I began writing this from a flat in East London, England! My trip to the UK and Ireland were definitely a “bucket list” adventure and something I never thought I’d do.
The trip was planned because my daughter Rebekah had been touring with Disney On Ice in Europe. She went to France, Spain, and the UK while performing and touring so she suggested I come out at the end of her tour so we’d have time to do some things together.
Unfortunately, she found out she couldn’t go back to France or Spain for 90 days because of tourist and working in Europe regulations, so we were primarily in the UK.
Below is a summary of the first part of my trip which was to Scotland:
Traveled From Idaho, USA to Glasgow, Scotland!
On Wednesday morning 3/23/2023, my son Joel and I left our condos in Sun Valley around 8 am and headed to the ice rink in Hailey and skated. At around 10:15 am we began the three hour drive to the Boise Airport. My plane was scheduled to leave a 4:20 pm, but we allowed a lot of time so we would arrive at the airport at least two hours before.
I think we arrived at the Boise Airport around 2 pm. Since there was no parking, Joel dropped me off. Check in went smoothly and soon I was boarding a small Air Alaska plane headed to Seattle. The plane wasn’t crowed and I had a nice conversation with a young girl who sat in the aisle seat of our three seat row. She was flying from Boise from Seattle to see her boyfriend and was impressed about my trip.
It didn’t take me long once I arrived in Seattle to find the gate to my international flight. I found a sit down restaurant and had a wonderful Vietnamese meal. I couldn’t believe how good the food was and I think it put me in the mood for all the good food I was about to eat in Europe!
A special treat was when my cousin Cheryl’s son Josh Jay, who worked at the airport met me at that Vietnamese restaurant! We talked and caught up for over an hour which made my layover, which was quite long, go by in no time.
Finally, I boarded my American Airlines plane headed for Heathrow Airport in London at around 9 pm.
Fortunately, I ended up with an isle seat in the center section which was near several bathrooms. It was a fairly comfortable flight…nothing fancy or extra, but comfortable. I watched a good movie about a has been basketball coach who coached disabled kids, watched some other things, and did some sleeping too. The hot meal came when I was not hungry, but I did eat most of the continental breakfast that was served about an hour before landing.
Once the plane finally landed, there was a maze of areas to go through before I finally got to my gate headed for Glasgow. That plane was a small one and so comfortable after the long international flight.
All went smoothly in Glasgow: I gathered my bags and reserved an Uber and off I went to the Leonardo Hotel in Glasgow where my daughter Rebekah and the Disney On Ice Cast were staying. It was probably about 5:30 pm when I arrived.
Wow…I was exhausted…so exhausted that I didn’t even bother trying to get dinner. I just spent the evening recovering and watching a bit of television. I took a shower about two or three hours after I arrived and then cozied up in bed.
Rebekah arrived around 9 pm after the show she had been in that night and we had some tea together and then said our good nights.
Glasgow!
The next morning, Rebekah texted me she was going to the hotel breakfast and asked me to join her, but I wasn’t ready yet, so we made plans to walk to a coffee house together later in the morning. I should have gone since the breakfast was included with my hotel stay, but I’m used to American hotel breakfasts and I had no idea that in Scotland and in the UK in general hotel breakfasts are fantastic.
Anyway, Rebekah and I did take our walk and found a nice coffee house and we had some coffee and pastries together in a cute upstairs nook of a Scottish coffee house. I drank decaf Americano which became my staple whenever I stopped for breaks in coffee houses throughout my trip.
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| My first time exploring Glasgow |
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| Look at the brick sidewalk! |
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| Look at this amazing view!!! |
Rebekah was so exhausted that we returned to the hotel after. I decided to explore the area and found a wonderful walkway along a river and an amazing park. It really cold outside, but also it was just so fun for me to look at things, take photos, and scooter. I ran into one of Rebekah’s fellow cast members, Benji, as I entered the park and it was really fun to talk with him.
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| Here is the inside of a Glasgow’s Cathedral where I stopped to rest |
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| What an amazing bridge! |
After I returned to the hotel, I remember walking Rebekah to the cast bus early in the evening when she and the cast left for their evening performance. It was fun to see some of the cast again. I’d met many of the cast and done things with them on previous tours.
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| Rebekah’s Fish and Chips |
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| Garrett and Rebekah |
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| My meat pie and chips |
After Rebekah returned to the hotel, she and I and her boyfriend Garrett walked somewhere (I scootered of course) to go out to dinner, but unfortunately the only thing open was a fish and chips place, but wow, was it good. I ended up having a little meat pie and Rebekah had fish and chips and I think Garrett had a hamburger. I was introduced to Mushy Peas that night too and enjoyed dipping the chips (French fries that are not as greasy as our American fries) into the Mushy Peas.
Annabelle finally arrived Saturday morning just in time for the incredible hotel breakfast buffet! So Rebekah and Annabelle and I had an amazing reunion and meal together!
Saw Rebekah Perform!
Soon after we returned to the hotel, Annabelle and I began walking to the venue where the ice show was. Rebekah had obtained complimentary tickets for us. The walk was about thirty minutes long, but not difficult and was a long the same river we’d taken to the park but in the other direction.
The show, of course, and as usual was wonderful. And…of course, every time Rebekah performed I was “ONE PROUD MOM!” I cheered and cheered for her!
After the show, we went down to the ice and got photos with Rebekah. The whole experience made both of us so happy.
Finally, we hugged Rebekah good-bye and walked back to the hotel. It was still light, so we felt fairly safe. The walk seemed faster on the way back, but we were also hungry. We wanted to go to a vegan restaurant since there were so many in Glasgow, but learned we had to have a reservation on a Saturday night, so it took some time for Annabelle to finally get us a reservation at a vegan Japanese restaurant. Finally, we walked (I scootered) to a wonderful Japanese restaurant and the two of us had the best meal together there!
As soon as we got back to the hotel Annabelle went right to sleep. She was absolutely exhausted from her long travels since the plane she took from Denver to Dallas was delayed for almost an entire night. She landed in London too late to take the train she had reserved and had an early morning flight instead to Glasgow and not much sleep at the Heathrow Airport hotel before her flight.
I remember cozying up in bed and binge watching a Netflix series about a mother and daughter. Rebekah stopped by our room after her third Saturday show and we all visited awhile.
The next day Sunday, after eating the wonderful hotel breakfast together, Annabelle and I boarded a train for Edinburgh Castle!
The train ride was over and hour long but very pleasant. It was fun for me to see the Scotland scenery. The train’s end of the line was Edinburgh, so once we left the train we walked towards the castle. It was a very long uphill ride, but so beautiful. Wow…what amazing views! The castle was absolutely fascinating. We also enjoyed our coffee and tea break at the castle’s food area. And…when we finally did leave we browsed many of the souvenir shops. Annabelle ended up buying a kilt for her boyfriend Ben!
There were just so many tourists in Edinburgh that we decided to go back to Glasgow for dinner. The train ride was much longer on our way back since we took a local train. We planned to go to a vegan place, but when we returned we were so cold and tired and hungry that we decided to eat at the first fish and chips place we saw since it served vegan fish and chips.
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| Mushy Peas! |
Itwas really cold in Glasgow, so after dinner we walked back to the hotel quickly. I didn’t bring my scooter since we weren’t sure it was allowed in the castle and that was a good choice since scooters were not allowed. Rebekah came to our hotel room after the show and we had tea and visited.
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| My last breakfast in Scotland |
The next morning it was time to pack up and say good bye to Scotland. We were flying to Dublin, Ireland! We enjoyed the wonderful hotel breakfast again and completed our packing and we took an Uber to the Glasgow airport. We had received an email that our flight was delayed and made the mistake of not checking in when we arrived and waiting until a later time to check in, but fortunately we made it through on time and finally boarded a plane for Ireland. On to my next adventure in Ireland!
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