Two cars arrived at Erika’s direction, on time, and ready to drop us at the Toronto airport an hour away. Imagine three sets of clubs, three suitcases, and three people with carry-ons — we filled those sedans!
How nice finally to meet up with Janis — we could only imagine what she had to go through during this day to prepare being gone from Parker Pad & Printing and packing for the journey. Ron brought Janis from work to the airport and bid us farewell. As Janis filled us in on her day, she told us she only needed 1 hour to get her things organized and packed – Val and I had taken a bit longer than that!
Janis then pulls out a thick yet perfectly organized binder: the “Scotland Vacation Binder” — all of the hotel, golf, and travel arrangements — we felt it deserved a name — so we called it “Bianca”, in honor of their Canadian tennis champion.
Val and I had planned to exchange money at the Toronto airport, but because we would be charged twice – first to convert American to Canadian dollars and then into Scottish pounds, we held off. Thanks, Janis for floating a loan to tide us over until a bank stop!
Janis kindly arranged for Val and me to fly Air Canada in the spacious Premium Economy seats with upgraded food and beverage options. We also enjoyed the benefits of flying with Business Class / Global Entry passengers (Janis and Erika) as we walked right up to both flight check-in AND Global entry with no wait – because we were with THEM!
We enjoyed two meals, a movie, and rested some as we took the red-eye flight to Ireland. Touch down! — we had left Toronto on a Saturday, arrived in Dublin on Sunday. Due to adjustments from our original itinerary, we had to deplane and claim our bags and then check them onto Aer Lingus for the final leg to Scotland. There was a little issue about the amount of luggage we had when checking in with Aer Lingus. However, we had the good fortune of finding a kind ticket agent who charged us only minimally for baggage, and even told Janis that her bag would fly free!
Our flight to Edinburgh was a bit delayed because there was too much luggage for our small commuter plane — lots of golf clubs as it was Solheim Cup week. We watched the loading as we sat parked in the shuttle bus, hoping that OUR clubs would not be left behind. As we sat on the plane listening to them slam baggage into a compartment near us, we also hoped they would arrive undamaged!
The short flight was smooth and quite picturesque with views of the Irish and Scottish countrysides along the coastlines. Upon arrival, there was our driver Tom, who we located because he had typed the name: ‘Erika Sayers’ on his iPad. We carted our luggage and our golf clubs (Yay!) just outside the door, where he led us to his new Mercedes transport van. It was a cool breezy day and we were comfortable in our jackets.
Off we headed to the Dalmahoy Club in Kirknewton. The Scots drive on the left side, and we encountered the first of our many roundabouts. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Dalmahoy! It looks like a castle and is surrounded by two 18-hole courses. We immediately loved that Janis had made these gorgeous hotel arrangements! Tom parked his van in front of the magnificent stone portico, and our bellman took the clubs and bags to our rooms. The hotel was stately and expansive, and we made our way to our room via a maze of stairs, twists and turns down the long halls. Since we would be there for three nights, we got the chance to fully unpack as we watched the Brexit debate on the TV followed by a tour of the grounds and hotel/restaurant/pro shop.
Next stop, the James Braid hotel bar for dinner and drinks! Fun to have our first Tennants draught beer, and for those who have had this experience, you may recall it leaves foam rings on the inside of the glass after each sip! We looked ahead to tomorrow’s weather, and of course, cool, 48 degrees, and RAIN. Scottish weather we figured we would experience, but so soon???
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