Hello from sunny... Glasgow?

Yep.

If I look exhausted and bedraggled, it's because I am. However, despite the noticeably displeased expression on my face, my day has actually ended comparatively well given how lousy it was up until... well, I'd say an hour ago. I'm posting this update from my hotel room, by the way. Free wi-fi!

Monday night, January 4th, I was essentially up all night long unpacking and repacking my belongings, in an effort to make sure that I didn't forget anything important. Thus far, it appears that I haven't, which is apparently a testament to my wonderful packing skills!

To save you enduring the gory details of how I ended up in Glasgow, Scotland (technically Renfrew), instead of in Leatherhead, England with my family as planned, I've just got one word for you: snow. Snow, and lots of it. Here's an excerpt from the Telegraph:

"The South, including London and the Home Counties, was expected to bear the brunt of the snowfall overnight and early on Tuesday, with emergency services saying that they were already struggling to cope with the increasingly bitter conditions . . . Scores of rail services and flights were cancelled as temperatures struggled to get above freezing. On Monday night, temperatures dropped to as low as -14C (7F) in some areas — the worst since 1995."

In other words, the airports all closed down, and the only place that could accept us was Glasgow, Scotland. We ended up spending nearly three hours on the runway, waiting inside the plane because the airline wanted to "wait and see" if Gatwick would start accepting flights again. I was frustrated that they couldn't let us at least deplane long enough to stretch our legs, especially because we actually had several sick children onboard the aircraft (which resulted in paramedics coming aboard to make sure there wasn't some kind of epidemic breaking out on the plane--quite the adventure). But apparently due to security concerns, if you deplane, you've got to go through customs... which I eventually did. The bright side? I have a shiny Scottish stamp in my passport now! I do love collecting passport stamps.

US Airways was supposed to reserve us all rooms at the Holiday Inn, but after spending an additional four hours with over 100 other people crammed into the reception area, we discovered that US Airways had in fact only reserved 50 rooms. 50 rooms, knowing that well over 100 people were going to the Holiday Inn in search of a place to spend the night. Ridiculous! Fortunately, one of the other passengers called up the airline representative and pitched such a fit that we ended up getting much nicer digs at this lovely little hotel, the Glynhill Hotel, located in Renfrew. (I think Renfrew is to Glasgow what Madison is to Huntsville.) The building itself is very old and has lots of personality, with all kinds of twisting, winding hallways and a very friendly (and good looking) porter who carried my bag all the way to my room for me. So for tonight, I'm enjoying the free wi-fi, the BBC, and trying to unwind a bit.

Tomorrow, yet another flight leaves for Gatwick at 9am, though I'm apprehensive about my chances of actually getting to Gatwick. With the weather not letting up at all, it's possible that I'll need to investigate flying from Glasgow to Oslo, instead of to Oslo through Heathrow. This would bother me for a number of reasons, primarily because the whole point of my arriving in the UK before going on to Norway was to spend time with family. But, this is the hand I've been dealt, so to speak, so I'm going to deal with it to the best of my abilities.

Time to relax, watch a bit of TV, and possibly make an early night of it. I'm exhausted!

edit: My lovely friend Von phoned me at my hotel to keep me company!

Vonnie is my silly British friend, and I took this photo of her last year during her visit to Huntsville in May. I was hoping that I'd be able to pop down to Winchester while in the UK, but that's not going to happen this time around.

Much as this whole travel experience has exhausted me so far, I'm glad that I've got such a strong network of friends and family to keep me grounded. I've been in fairly constant contact with my father, my uncle, my mother, and several of my friends both here in the UK and back home in the states. It's nice that these friendships don't stagnate just because there's a bit of distance between us.