Taste of Scotland with CIE Tours - Day 2

April 22, 2012 - Loch Lomond, Luss, Loch Ness, Nairn

       I have to say my favorite part of the Menzies Hotel in Glasgow was the shower in our room! My roommate asked me if I was washing a boat in the shower because I wouldn't get out! After we were squeaky clean, we experienced our first traditional "full breakfast" at a Scottish hotel. The Menzies offered a huge variety of food from sausage, bacon, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, dates, and potato scones. Have you ever had mushrooms and baked beans for breakfast? Personally I prefer Cheerios, but I had to make the best of a croissant and scrambled eggs.

        We headed North to Loch Lomond. Maybe I just live in a bubble, but I have not heard this infamous Loch Lomond song everyone was talking about! We wandered around this adorable little village, Luss, that was on Loch Lomond. The town had 1 Bed and Breakfast, 1 store, and 1 restaurant. Every little cottage looked the same. Surprising fact, we learned that the Scottish people have a slight obsession with garden decor! There were nomes and statues covering every square inch of their yards! My one thought as we wandered the town - Where do the kids go to school!? I never saw a school!          

 

We stopped for lunch in the town of Glencoe. To be such a small town, there were several hotels. We toured the Isle of Glencoe hotel which sat on another lake  loch. The hotel had beautiful scenery but it was nothing fancy by any means. After lunch we prepared for our hunt for the Loch Ness Monster! First stop upon arriving in the Loch Ness village was to get some food for the hunt, a Nessie chocolate bar! We cruised Loch Ness for an hour and I think I spotted Nessie! What do you think?

                                              

       We finished up our monster hunting with some souvenirs and loaded back on the coach to drive to Nairn. We drove over the beautiful hills of the Scottish Highlands and through the picturesque town of Inverness. I would love to go back and spend time in Inverness! We spent the night in Nairn, a seaside town south of Inverness.
       The Newton Hotel was our home for the night. Charlie Chaplin is rumored to have adored the Newton Hotel. He spent many of his summers there. Our rooms were charming and spacious. We were treated to a special Highlands Evening with traditional Scottish food (more Haggis), whisky, traditional Scottish dance, and bagpipes. The dancers were phenomenal! The girls were only 13 and 15 but they danced like professionals! Now I'll be honest and say that I'm not a big fan of bagpipes...ok, that's putting it mildly...I hate bagpipes. However, in Scotland, they seem only appropriate and they were magical!
                                          

Taste of Scotland with CIE Tours - Day 1

           I just returned from a whirlwind exploration of Scotland! What an amazing experience! I am so grateful to my company for encouraging us to travel with the tour operators/cruises that we sell. I traveled with CIE Tours who specializes in Ireland and the United Kingdom. They did a phenomenal job! We spent 6 days visiting as much of the country as possible. We toured hotels, museums, battlefields, castles, picturesque villages, and so much more. Are you ready to read all about my experience? Are you sure? It's going to be long. Ok, here we go!

Day 1 - Glasgow - April 21, 2012
            My co-worker, Teresa, and I drove to Charlotte on April 20th to begin our adventure. We flew United from Charlotte to Newark then from Newark to Glasgow. Thankfully, I slept a few hours on the overnight flight. United had an individual tv for each seat so I could entertain myself the hours I wasn't sleeping. The flight was about 7 hours and not bad at all! I love flying though!
We arrived into Glasgow around 8:00am on April 21st. CIE representatives were waiting for us at baggage claim where we realized so many people on our tour were on our flight too! CIE loaded the motorcoach with our luggage and we departed for our hotel, the Menzies Hotel. The United Kingdom has the Automobile Association (AA) which is the equivalent to AAA here in the US. The Menzies Hotel was a AA 4* Hotel. They actually had our rooms ready when we arrived which is uncommon since we arrived at 8:30am and check in is normally at 3:00pm. We were so grateful...and exhausted! Our room was very nice and spacious! We slept for a couple of hours and showered so we felt human again then we were ready to explore Glasgow.

           First stop, the Marriott Glasgow, another AA 4* Hotel. The Marriott was just across the street from the Menzies so we toured the hotel and ate lunch in their restaurant. This was our first taste of Scottish food. Have you ever had Haggis? I think I will spare you the ingredient details for now. Let's just say that it is a Scottish delicacy that can stay in Scotland. I am proud to say that I tried it not once, but twice!
          After lunch, we did a city tour of Glasgow. We drove through Central Station, around George Square which is the place to be on New Years Eve, and past countless beautiful buildings and cathedrals. Glasgow was beautiful even though it was raining! The city was very modern and industrial. The River Clyde runs through the city with some really cool bridges connecting either side of Glasgow.

 

           We stopped for a few hours to visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I'm not a big fan of museums or art, honestly, but it was fun because they focused a lot on the history of Scotland. They had several exhibits on the local animals and the history of the Scottish people. My favorite exhibit, Expressions, was unique because we caught the beginning of the Glasgow International Visual Arts Festival. Expressions was a group of suspended head sculptures with different facial expressions on each sculpture. The faces had such detail! It was incredible!

 

           We finished the day in Glasgow with a Welcome dinner at the Menzies Hotel with our whole group. There were 26 travel agents from across the country, 4 CIE representatives, and our tour director and coach driver. A majority of the travel agents were from AAA clubs so that was great to meet them and hear about their experiences with AAA! As always, I was the youngest person on the trip but surprisingly there were 2 other girls in their late 20s. They were from AAA clubs up North. It was so much fun to talk with them and hear how much they love their jobs just like I do!

I told you this was going to be long...Day 2 to come.