Home > Travels > Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland

MY TRIP TO IRELAND, NORTHERN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND

Day 7: Losing Those Excess Pounds

Today was the day we travelled to Scotland. In addition to gassing up the van, we took the oppurtunity to burn off some more of the Northern Ireland pound notes. Since Scotland is very picky about which crown they fall under, we needed to have the right ones. At right, is a picture of some of the different issues of money we received. There was at least one other not pictured that the group had already unloaded.

There are two ways to travel between Northern Ireland and Scotland: by ferry or by plane. We chose to fly since we were able to get a good air rate and had to trade in the rental van, anyway.

The flight was actually two flights. We flew into England on a small jet, then made a connection onto a smaller prop-driven plane to fly into Glasgow, Scotland. Because of luggage space limitations, we couldn't take our normal carry-on bags on board with us. In addition, the checked baggage limit was a bit lower than for the larger jets. However, we were all within those limits.

I was able to take my laptop and digital camera since small briefcases were allowed. Those were the only items I was really worried about losing, anyway. I slipped my exposed rolls of film from my 35mm camera into the briefcase for safe keeping.

Unlike the flights from and back to home, there was no free food or beverage service on either flight on the trip to Scotland - not even peanuts. They did have items to purchase, though we didn't feel any need to partake.

Upon arrival in Glasgow, we headed to the rental counter to pick up our van. Too bad it wasn't there. Hertz claimed they were expecting us an hour later. It turns out, they didn't have the right van, either. It was smaller vehicle than what we had hoped for with 6 people. Someone would be sitting among the luggage.

As a result, we headed to the other counters to see what someone else might do for us. We ended up at the Europcar counter where they had an available van. While it was the same size as the van Hertz had available, we went with the other guys on princliple rather than settle on Hertz. There was no need to reward their mistake.

The van we received was a Volkswagon Sharan. It was about the size of a Toyota Sienna. We were able to fold down one of the 3rd row seats to make more room for luggage, but not much more. It only folded to form a flat table of sorts instead of flipping all the way forward or into the floor. This meant only 3 cases could fit on top of it. With a bit of creative packing, we got 6 cases and 6 carry-on backs to fit into the small cargo area. Still, like I said above, someone would be sitting among the luggage in the 3rd row seat.

I sat among the luggage in the remaining 3rd row seat.

Getting directions to the B & B was tough since the person on the other end of the line had only just moved there a few weeks before. Once we got close, she sent her husband outside to the sidewalk to flag us down. He then took the wheel to park us in the gated lot behind the building.

The gate was necessary because we were in the "Red Light" district that first night. It made for an intersting walk to get dinner. However, the people we encountered along the way were more interested in their own business rather than paying attention to us.

End of Day 7