I’m not going to say it was a good start or a bad start just a start. We woke in plenty of time and we’re standing outside with our packs waiting for our driver. After five minutes we went back inside and called. He would be another 25 minutes. Okay.

He actually arrived sooner and we made it to Gent and our first train to Brussels with five minutes to spare. Nice.

This allowed plenty of time for our second train from Brussels to London. This is our first time to travel under the English Channel, pretty cool.

We ate a sandwich on the train that I made at home. It reminded me of trips when I was a child and we always packed a lunch. And later as a teenager when we traveled to see my sister and her family when they were stationed in Germany and Italy.

The exchange from St Pancras station in London to Euston Station was seamless. The busyness of London overwhelmed both of us. The streets were crowded with cars, busses, taxis, bicycles. The sidewalks were packed full of people. We saw signs of homelessness which always breaks my heart. People asleep on the sidewalk, against a building with their belongings and some food that looked to be left by kind souls. How they slept with so much noise amazed me.

We had a little trouble with the ticket machine in Euston Station but a nice British man helped us figure it out and we were set. (We did decide to splurge on first class tickets and we highly recommend it). Nice meal and drinks served by the nice and amusing cabin crew.

While on the third train we discovered we stupidly forgot a converter for plugs. I have asked for advice on The West Highland Way fb page and have good advice where to find one. No worries.

Everything was going so smoothly until we got to Lancaster. When we pulled in the station we didn’t pull out for two hours. They kept announcing that the delay was due to a serious incident on the track farther north. When we finally got moving again we heists that someone had been hit by a train. News reports confirmed this. So incredibly sad.

While we were waiting we had a nice chat with a gentleman from Liverpool who was headed to Glasgow for a reunion with colleagues. They were getting together because one of their colleagues has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They will continue to do this to support him.

We arrived in Glasgow an hour later than we were scheduled to arrive at our final destination. We purchased the converter plug then found where to get tickets to Milngavie (pronounced Mulguy) and found our way downstairs to the platform only to find no train to Milngavie. We asked a young woman for help. She told us to get on the train for …can’t remember but it was her train. And she kindly told us where we could get off and catch the train to Milngavie.

We made it. Found our sleeping quarters. Went to eat. Dropped in bed. Ready for the adventure that follows.

Make sure and tell the people you love how important they are to you. ❤️

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