Day 2: Glasgow!

After being greeted by Miss Schroeder in the airport, and then Sean McKeown, our Irish EF tour director (picture to come at some point!) soon after, we loaded suitcases, boarded our coach & went into the heart of Glasgow for a stop at the art museum and some much needed stretching of our jet-lagged legs along cobblestoned streets.  Students began to hit the overnight trans-Atlantic flight wall, so we kept them moving & engaged in discussion - which was part of our strategy for an early bedtime - one would be amazed at how quickly
                                                                                                        excitement can trump exhaustion in a
                                                                                                        teen if one does not intentionally
                                                                                                        plan otherwise!

There are a variety of chaps in Scotland (probably some lasses as well!) who are not too keen on statues of English kings in their city....apparently, this one, a King George (students could tell you which one!), is always sporting a cone head - and more recently, his horse has one as well!  Weekly they're removed, and weekly, someone figures out how to restore the statues to their cone-head state!  The city was beautiful - teeming with tiered flower beds on most corners.  After exploring the art museum, we strolled the River Clyde, & walked the city's pedestrian areas.  George Square also featured our evening restaurant - students were thrilled to be eating something besides airport related food - so was their leader!  Wagamama's is a fresh & very popular Japanese-ish restaurant; students loved it & left little on their plates or in their edamame bowls!  We headed to our hotel - the Ibis budget - it had everything you really needed & nothing you didn't.  Students likened it to sleeping in Ikea, which in fact, appeared to be where all their furniture & linens came from!  More than the appearance of the room however,
was the size - tiny!......just like European nations!

Few things are better than sitting on old steps, surrounded by even older buildings, and spending time enjoying very new friends!  New friendships are thrilling, as there remains so many untouched subjects to discuss, and there's no telling how such conversations will influence and shape our relationships, and our understanding of the wide world before us!

We stayed two nights in Glasgow & at three different points in the time we enjoyed being there, we walked & walked the streets & sights, & by the time we were to leave, students truly knew the city & her historic landmarks well enough to have a sense for comfortably knowing their way around, which is an exciting accomplishment when one is trying to get to know a city - a sense of ownership is established in the traveler & it makes the journey all the sweeter!