s along the Royal Mile |
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| Another view down the Royal Mile |
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| St. Giles Cathedral |
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| Inside St. Giles Cathedral |
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| Scottish Government Relief Program |
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After a spot 'o tea (beer), we went back to the hotel and rested up. We didn't have to travel far for dinner, as there was a pub (the Conan Doyle), just down the block from our hotel.
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| The Conan Doyle (picture taken next morning) |
We walked into the Conan Doyle, and began playing the international "How do I get a table, how do I order food, and how do I pay for it in this country?" game. We saw a dining area to the left as we entered, but there was no hostess, which I didn't expect, since pubs don't have hostesses. So we found an empty table and sat down. BUZZ! Incorrect--a waitress said that people were waiting for tables, and we would either have to wait for a table or sit in the bar area. So we went over to the bar area. I do know enough about pubs that in the bar area, you have to order food at the bar. But there was nobody at the bar to order food from. Eventually, the waitress who I had talked to earlier came to our table and said that there was now a table available in the dining area, or she could take our order where we were sitting (the bar area). We eventually decided on a table in the dining area, but I still don't know how things work.
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| In the dining area of the Conan Doyle |
In Scotland, eat what the tourists in Scotland do, so I immediately looked for haggis on the menu, and found it right at the top. (I later discovered that haggis seems to be on every menu in Scotland, usually at the top--no doubt a Scottish Tourist Bureau program). According to my friends at Wikipedia:
Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a sausage casing rather than an actual stomach.
Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties", which are pureed turnips, and mashed potatoes, but without any of the good stuff we put in our mashed potatoes--literally just mashed potatoes.
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| Haggis, with neeps (the orangish stuff) and tatties |
Apparently the neeps and tatties are there to make the haggis seem like it tastes good. And, of the three, the haggis was by far the best, and probably no more gross than some of the stuff you'd buy at the local Food Lion. So, I have had haggis and lived to tell about it.
Next:
Edinburgh
