Budapest, Scotland, Iceland, Berlin & (maybe) Croatia on *A premium
Jul 2, 2017, 8:22 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Budapest, Scotland, Iceland, Berlin (& maybe Croatia) on *A l/h J
So I'm starting out a trip, I haven't done a "full" TR in a while. This is a mix of new (Scotland, Iceland, Croatia) and old (Berlin, Budapest). So expect the former to be more in depth.
If you want to follow on SnapChat it is JV_Photo or via Instagram (& stories) it is @JustinVPhoto . If you already followed me you'll need to follow this one instead. I was at 10k followers and recently got my account deleted last week so I had to start over.
*N.B. re Social Media: There will be lots of handsome men peppered throughout my travel photos...actually it's usually more men than travel.*
1) United Club SFO & Lufthansa J SFO-MUC A340
2) LH Senator Lounge MUC & MUC-BUD A319 J
3) Budapest / Courtyard Marriott
4) British Airways Y BUD-LHR-EDI
5) Edinburgh & Courtyard Marriott
6) Glasgow & Radisson Blu
7) Iceland Air Saga GLA-KEF 757
8) Iceland
+Day 1 - Afternoon in Reykjavik
+Day 2 - Snæfellsjökull Peninsula\
+Day 3 - The Road to Vik
+Day 4 - The Golden Circle
+Day 5 - The Long Way to Keflavik
9) Germanwings Y KEF-TXL
10) Berlin / The Westin Grand
11) Germanwings TXL-SPU
12) Split & The Cornaro
13) Lufthansa First SPU-MUC-LAX-MRY
1-9 is booked as of now. I am looking at switching my OS flight to something else closer to when I want to go to SPU (or even DBV).
Much like my flight TO BUD was going to be OS from LAX but I wanted to come a day earlier and the SFO option opened up. F was open for SFO-MUC on LH but with only a 1:20 connection in MUC and leaving SFO at 8:55pm being mostly sleep and no F lounge time I opted to save the miles. I'll probably spring for F on the way home if it allows for decent time at the FCT or MUC F lounge.
Edit Update: I found space later in the week to get back from Split to Monterey and sprung for MUC-LAX on LH F instead of the other options that were just to BOS or DEN.
Last edited by JVPhoto; Jul 30, 2017 at 9:48 pm
Jul 3, 2017, 9:40 am
#2
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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United Club & Lufthansa A340 J SFO-MUC
As I mentioned my original plan was to fly MRY-LAX and stay two days with a friend and then take Austrian LAX-VIE-BUD. I wanted to come to Budapest earlier and looking at my original flight with a 5h layover in VIE I could have driven to BUD in half that time.
About 12 days before space started opening up from SFO on LH so I went ahead and swapped.
This meant doing more Hertz o/w rentals from MRY as I'll be gone for 3 weeks, my ticket may still come back through LA, etc. The nice thing is that I could jog and pick up the car (she did stare at a sweating/panting me) but it seems the upgrades aren't all that great especially with the o/w. I think the convertibles and GLCs they want to keep around for the Big Sur & Pebble Beach tourists.
I didn't realize LH would be part of TSA Pre which was a nice surprise because even the *G line seemed pretty long whereas Pre had one person ahead of me.
The United Club was pretty full, lots of families. My next INTL flight ex-SFO will be New Zealand in November so hoping the Polaris lounge opens by then.
The veggie chili was good and became really good with the jalapenos and pico on the side you could add.
After confirming the girl next to me was NOT Aubrey Plaza and the other chic lady in a hat was not Laura Linney I headed to the gate.
G101 seems bound for Gate Lice as the escalator dumps people out where they want to congregate.
At OLCI I noticed that the 2nd J cabin was almost empty. I was originally in the front in a middle/aisle but moved back to an empty set of middles hoping to at least have no one next to me.
It paid off because as the doors closed I went across the aisle and took the 2 window seats which were empty.
I thought all J seats had the "footsie" footwell. I have flown LH F 3x and LH J on the 748i upper deck FRA-LAX but that was Dec 2013.
Also used to UA I forgot about choice of appetizer so I was confused for a second when we were talking about choices and "which" salmon.
Everything was good except for the kinda greasy potatoes covering the salmon. Blue cheese and pickled onions get me off so this was a great small salad.
Pretty well stocked J lav & I didn't realize the A340s also had the poo with a view lav windows as well.
The 9pm departure, having been up since 7:30am and working out I felt I was primed and ready for bed. I ended up sleeping for 5.5-6h however I didn't think I actually slept and constantly felt restless.
I had a great FA taking care of my side. German but she spoke colloquial English really well.
We boarded and pushed 10min late, but landed about 10 min early giving me a comfortable 1:10 before boarding for MUC-BUD not to mention the super cute passport controller who joked "Budapest? You seem much too young for a river cruise."
As I mentioned my original plan was to fly MRY-LAX and stay two days with a friend and then take Austrian LAX-VIE-BUD. I wanted to come to Budapest earlier and looking at my original flight with a 5h layover in VIE I could have driven to BUD in half that time.
About 12 days before space started opening up from SFO on LH so I went ahead and swapped.
This meant doing more Hertz o/w rentals from MRY as I'll be gone for 3 weeks, my ticket may still come back through LA, etc. The nice thing is that I could jog and pick up the car (she did stare at a sweating/panting me) but it seems the upgrades aren't all that great especially with the o/w. I think the convertibles and GLCs they want to keep around for the Big Sur & Pebble Beach tourists.
I didn't realize LH would be part of TSA Pre which was a nice surprise because even the *G line seemed pretty long whereas Pre had one person ahead of me.
The United Club was pretty full, lots of families. My next INTL flight ex-SFO will be New Zealand in November so hoping the Polaris lounge opens by then.
The veggie chili was good and became really good with the jalapenos and pico on the side you could add.
After confirming the girl next to me was NOT Aubrey Plaza and the other chic lady in a hat was not Laura Linney I headed to the gate.
G101 seems bound for Gate Lice as the escalator dumps people out where they want to congregate.
At OLCI I noticed that the 2nd J cabin was almost empty. I was originally in the front in a middle/aisle but moved back to an empty set of middles hoping to at least have no one next to me.
It paid off because as the doors closed I went across the aisle and took the 2 window seats which were empty.
I thought all J seats had the "footsie" footwell. I have flown LH F 3x and LH J on the 748i upper deck FRA-LAX but that was Dec 2013.
Also used to UA I forgot about choice of appetizer so I was confused for a second when we were talking about choices and "which" salmon.
Everything was good except for the kinda greasy potatoes covering the salmon. Blue cheese and pickled onions get me off so this was a great small salad.
Pretty well stocked J lav & I didn't realize the A340s also had the poo with a view lav windows as well.
The 9pm departure, having been up since 7:30am and working out I felt I was primed and ready for bed. I ended up sleeping for 5.5-6h however I didn't think I actually slept and constantly felt restless.
I had a great FA taking care of my side. German but she spoke colloquial English really well.
We boarded and pushed 10min late, but landed about 10 min early giving me a comfortable 1:10 before boarding for MUC-BUD not to mention the super cute passport controller who joked "Budapest? You seem much too young for a river cruise."
Last edited by JVPhoto; Jul 3, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Jul 4, 2017, 12:02 am
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Lufthansa Senator Lounge MUC & A319 J MUC-BUD
Off the plane in the satelitte T2 had about 3 passport agents open but no lines. After the joke about the river cruise I was down the escalator into the K departure area which was where the BUD flight would leave from.
The 1:25 booked connection was perfect, I was able to sit in the lounge and start the TR. My knee jerk flying UA reaction is to plan for the worst possible scenario. If my connection was miffed by a late inbound there was still the 9pm flight that I could have got on. Luckily for me none of that was an issue.
I'm not sure the MUC arrival/departure banks but about 5:15pm it was pretty quiet and empty.
When I left at 6 the "cafe" tables were full of people.
I could have taken a shower, I felt pretty grimey from a fairly sweaty sleep but I figured I would be at the hotel within 2 hours or so and skipped it.
Anytime I fly through MUC I have to smile as it was the connection point in 2004 when I flew to Florence with my Dad to start my summer studying abroad. This was even more meaningful of a memory as we would have taken the same flight as I just did, though I can't recall then the timing nor type of aircraft.
Naturally a cluster for boarding calling for J/HON/SEN/*G and pretty much anyone just piling on the chute.
The 3 rows of J had 6 pax and no one with me so I slide over to the window.
Upon landing we had to wait about 5 min for our gate to open (forget the fact that there seemed to be about 7 other empty ones) due to an Alitalia plane.
Exited down to the non-air con baggage claim and got the whiff of that summer heat Europeans who don't wear deodorant BO. Takes me back again to summers in Italy on the small little bus in the mornings I would take up the hill in Siena for class while getting my hand swatted as I would try to open a window for some air. "Signorina mi dispiace ma che caldo!"
Off the plane in the satelitte T2 had about 3 passport agents open but no lines. After the joke about the river cruise I was down the escalator into the K departure area which was where the BUD flight would leave from.
The 1:25 booked connection was perfect, I was able to sit in the lounge and start the TR. My knee jerk flying UA reaction is to plan for the worst possible scenario. If my connection was miffed by a late inbound there was still the 9pm flight that I could have got on. Luckily for me none of that was an issue.
I'm not sure the MUC arrival/departure banks but about 5:15pm it was pretty quiet and empty.
When I left at 6 the "cafe" tables were full of people.
I could have taken a shower, I felt pretty grimey from a fairly sweaty sleep but I figured I would be at the hotel within 2 hours or so and skipped it.
Anytime I fly through MUC I have to smile as it was the connection point in 2004 when I flew to Florence with my Dad to start my summer studying abroad. This was even more meaningful of a memory as we would have taken the same flight as I just did, though I can't recall then the timing nor type of aircraft.
Naturally a cluster for boarding calling for J/HON/SEN/*G and pretty much anyone just piling on the chute.
The 3 rows of J had 6 pax and no one with me so I slide over to the window.
Upon landing we had to wait about 5 min for our gate to open (forget the fact that there seemed to be about 7 other empty ones) due to an Alitalia plane.
Exited down to the non-air con baggage claim and got the whiff of that summer heat Europeans who don't wear deodorant BO. Takes me back again to summers in Italy on the small little bus in the mornings I would take up the hill in Siena for class while getting my hand swatted as I would try to open a window for some air. "Signorina mi dispiace ma che caldo!"
.
.
Jul 5, 2017, 10:28 pm
#6
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Posts: 7,058
August - Hawaii
September - Vegas & NY
November - New Zealand
December - Thailand
Jul 11, 2017, 12:31 pm
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Budapest & Courtyard Marriott
I've stayed at the Courtyard before and prior to that the Iberostar. Sure there are much more romantic places in Budapest but I'm there alone and just to sleep. I had booked 2 nights pre-paid and had trouble the week or so before trying to add another night. First it said no check in available on that day, then it went up to like $300/night, then it didn't show my room type available and finally about 3 days before it opened up for what I had already paid about $105/night. I canceled the night at the Boscolo across Blaha Lujza ter I booked as a back up.
I had booked a standard queen and they gave me a 1br king suite. Before I stayed at the top floor patio suites which are nice.
The location is actually about a mile (I measured on my run) from the river side. But for me the location isn't a problem. What did suck was when I finally got out of the bath at 9:45pm starving was food so I ended up across the street at McDonald's.
I had done all the sightseeing I wanted to do my first trip to BP so now it was to enjoy the finest male specimens I've found on 6 continents.
Up early from jetlag I got to breakfast when they opened. Gold/Plat get 50% off the full buffet which works out to be about $10 and I think it's a steal.
Getting ready for the Spartan Beast in Hawaii next month I needed to do my weekly long run. The 12.75 miles ended up being a sightseeing run. Just after mile 10 was when I got to the Szechenyi baths where I stopped for about 2 hours.
I earned the schnitzel and dippin' dots calories.
Exhausted after 2 shoots that day I just resigned to eating dinner in the lobby as I would have to get up at 7am and would be shooting the whole rest of the day. The lobby restaurant is Mediterranean inspired with some Hungarian dishes.
I spent the next day outside in Budaors shooting for two magazines. We had a big villa which I thought they were joking when they said it was a "porn" villa. In all seriousness they apparently shoot lots of pornos at it.
From being in the sun all day and a 4:30am wake up for my flight meant I would just have dinner in the lobby again. Grindr also meant I didn't have to leave the hotel to enjoy a bit of time with a Qatar flight attendant as well. Qatar, Brussels and I think one more stay at the hotel.
It's a great city. I've been in Winter, early Fall and now Summer. Certainly aim to come back during the summer as often as I can.
I've stayed at the Courtyard before and prior to that the Iberostar. Sure there are much more romantic places in Budapest but I'm there alone and just to sleep. I had booked 2 nights pre-paid and had trouble the week or so before trying to add another night. First it said no check in available on that day, then it went up to like $300/night, then it didn't show my room type available and finally about 3 days before it opened up for what I had already paid about $105/night. I canceled the night at the Boscolo across Blaha Lujza ter I booked as a back up.
I had booked a standard queen and they gave me a 1br king suite. Before I stayed at the top floor patio suites which are nice.
The location is actually about a mile (I measured on my run) from the river side. But for me the location isn't a problem. What did suck was when I finally got out of the bath at 9:45pm starving was food so I ended up across the street at McDonald's.
I had done all the sightseeing I wanted to do my first trip to BP so now it was to enjoy the finest male specimens I've found on 6 continents.
Up early from jetlag I got to breakfast when they opened. Gold/Plat get 50% off the full buffet which works out to be about $10 and I think it's a steal.
Getting ready for the Spartan Beast in Hawaii next month I needed to do my weekly long run. The 12.75 miles ended up being a sightseeing run. Just after mile 10 was when I got to the Szechenyi baths where I stopped for about 2 hours.
I earned the schnitzel and dippin' dots calories.
Exhausted after 2 shoots that day I just resigned to eating dinner in the lobby as I would have to get up at 7am and would be shooting the whole rest of the day. The lobby restaurant is Mediterranean inspired with some Hungarian dishes.
I spent the next day outside in Budaors shooting for two magazines. We had a big villa which I thought they were joking when they said it was a "porn" villa. In all seriousness they apparently shoot lots of pornos at it.
From being in the sun all day and a 4:30am wake up for my flight meant I would just have dinner in the lobby again. Grindr also meant I didn't have to leave the hotel to enjoy a bit of time with a Qatar flight attendant as well. Qatar, Brussels and I think one more stay at the hotel.
It's a great city. I've been in Winter, early Fall and now Summer. Certainly aim to come back during the summer as often as I can.
Jul 11, 2017, 12:44 pm
#8
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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British Airways BUD-LHR-EDI
Got to the airport about 5:30am with the rest of the plane. Playing it smart I picked the Y line that was next to the J/Elite knowing that agent would wave over people from our line. It went by fast. As we got closer to the front a man and his wife tried to slide over and start to cut in front of me. In his peripheral vision I made it OBVIOUS that I was glaring at him to see what he would do when the person ahead of me moved. He started to creep in front of me and I said "Serious? This is what we are doing?" "Oh oh, sorry are you in line?" "Yes, I don't think they have a diagonal one you get to cut across." The ladies flapping their lips behind me didn't notice when he cut in front of them.
She must travel often.
We boarded and at departure time they said it would be possibly an hour delay (I'm guessing traffic flow at LHR, I didn't get my earbuds out in time to hear). Luckily after 20 min they said we would be on our way. I had my water but from what I thought I saw heard/was that BA charges for tea and coffee!?
At OLCI I was able to get an exit row seat in the reclining row.
Bus from plane to T3.
Bus from T3 to T5.
After that snaking and driving I got to spend 2.5hours in a big, crowded and dumpy cube.
At least there was a Pret.
No real place to sit and use your laptop aside from your...lap, I just spent the time eating and walking around the shops.
Note that was going to the J/Elite line...of which 5 people seemed to actually board then. The rest then figured out that maybe the chute with the General Boarding is where they were supposed to go.
Jet bridge was long, I thought I was going to end up at Oxford Circus instead of the plane.
Bags took some time at EDI. I guess everything that isn't a UK flight goes to 6 even though there are signs that say if you came from an EU country they won't. I had time waiting for my friend's inbound KLM flight and then walked across the check in hall to the INTL arrivals to wait for him.
Got to the airport about 5:30am with the rest of the plane. Playing it smart I picked the Y line that was next to the J/Elite knowing that agent would wave over people from our line. It went by fast. As we got closer to the front a man and his wife tried to slide over and start to cut in front of me. In his peripheral vision I made it OBVIOUS that I was glaring at him to see what he would do when the person ahead of me moved. He started to creep in front of me and I said "Serious? This is what we are doing?" "Oh oh, sorry are you in line?" "Yes, I don't think they have a diagonal one you get to cut across." The ladies flapping their lips behind me didn't notice when he cut in front of them.
She must travel often.
We boarded and at departure time they said it would be possibly an hour delay (I'm guessing traffic flow at LHR, I didn't get my earbuds out in time to hear). Luckily after 20 min they said we would be on our way. I had my water but from what I thought I saw heard/was that BA charges for tea and coffee!?
At OLCI I was able to get an exit row seat in the reclining row.
Bus from plane to T3.
Bus from T3 to T5.
After that snaking and driving I got to spend 2.5hours in a big, crowded and dumpy cube.
At least there was a Pret.
No real place to sit and use your laptop aside from your...lap, I just spent the time eating and walking around the shops.
Note that was going to the J/Elite line...of which 5 people seemed to actually board then. The rest then figured out that maybe the chute with the General Boarding is where they were supposed to go.
Jet bridge was long, I thought I was going to end up at Oxford Circus instead of the plane.
Bags took some time at EDI. I guess everything that isn't a UK flight goes to 6 even though there are signs that say if you came from an EU country they won't. I had time waiting for my friend's inbound KLM flight and then walked across the check in hall to the INTL arrivals to wait for him.
Last edited by JVPhoto; Jul 11, 2017 at 4:09 pm
Jul 11, 2017, 4:08 pm
#9
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Edinburgh & Courtyard Marriott
A fairly quick and 20 GBP car ride into the city put us out at the door of the Courtyard Marriott. Found out during check in that this was only a few months old. The facade is great and looks like the surrounding stone buildings but the inside felt very nice and much more upscale than I would have thought, not clinical or sterile at all.
I forgot to take a pic of the room, but we had a decent size with 2 double beds at the back of the hotel that faced the hill. Got welcome drink vouchers, breakfast had no discount but it was only 10 GBP.
We walked around a bit and went to Harvey Nichols so I could get some cheaper than in the US jacket from Stone Island. We had an escape room game scheduled so we grabbed dinner at The Guildford Arms in the upstairs overlooking the bar.
I always made fun of my friend for these escape games thinking they were dumb. Well an hour at Escape Hour Edinburgh and I had a blast! We did the "diamond heist" and were able to get it with 3 minutes to spare.
We had no real plans other than the escape room and the next evening doing The Scotish Whiskey Experience tour. That meant lots of wandering around in general directions.
Neither of us felt the need to pay to go into the castle which was mobbed with tourist and had the stands set up for the big bagpipe concert called The Tattoo (I guess?).
"Let's send a picture to my Mom."
Haggis, Neeps & Tatties
Got 3 of these over the trip. I normally drink iced americano because I don't like the aftertaste of cold brew but this was great.
It was my birthday so we went to the the Platinum tour at the Whiskey Experience. But before that we went to Bramble for a pre-drink. All artisanal cocktails, mine with the bee pollen and ash was amazing.
We showed up a little early so we went downstairs to Amber to have a whiskey. I had been wanting to try this one since I saw a girl on Vice go to the distillery.
It's about 90 min long, you go on this barrel ride talking about how it is made and then you watch a video about the regions, go into a sample room and taste 3, go into the giant collection for a 4th and finally at the bar taste a final 5th. They had set the tastings up for a full house but about 4 people didn't show...which meant we swipped a few extras and had a decent buzz.
We walked around for a few minutes trying to find food at 8:30 which without a reservation was hard. El Mariachi welcomed us, some sangria and enchiladas hit the spot. Not the best Mexican food but for someone who eats it 3-4x a week I can quickly go through withdrawls.
To finish off my birthday we stopped by one of the three gay bars next to the hotel. Yes, this is the name of Bette Midler's role in Beaches!
An absolutely beautiful city. Weather was hit or miss, had a great time and glad we picked 2 of the 3 days here instead of swapping with Glasgow.
A fairly quick and 20 GBP car ride into the city put us out at the door of the Courtyard Marriott. Found out during check in that this was only a few months old. The facade is great and looks like the surrounding stone buildings but the inside felt very nice and much more upscale than I would have thought, not clinical or sterile at all.
I forgot to take a pic of the room, but we had a decent size with 2 double beds at the back of the hotel that faced the hill. Got welcome drink vouchers, breakfast had no discount but it was only 10 GBP.
We walked around a bit and went to Harvey Nichols so I could get some cheaper than in the US jacket from Stone Island. We had an escape room game scheduled so we grabbed dinner at The Guildford Arms in the upstairs overlooking the bar.
I always made fun of my friend for these escape games thinking they were dumb. Well an hour at Escape Hour Edinburgh and I had a blast! We did the "diamond heist" and were able to get it with 3 minutes to spare.
We had no real plans other than the escape room and the next evening doing The Scotish Whiskey Experience tour. That meant lots of wandering around in general directions.
Neither of us felt the need to pay to go into the castle which was mobbed with tourist and had the stands set up for the big bagpipe concert called The Tattoo (I guess?).
"Let's send a picture to my Mom."
Haggis, Neeps & Tatties
Got 3 of these over the trip. I normally drink iced americano because I don't like the aftertaste of cold brew but this was great.
It was my birthday so we went to the the Platinum tour at the Whiskey Experience. But before that we went to Bramble for a pre-drink. All artisanal cocktails, mine with the bee pollen and ash was amazing.
We showed up a little early so we went downstairs to Amber to have a whiskey. I had been wanting to try this one since I saw a girl on Vice go to the distillery.
It's about 90 min long, you go on this barrel ride talking about how it is made and then you watch a video about the regions, go into a sample room and taste 3, go into the giant collection for a 4th and finally at the bar taste a final 5th. They had set the tastings up for a full house but about 4 people didn't show...which meant we swipped a few extras and had a decent buzz.
We walked around for a few minutes trying to find food at 8:30 which without a reservation was hard. El Mariachi welcomed us, some sangria and enchiladas hit the spot. Not the best Mexican food but for someone who eats it 3-4x a week I can quickly go through withdrawls.
To finish off my birthday we stopped by one of the three gay bars next to the hotel. Yes, this is the name of Bette Midler's role in Beaches!
An absolutely beautiful city. Weather was hit or miss, had a great time and glad we picked 2 of the 3 days here instead of swapping with Glasgow.
Jul 12, 2017, 3:01 am
#11
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Jul 12, 2017, 3:11 pm
#12
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Jul 13, 2017, 4:49 am
#13
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Glasgow & Radisson Blu
A quick walk from the Courtyard to the train station we had our tickets (12.50 GBP) in no time with enough time to spare to get some food at Pret.
It was a nice and easy 1h train ride to Glasgow spent enjoying the countryside, listening to My Dad Wrote a Porno and watching this couple make out the entire trip.
I can't remember whey I decided on the Radisson, probably a mix of price and that we could just walk to it from the train station. On our wanderings we did go by the Marriott down the street in a horrible 70s/80s building.
They let us check in early but it was in a "normal" room which they would make into "Business Class"...all I could tell was that they added a Nespresso machine.
With 26h in Glasgow we really just aimed to wandering around. We ended up walking about 7 miles through the center of the city to West End to Kelvingrove Park and back.
I really liked The Ben Nevis bar where we stopped for a whiskey on Argyle Street.
A decent Chipotle-esque chain called Bar Burrito.
I had wanted to try this Indian place called Chaakoo Bombay Cafe but it was a 90 minute wait and we were doing another escape room at 9. We went around the block to Cote Brasserie which was great. Decent prices, great vibe and good food.
We did "The Blueprint" room at Tick Tock Escape. I liked Escape Hour in Edinburgh more. This one while more polished wasn't as fun. Escape Hour seemed like the guy who hosted it had made it all himself and was a little DYI and more "contraption-y". Tick Tock is an chain with a few locations, I also felt they gave us too many clues too soon. We still managed to do it with 3 minutes to spare.
Breakfast at the Radisson was pretty good. Full buffet, lots of options plus made to order egg dishes.
There is a normal gym that is attached to the hotel that guests can enter for free. For a hotel gym option is was great, for a normal gym it was pretty below average.
Sadly my Icelandair flight and Scott's KLM back to Lyon were about 3h apart so he went to explore more while I headed to the airport. Was a great 3.5 days with one of my best friends. His Dad is Scottish and he's been to EDI/GLA when he was a kid but this trip and seeing the cities has made us want to do a van around the Highlands and rest of Scotland next year for 3 weeks or so.
A quick walk from the Courtyard to the train station we had our tickets (12.50 GBP) in no time with enough time to spare to get some food at Pret.
It was a nice and easy 1h train ride to Glasgow spent enjoying the countryside, listening to My Dad Wrote a Porno and watching this couple make out the entire trip.
I can't remember whey I decided on the Radisson, probably a mix of price and that we could just walk to it from the train station. On our wanderings we did go by the Marriott down the street in a horrible 70s/80s building.
They let us check in early but it was in a "normal" room which they would make into "Business Class"...all I could tell was that they added a Nespresso machine.
With 26h in Glasgow we really just aimed to wandering around. We ended up walking about 7 miles through the center of the city to West End to Kelvingrove Park and back.
I really liked The Ben Nevis bar where we stopped for a whiskey on Argyle Street.
A decent Chipotle-esque chain called Bar Burrito.
I had wanted to try this Indian place called Chaakoo Bombay Cafe but it was a 90 minute wait and we were doing another escape room at 9. We went around the block to Cote Brasserie which was great. Decent prices, great vibe and good food.
We did "The Blueprint" room at Tick Tock Escape. I liked Escape Hour in Edinburgh more. This one while more polished wasn't as fun. Escape Hour seemed like the guy who hosted it had made it all himself and was a little DYI and more "contraption-y". Tick Tock is an chain with a few locations, I also felt they gave us too many clues too soon. We still managed to do it with 3 minutes to spare.
Breakfast at the Radisson was pretty good. Full buffet, lots of options plus made to order egg dishes.
There is a normal gym that is attached to the hotel that guests can enter for free. For a hotel gym option is was great, for a normal gym it was pretty below average.
Sadly my Icelandair flight and Scott's KLM back to Lyon were about 3h apart so he went to explore more while I headed to the airport. Was a great 3.5 days with one of my best friends. His Dad is Scottish and he's been to EDI/GLA when he was a kid but this trip and seeing the cities has made us want to do a van around the Highlands and rest of Scotland next year for 3 weeks or so.