Day 1 Scottish Tour

Scotland the Brave

Inverary Piper. 

You can see this local piper in the popular TV series "Downton Abbey" in an episode where the family travels to the Highlands.

For quite some time now, I had been mulling over the idea of taking a trip to Scotland, the country where I was born and the country that I left behind when I was twenty years old. My neighbors had visited Scotland last year and after hearing how much they enjoyed their trip, and after listening to their recommendation about signing on with CIE Tours International, I finally did it and signed on for their nine day/eight night “Scottish Dream Tour.”

I had always thought that it would be interesting to visit Scotland in the guise of an American tourist, and since I had not visited for twenty six years the time was ripe to go back home and hopefully enjoy the experience. I can honestly say that I did enjoy it very much and part of that enjoyment was because of the group that I was with. There were only seventeen of us and we all hailed from either the USA or Canada. This was a very amiable group of people and we mostly got along very well. Because the group was so small we were able to spread out on the bus and window seats were available for all.

Group photo with Eilean Donan Castle in the background. 

Financially the trip cost exactly $3,600 plus spending money, and it was a reasonable price considering that a round trip flight from Orlando to Glasgow and then Edinburgh back to Orlando was included in the price. CIE International does charge a single supplement fee for solo travelers, but since I used a discount, on line travel agent “Touringforless.com,” it was less expensive than booking with CIE direct.

Day 1

Day one was taken up with travel. I flew on US Airways from Orlando to Glasgow via Philadelphia, and was pleasantly surprised that all went well considering the poor reviews that I read about US Airways. The flight out of Philadelphia left approximately two hours late but I was delighted to find out that the flight was half empty and I had a row of seats all to myself. The on-board meal was adequate, the wine with dinner was complimentary, the movie (Saving Mr. Banks) was free and the earphones if anyone needed them were also free of charge. After dinner I was able to stretch out and sleep for two hours before waking up for the light breakfast service that was also quite adequate. All in all I can truthfully say that my experience with US Airways was good. I arrived safely at Glasgow airport although two hours later than scheduled, but in a very cheerful, relaxed mood and ready to start day two of my “Scottish Dream” vacation.

Peter and Paddy taken from inside the tour bus (photographed using my iPad).

On arrival at Glasgow airport, it only took about twenty minutes to clear customs and immigration because my suitcase was waiting for me when I reached the baggage carousel, and then I was very glad to see that a CIE representative was indeed waiting for me in the International arrivals hall, as promised in the brochure. She introduced me to the tour guide (Peter) who escorted me outside to the tour bus and introduced me to the bus driver (Paddy). Since I was the only passenger arriving at that particular time, I enjoyed my first glimpse of Glasgow with no distractions as we drove to the Marriott hotel on Argyle Street. From the time that I entered the International arrivals hall, my baggage was handled for me and was delivered to my hotel room promptly. CIE International handled everything like clockwork. The Marriott is a very fine hotel, the room was expansive, there was a comfortable king size bed and both the room and the en-suite bathroom were spotlessly clean.