So, it's been a whirwind 24 hours. But I am here at the hostel in Glasgow. Here's the blow by blow:
We got to Pearson Airport at around noon-ish Thursday. I can't say that I was in anyway calm, cool, or collected. But, family was there to calm me down. And Jason and Meghan showed up in plenty of time to see me off. (Jason: the back rub was much appreciated :-)) Narrowly missed Jeremy though, but was able to blow a kiss his way from the security line.
Security in T.O. was HELL. Crowded, not enough personel for the amount of people going through, etc.
The flight was kind of turbulent, and there was no movie because their brand new Panasonic in-flight entertainment system was on the fritz. But I have to say, although KLM (like most economy class airlines I would think) squeeze you in like sardines, they do have excellent service and are very kind. We even got hot cloths to freshen up with!
Amsterdam has a neat airport. It's only one terminal, and that terminal is massive. It's full of shops, and even a casino and museum! I think it took me 25 min to walk across the airport to my gate. I got myself some euro over there beacause the dry airliner air killed my throat and I needed some more water... $20 CDN = 10.09 euro. And water was 2.50 euro... ouch!
In Amsterdam the take off runway is a 25 minute taxi (on the plane) from the gate. At one point I thought we were going to drive to Glasgow! ;-)
Glasgow is huge. You do a loop around when you land, and it's very very big, but with lots of green-space. I was greeted after immigration by a student who got me a cab to the hostel at a reduced rate. The cab ride into the city was alot like taking the 401 in Ontario in terms of scenery and vegitation. But the city is very different from anything I've seen in Ontario. Ottawa might come close.
I got to the hostel too early. I got my room changed to a private room because I was so groggy that the thought of sharing with 14 others just wasn't sitting well. Still couldn't check in until 3pm so I called home to let all know I was well and sat in the lobby with my luggage. I fell asleep right in the EuroHostel lobby! Anyway, the front desk noticed and got me in my room early. So I was in by 1 pm and had a 5 hour nap. Can you believe that I actually fell asleep to bagpipes playing outside my window!? Crazy!
I've done some walking around Glasgow already. Got some nice pictures too. I'll put those up later... right now I'm on coin-operated internet. Had pizza for supper.
Tomorrow I get into residene, and can spend some more time exploring the city. It seems easy enough to get around by foot. The University is about 20 minutes walk from here. Though I'll likely take a cab again tomorrow because of the luggage.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to go and watch tv and read up on the sights and sounds. :-)
3 comments:
Glad everything went well. Getting the private room was an excellent idea. I can't wait to see some pictures.
Do you mean British Pounds or Euros?
I got Euro in Amsterdam, but I am using British Pounds here in Scotland. But, I've been told most shops will take Euro, US and Canadian Dollars... up to a point anyway.
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