Monday - Glasgow Worlds

Scottish tip of the day... Bacon buddy! Close but it's actually bacon butty or butties. See... some of the great things we can learn in Scotland! Lol
 

I made these this morning for breakfast and they were great!

 Band practice was scheduled for 9:30 and everyone gathered at the entrance to get instructions on the morning.  The Pipers headed off to tune up under the cover of James Goold Hall... yes it was raining.

The drummers took a practice over by the local pub before forming up to run through the music.

 Wait a minute... I see the sun!!! Yes it's breaking to the blue here in Scotland! Look a parade! people dancing in the streets... well not quite but close!!

I also walked over towards the Hospital grounds that is home to the Glasgow Cathedral for a quick look about.

Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral

 After band practice we met up with Shelley, Doug, Chelsea , Austin and little London and walked over to RG Hardie with a stop at the National Piping Center along the way.

To avoid the cracking and loss of pipes in Africa, these rare metal pipes were constructed. They are heavy!

Next up was R.G. Hardie & Company Ltd to look in their store... well it turns out they don't have a store... but after working our way through the back entrance and chatting with staff we had a mini tour of the facility from Field Marshal Montgomery piper and Managing Director Alastair Dunn. 

On the way to R.G. Hardie and Company

Kelly checks out the workmanship.

Engraving CNC machine

Shelley, Alastair, Austin, Chelsea, London and Doug outside the shop.

We took some pics of the engraver machine in action and then received some nice hats and umbrellas for stopping by. We also took a photo of the the Hardie descendants and found out where and when FMM was practicing this week. I feel a field trip coming up! (It's published in a brochure.. so no secret!)

We stopped for a geocache on our walk back to the main pedestrian walkway Sauchiehall street. Some light shopping then off to the iron horse pub for lunch and a pint.

We walked down to George Square to see some bands performances and met up with Barb & Dave Hennigan. As we strolled down the street we quickly lost everyone so we headed over to  George Square to watch the last of today's bands perform. It was the Grade 2 St Andrews band from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺  BTW Sounding very nice!

St Andrews PB

 Some of the many great buildings along our path today.

 We stopped at Aldi and picked up some basics.. salt & pepper, chicken for dinner and more bacon... you never have enough bacon it seems!

Back at the dorm I had a nice little nap and awoke to a small social in full swing in our kitchen. Paul heard from the airline about their bags & drum as they tried to call him all day. It does help to have your phone turned on!! Bags are in Glasgow and slated for deliver tonight!! He is looking forward to the underwear change... and so are we!

While waiting for Paul's luggage to arrive we stopped by the pub and had a pint. Jacquie Troy-Carter and little Iona were there along with J.W. & Louise Troy. The highlight was watching the Inverary & District Drum Corp go through their practice. Very nice unison and tempo... top notch!

I texted with my son Kris in London and sent various video clips (via drop box) to him as close to live as possible. He enjoyed the show from his pub seat in London but you could tell he so wanted to be here with his band.. Soon!!

Inverary & District Drum Corp goes though their paces

Dinner out with Sue & Paul LeBlanc and son Ajay at the Amore Italian restaurant...  had a very nice meal then as we were leaving Paul's phone rang with news of his luggage. We high tailed it up to the office but no sign of the gear. About 10 minutes later the driver arrived and the relief on Paul's face was evident. He was very happy to see that underwear!!

 We headed for bed exhausted once again.

Goodbye London Hello Glasgow

Kelly had a restless sleep as she continually checked her flight tracker app watching the band work it's way to Glasgow. (I was out cold personally) The band has many Scottish descendants therefore there is a certain "thrift factor" that helped dictate the routing. They went West Jet from Victoria to Toronto, Toronto to Halifax then on to Glasgow. Others took different routes to arrive even earlier into Glasgow this morning.

Kelly is suffering some PSD (post shopping depression) from having to dispense with the wellie boot box and bag. (For reasons unknown to the male species, the box the items come in holds significant material value.... at least for a couple years until eventually discarded.) On the advice of our daughter Lauren (via text), every effort was made to accommodate this box but alas, room was non existent.

We packed up our gear along with an extra drum & uniform and grabbed a cab to London Euston  Station. Our cruiser friend Dan had arrange passage on the Virgin Train system so once at the station we hunted down our departure track (Dan texted it) and had a bite to eat.

Kelly enjoys the comforts of 1st Class.

Hello First Class! Did I mention Dan is our favorite friend at this point!!   Kelly did find some comfort in the first class seats on the Train. The G coach on the 1S40 to Glasgow will be our spot for the next few hours. Departing 10 seconds early at 09:44:50 :-) we pulled out of Euston station and enjoyed the views and amenities provided.

Cruise friends Linda and Drew even came out to the platform at Wigan to see a glimpse of us through the window.... Canadian Flags flying 🇨🇦 sort of.... We had a very quick chat at the door and then away we went.

Canadian maple leafs and shirt to welcome us... Only these two would walk over to wave hello!

After the Lake District the hills got a little bigger and the countryside took on a more rolling appearance. The train paralleled the M6 motorway for awhile.

Rolling countryside

We stopped a Carlisle, just shy of the Scottish border and the rains started if on cue. We arrived at Glasgow Station early at 14:58 and promptly put on our rain gear.

Heading to the cab in Glasgow.

Grabbed a cab to the Strathclyde University dorms and with the help of our driver, quickly found the office. Keys in hand, we headed up to our dorm room and ran into our flat mates Lori & Paul. For reasons unknown we ended up getting the only room with a double bed. After some discussion Paul moved his bed into Lori's room and they were all set with an even larger double bed!

Shelley came down while we unpacked our clothes and got caught up on the trip etc... and to see Kelly's boots.

We climbed up to the top floor and had a glass of wine with Shelley, Doug, Chelsea, Austin, Ajay and little London. (London did not have wine!)

Social in full swing!

A bunch of us headed to the local Aldi food store to get some staples for the next few days. The stairs that we hiked down now limited the load going up.

We decided to get Kris's room key and deliver his drum and uniform kit to his room. Yes what great parents!! Unfortunately Paul was longing for his drum and stole Kris's into his room so the poor man could sleep a little better. His drum and luggage are still in Toronto due to a connection issue with West Jet Encore.... it's another story.

While coming back from the office we met up with Colin, Dave and Bob in the Lord Todd Bar. Gerri also arrived later. A quick pint and catch up then back to transfer Kris's stuff.

Lord Todd Bar on the campus grounds.

Back at the pad we had a Scotch pie for dinner then dropped some of Kris's stuff. Rumors of a small party came true as we visited Jill & Drew Mackay's room to discuss the days events. Some music, wine, several brands of scotch and conversation ensued. Great hosts and they had great views from their flat, including the Glasgow Green Park that will hold the World Championships.

Practice session underway.

 Off to bed... band practice/first meeting at 09:30 sharp!

London - Day 2

Up too early so we lounged around, corrected the blog spelling and grammar, and got ready for the day.

Kelly is in charge of our travels today so I expect shopping at some point.  Any point actually! :-)

We headed out of the hotel and quickly walked to the Lancaster Gate underground station. We picked up a day pass and jumped on the next eastbound train.... breakfast was on our minds so we got off at Oxford Street near Soho. The Breakfast Club was easily found on her google map and Kelly had us walking in no time.

All Souls Langham Place

I took a nice pic of the All Souls Langham Place (see above) and asked Kelly how far to the breakfast place. Turns out we are headed in the wrong direction so I have now taken over navigational duties going forward :-)

The lineup at the Breakfast Club was pretty long so we walked around a bit and found a nice little French place called the Cote Brasserie. It was just opening and the food was very good.

Next up was a short walk over to the Hunter wellie boot store for Kelly's retail therapy session. Boot & socks purchased and left in-store awaiting our return.  Didn't want to pack them around you see.

Regent Street Pano... the bus was huge!!

I could not find a name for this building... or the baby!

The Athenaeum.. private club I am told!

St James Park

Big Ben

As soon as the rain started this place was "hopping"

 Walked along the river and found a nice c-can that served IPA's called the Hop Locker! This was good timing as the under bridge location kept us dry during the rain squall that went through.

My kind of Street art!

More Street art!

 Next we walked across the pedestrian bridge to Embankment Station and grabbed the black line to Camden.

We walked through the gauntlet of small booths that pretty much had duplicates of every sports jersey, t-shirt, silver jewelry and hats known to man. Once through the gauntlet, I high five'd Kelly as I survived the mental anguish and visual overload these shopping experiences bring me. 

I think the population of London is around 8.6 million... they were all in Camden today. 😱

We did see the Camden locks... not quite the Panama but it was as close as I was getting. We walked the canal and enjoyed the views.

Camden Locks

Camden Locks

Canal action.

Canal boat

Not sure who it was named after? :-)

Next up was a tube ride to Green Park and a search for afternoon tea. We quickly found a nice French restaurant "Cafe de Pierre" and ordered the afternoon tea for two special. Small tasty sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam complimented the English Breakfast tea.

FYI All the people in Camden came to Oxford Street via the tube... or so it seemed!

The next walk was to pick up some boots that Kelly had purchases earlier and then Marks & Spencer for some additional clothing. A quick tube ride and we dropped the parcels off at the hotel.

Our thirst badly needed quenching so we walked down the street a block to the local pub "Mitre" for a Pimms & Pint.  This was followed by a fish & chip dinner then a quick shop for some snacks for the train ride to Glasgow tomorrow. Even though we used the tube quite a bit today we still managed to walk 26, 500 steps/18.4km, our feet are exhausted, as are we. 

Travel day tomorrow to meet up with the band in Glasgow. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

London-Day 1

Off the plane and down through customs to collect our baggage. All went well and the bags arrived in short order... and the drum. We loaded up the baggage and headed towards the Heathrow Express station for the 15 minute trip into London. Blazing fast and great internet :-)

Those poor wheels are getting a workout!!

On arrival at Paddington Station we where met by our friend and fellow cruiser Dan (whom tracked our flight progress from over Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, over his house and finally on approach to LHR.) Dan was kind enough to hand deliver some train tickets for our trip north to Glasgow on Sunday. Great service as Dan works for Virgin Trains!!  We got caught up and then grabbed a cab to the Corus Hotel.

We met up with our friend Dan for a quick visit & ticket delivery.  We will be seeing him later in our trip.

Once in our small but clean room, we unpacked and stored our gear. Good thing we have "small room" practice from cruising and the F3A Worlds in Switzerland!!

Kris arrived and we headed off to get our sim cards sorted for our iPhones. This will allow us to remain connected with each other as well as our friends in the band and back home. Not to mention the "find a pub" app which was put to the test immediately.

Dinner at a BBQ place and then Kris headed back to his hotel room as he flies back to YVR in the morning. Kelly and I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens as we visited the Royals... they were not in though... maybe next time:-)

Spire House

The Italian Gardens

Kensington Palace

Ok our body clocks are a mess and we are  done... off to bed. Not sure what Kelly has planned for me tomorrow!

Travel Day

After spending yesterday afternoon prepping clothes etc. my super packer Kelly had the two suitcases loaded and ready for transport. As the temps in the house reach 33C, we had the AC running in the trailer and had a nice cool "camp out" in the front driveway:-) Sleep came easily.

Up very early this morning, Kelly drove me to work and I loaded the Q400 with my now oversized "crew bag". A quick flight to YVR and I unloaded said "crew bag" into the company crew room for later retrieval.

I finished up work in YVR with Kris on my last flight. We headed over to the crash pad (with the "crew bag") to drop uniforms & flying gear that will not be needed. I also took the time to load computer essentials & charge chords etc into my carry on tote bag.   After a quick sushi lunch, I left Kris and headed back to the airport to meet up with Kelly.

I dropped my bag at the "bag drop" and, after clearing security, we met up for a cool drink to celebrate the start of my vacation.... hers will start after the band plays in Scotland!

Kelly chilling before we board the flight.

The plane awaits.

 We had VIP service from the Customer Service Agents and went on board first. As Kris was the relief pilot for this YVR-LHR flight, we had a special "tour" from him. As the plane was late into YVR and a subsequent medical emergency during deplaning caused the tour to be shortened..... but it was still interesting.

Front end crew prep for departure.

We try out the crew rest seats in the upper deck of the B777

Kris points out the details of the portable O2 system should it be required.

The flight departed at 19:35 local time and arrived in London at 04:24 Pacific Time or 12:24 in London. Not too bad! We both got a bit of sleep and as we are now into the next day, I'll start a new page.... good night/good morning/good afternoon :-)