Transition Days

May 24-25:  Yesterday was a day spent washing clothes and thinking about moving to another hotel in Glasgow and starting the West Highland Way trek and the accommodations provided by our walk supporter Absolute Escapes.  I spent some time updating the travel blog for the prior 2 days and giving some advice Mark regarding the use of the GPS app we all use to track our walks.

Mid-afternoon, Betsy, Kathy, Mark and I walked from our penthouse apartment along the River Clyde to the Glasgow Transportation Museum.  We passed a number of newish residential developments, a convention center and adjoining hotels, an odd shaped building that is known as 'the armadillo,' and Clydeport, the area where ship building was done up through WWII.  The docks are and surrounding riversides are now derelict, with most structures removed.  This is the site where a great many famous ships were built, including the Lusitania, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth II (QE2).

After 'touching the Transportation Museum' we hustled back the 2.5 miles to the apartment to prepare dinner for our entire walking group.  Our last 2 members, Carolyn and Tom, arrived in Glasgow Sunday and though they were staying at a different location, they came for dinner.  We had a great meal of pasta with bolognese sauce and various toppings (smoked salmon, shrimp and meatballs), salad and wine.

Dinner for ten in the penthouse

Today, we packed our stuff and after a leisurely breakfast, trying to eat up most of the leftover food in the apartment, we rolled our luggage up the main pedestrian mall to the Premier Inn, about 0.8 miles.  It was too early to check in so we left our luggage and all walked to the Transportation Museum.

Transportation Museum

We spent an hour and half touring the museum which has displays on all manner of land vehicles and ocean ships, and visiting a tall ship "parked" outside.  The displays were extensive and quite well done, with many interactive ones.  There was the "oldest bicycle," and many others, motorcycles, cars of all ages and descriptions, many models of large and small ships, tram cars, steam locomotives, RVs, and other types of mechanical conveyances, mostly in prime condition.  For shear elegance, it's hard to beat one of the grand touring cars from the 20s and 30s.

The oldest bicycle, circa 1840ish

Just a few cars, etc. on display

Steering the tall ship

We left the museum and headed out along the Kelvin Way, covering 1.5 miles of the official route that we will walk tomorrow.  This walkway starts at the river, follows the narrow River Kelvin, and extends 10 miles to Milngavie, (pronounced 'mull-guy') which is the official start point for the West Highland Way (WHW).  After lunch, we returned to the hotel, got checked in, and adjusted our packing for the start of the trek.  From here until we reach Fort William, our luggage will be transferred ahead by a service.

We went out for drinks at The Horseshoe, a famous local pub on a back street, known for its appeal to the locals.  We squeezed in and enjoyed a noisy happy hour.  Carolyn and Tom went off for an intimate dinner while Kathy and Mark retired to the hotel.  The rest of us went to dinner at "the best Italian restaurant in the UK" (2011) - Piccolo Mondo.  We each had 'two-course set menu' dinner and shared a fabulous bottle of prosecco.   The food was quite good, and everyone was impressed by the classy 'toilets.'