Heidelberg to Frankfurt to Glasgow and on!

July 9,2010

Yesterday was travel day, and it went smoothly. We ended our stay in Heidelberg on Wednesday with a trip back to Altstaadt to get some gifts and souvenirs. Then went out to eat with the folks who had helped us so much during Kathy's little episode. We ate at a wonderful local Gasthaus (pub/restaurant) and had fantastic food (although way too much) and beer. Photo above.

Yesterday we left for Frankfurt airport at about 8:30. Thank goodness the drive was congestion free and we made it to the airport by 9:45. Our flight left at 11:45 and was smooth as silk. We had a 2 hour layover at London City airport (not Heathrow, yea!) where I found Steven King's massive new novel Under the Dome. Got right at reading it! On both legs of the journey K and I played cribbage. Arrived at Glasgow nearly on time despite a delay in London. Got our rental car-- the guy behind the counter reminded us both of Mr. Extrovert Ben... what a card he was! And of course because of the accent we couldn't understand half of what he was saying, but he laughed a lot, so we did too!

The drive (on the wrong side of the road and shifting with my left hand) was good. There was lots of traffic north of Glasgow because of the Scottish Golf Open... and miles of traffic backed up north of the site (but in the opposite lane-- whew!). We stopped at Loch Lomond for our tradition photo (third one!) and at the Drover's Inn for our meal (we ate there on our way back to Glasgow from Oban in 2008). We had Lamb Broth (barley, veg, & lamb), Warm Goat Cheese Salad (excellent, my goat cheese is as good as theirs), and Bangers & Mash (pork & leek sausages with mashed potatoes, onions and dark gravy). It was all so good. The only thing missing was a good dark beer, but I didn't know if I should on those narrow Scottish roads.

Our B&B is lovely... 200 year old farm house that was gutted and totally renovated. Very nice rooms and a delicious breakfast this morning of fruit & yogurt, toast, egg, sausage, ham (they call it bacon), cooked tomato, beans, superb mushrooms, haggis, and black pudding. Kathy had the vegetarian version. I can't figure out why they call it "traditional Scottish breakfast" because I doubt very much Scots of any generation typically ate all that for breakfast. Perhaps because all of the foods are traditional. Anyhow, we both got totally stuffed and will have to do penance!

Today on towards Fort William, Inverness, and our next B&B, near Tain, just north of the Black Isle. It's on the east coast of Scotland, facing the Moray Firth, a large bay coming in from the North Sea.