Homeward Bound - Day 1

Day 30 - Return to Scotland - (September 29)

We accidentally slept in after a terrible night’s sleep, both of us had trouble sleeping in a double bed of dubious heritage. Very strange for such a well appointed B&B. We were on a schedule, so we hurried through our morning routine and went down to breakfast where we had fruit and cereal with coffee. The coffee was strong as battery acid and neither of us finished our first cup.
Taking our bags down to the car we found we were an hour ahead of schedule. For some reason the lady on TV read out the wrong time while we were watching the morning news. Oh well, better early than late. We had very specific directions and other than traffic, it should be a straight forward drive to the airport to drop off the car.

Our route on N52 took us up and over the hills northwest of Belfast dropping us to the harbor where we were supposed to catch the M3 Bypass, then onto the A2 for the run to the airport. Well, we missed a turn in the morning traffic and ended up driving around downtown Belfast for half an hour. Finally with our second set of directions we actually managed to get onto the A2 where we pulled off at the airport and dropped the car off. With bags in tow we walked over to the airport terminal and hailed a taxi to take us back to the other side of the Belfast Harbor to the Stena Cruise Line for the trip back to Stranraer, Scotland.

We reached the Stena Terminal in plenty of time, checked our bags and went up to the waiting lounge for a coffee and some reading. Shortly before noon we boarded the ship and got settled in the lounge at the stern of the ship to have lunch and relax during the crossing. Arriving in Stranraer we disembarked the ship, collected our luggage and hiked the 50 yards to our train for the two hour ride to Glasgow Central.

The ride along the coast is beautiful with rolling green hills covered with hedge borders to keep the sheep in their pastures. Clouds break periodically to show some sun and it was a quick journey despite the periodic stops for pick ups and let offs in towns along the route.
Arriving in Glasgow we grabbed a baggage cart, loaded our luggage and exited the station. Deciding how to get a taxi, I asked a policeman and he waved acab over for us. After loading us and our bags into the cab we set off for the Holiday Inn at the Glasgow Airport. Once we got our room key and went up to the room, Tina reorganized our luggage for the flight home, then we went downstairs for dinner. After dinner we returned to our room and spent the evening relaxing.

Tomorrow morning we walk across the street to the terminal and fly home.

No photos today.