Winter Vacation - Phase 2

The second part of my vacation was a one day stop in Glasgow before heading to northern England.  My flight from Munich to Amsterdam was delayed due to heavy fog, and because of the delay I nearly missed my flight to Glasgow.  Thankfully I arrived at the gate, with plenty of other late passengers, about 10 minutes before our scheduled departure of 3:50.  Due to the fact that there were many late passengers we did not leave 3:50, of which I am extremely grateful for.  I arrived in Glasgow and breezed through passport control and headed to get a taxi to my hotel. 



After checking in and resting for a bit, I decided to head out and do a bit of exploring before it got too late.  Glasgow is a nice enough city and I explored their city center and pedestrian street while looking for the train station so I could pick up my ticket for my trip to Carlisle in northern England.  During my exploration, the heavens opened and it began to pour and that quickly changed to hail.  Even though I was soaked and quite cold I kind of enjoyed walking around in the rain and hail.  It's just something that I don't experience anymore.  When I realized that the storm wasn't going to let up I gave up and headed back to the hotel to get dry and warm.


My train to Carlisle wasn't until 2:00 pm, but checkout was at 11:00 so after breakfast I checked out and headed to the train station.  With nowhere to store my luggage I waited 3 hours in the cold, albeit nice, Glasgow train station.  I had a nice warm coffee and lunch while I waited.  The train to Carlisle was quite full as it continued on to multiple other stops with its last stop being London.  There was no room for my luggage so I had it on the seat next to me, thankfully it wasn't reserved until Carlisle which is where my luggage and I would be getting off.  I tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery of rolling green hills, but I quickly became nauseous so I gave up and closed my eyes.  Deborah met me at the train station and we took a taxi to her mom's house.  I arrived in Carlisle around 3:00 and it started getting dark by 3:30 or 4:00.  It didn't help that I arrived on the shortest day of the year!



Carlisle Cathedral

We visited for a bit before I took a nice bath, yes a bath - Deborah's mom has an amazing bath tub that I can actually fit in - to get warm and refreshed from traveling.  After getting cleaned up we headed to a local pub for dinner where I had a nice burger and lemonade (sprite).  We walked back to her house where I played with Sophia, Deborah's 2 year old daughter, before she went to bed.

View of Carlisle Castle from the museum

 

Dressed as a Roman soldier in the
Carlisle Museum

 

My first full day in Carlisle began with a tour of the Carlisle Cathedral, a local museum, and a great view of the Carlisle Castle, which was closed due to the Christmas holiday.  We fought the freezing temperatures, high winds, and rain and walked to the tourist destinations after stopping at a local market for an umbrella.  After touring the cathedral we had scones and tea at the cafe in the basement, which reminded me of going to get hot chocolate and a brownie at the local church after cutting down our Christmas tree.  At the museum I learned a bit of Carlisle's extensive history, which dates back to the time of the Roman Empire.  Carlisle was the northern most point of the Roman Empire and served as a border between the Roman Empire and neighboring Scotland.  After touring Carlisle we stopped for lunch at another local pub where I had a nice warm jacket potato (baked potato) with chili and cheese.  It really warmed me up!

With the touring done for the day, we headed to the local theater for a children's production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."  We took Sophia and Deborah's 3 year old niece, Lucy, to see the show.  Lucy enjoyed the show the best!  I was a bit confused because it was billed as a pantomime, which I thought meant that there wouldn't be any talking and it would just be acting.  Wrong.  A pantomime is a musical comedy production for families.  Then there was the fact that it started out with Snow White's 18th birthday.  More confusion, as I thought the British version of Snow White was different than the American version that I'm familiar with.  Turns out they just needed to add to it to make it more appropriate and into a theater performance.  After the show we headed back for lasagna for dinner.

Christmas Eve began with a trip to the post office to mail my Christmas presents back home and the local car rental place so Deborah could pick up the car.  Fortunately the post office is located just a short walk from the place where Deborah needed to pick up the car so she dropped me off on the side of the road and I walked to the post office.  When I was almost there, I tripped over some uneven pavement and landed on my left side.  I scraped up both my hands nicely and did some damage to my ribs and wrist.  I picked myself up and walked the rest of the way to the post office so I could get my gifts sent.  Fortunately there was no line and the attendant was very helpful, as I couldn't assemble the box, due to my hand and wrist damage.  With everything completed at the post office I walked back to where I was to meet Deborah and we headed back to her place so I could get cleaned up and bandaged.  The plan was that we were going to go to a church for Christmas carols, but I could barely move.  The damage to my ribs was getting intense.  I ended up trying to take a nap, but it was even more painful to lay down, so I just sat on the couch and we watched Christmas carols on TV.  Deborah and her mom tried to persuade me to go to the hospital, but knowing that there is nothing that can be done for broken ribs I didn't find it necessary. 

Late that night I was able to Skype with my family as they celebrated at Ann's house.  I missed being there for Christmas Eve as everyone was together having dinner and opening presents, but I was enjoying my time in Europe. 



My swollen hand

Christmas morning was when we gathered around the tree and opened presents.  Mom and Dad had sent my gifts to Carlisle so they were there waiting for me under the tree with all the other presents.  Sophia got a ton of gifts and after opening about 5 of them she got bored with it so we took a break and I ended up going to the local hospital.  Say what you will about national health care, but because the UK has national health care I got treated in their accident and emergency (emergency room) for free.  I had x-rays of my wrist and hand, but nothing was broken, and was given some paracetamol (Tylenol) for my ribs.  Since there is nothing that can be done for broken ribs they don't x-ray unless there is suspicion of internal damage and since I was breathing fine and wasn't coughing up anything they ruled out internal damage.

 



Part of Hadrian's Wall and amazing scenery

Lanercost Priory

After the short trip to the hospital we returned home so Sophia could open more presents.  She got through about another 3 before she didn't want to open anymore and we headed out to see part of Hadrian's Wall, a priory, and a fort.  The sun was shining and the temperatures weren't as bitterly cold, but the wind was fierce.  It probably wasn't the best idea as I was in intense pain walking around looking at the Hadrian's Wall and the fort, but the views were stunning.  The fort was closed and the gate was shut, but that didn't stop me.  I was persuaded to open the gate and walk around for a bit while Deborah and Sophia remained in the car.   We just missed the Christmas service at the priory, but we were able to go in and look around.  It was beautiful and I enjoyed being there and silently worshiping God for sending His Son to be my Savior.  We didn't stay out long as I was finding it quite difficult to move, Deborah's cold was getting worse, and Sophia was wrapped in Deborah's coat because she had an accident while trying to pee outside.  So we returned to Carlisle where Sophia could open the rest of her presents and I was able to Skype with my family as they celebrated Christmas morning.

The following morning I was able to move a bit better so I was able to finish packing without experiencing too much pain.  Deborah and her mom loaded my suitcase in her car and we headed to the bus station so I could catch the 12:15 bus to Glasgow.  By catching the 12:15 bus we figured that I would have about 2 hours before my 4:15 flight to Amsterdam.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case; the bus was late and we got stuck in traffic so I didn't make it to the bus station until 2:50, which was plenty of time to catch the 3:00 bus to the airport, but I didn't get to the airport until 3:30.  Thankfully the airport was nearly empty so check in wasn't a problem at all and I arrived at the gate just as they were boarding.  What is it with the close calls at the airport?!  This flight was full so I couldn't get a seat with extra leg room, but it was OK because it's only an hour flight.  We arrived in Amsterdam on time so I was able to get something to eat and try to relax before my 10:00pm flight to Abu Dhabi.  Walking around the airport was not an option as walking was still quite painful.  The flight to Abu Dhabi was also full so there was no changing seats.  I just took some Panadol PM after they served dinner and managed to sleep for 1/2 of the flight.  That sounds good, but the flight was only 6 hours, so I only got my typical 3 hours of sleep.  We arrived in Abu Dhabi on time at 7:30 and were greeted with an extremely long line at passport control.  I waited for 1 1/2 hours before making it through and collecting my luggage.  The good point about waiting in line was the fact that I exited the airport at 9:45, just 15 minutes before the free Etihad shuttle to Al Ain.  So I took the bus and then got a taxi home.  I arrived home at noon, 4 1/2 hours after landing.  I took a shower, did my laundry, and visited with Alexandra who came over with coffee before heading to bed.

Phase 3 of my vacation will include taking Panadol and ibuprofen every 4 hours so the pain goes away.  I don't think I'll be going to the gym like I had planned, but I may just go to the pool and sit out in sun if I'm not in too much pain.  I have to make the most of the my last week off.