In late April I was called for meetings with my clients in England, near Whitehaven in the far northwest of the country, bordering the famous and beautiful Lake District.  (Interesting historical note: during the American Revolutionary War, John Paul Jones sailed to Whitehaven, shelled the town and attempted to invade it; though unsuccessful, his raid was the only American attempt to attack England during the war.  On my first visit there, many years ago, my clients were tickled to treat me to dinner and drinks at the popular John Paul Jones Pub in town, which thrives to this day.)

My time there was happy, especially my reunion with dear friend John Riley and his wonderful companion Jennie Bailie.  Not only did they host me in their lovely Cockermouth home for my last night in England, but they drove me (and their two sweet dogs) through the fells of the Lake District and treated me to a lovely dinner in the delightful town of Keswick.

Early on my first morning free, John drove me to Carlisle from where I took a train to Glasgow.  I spent two wonderful days there, after which I flew to Dublin (more later on that and Galway).  With my hotel near the main train station as my base, I walked many miles, covering all of the old central city.  The video below includes a montage of photos of my excursions.  It leaves out many of the lesser but happy places I visited, people I met, and things I did (especially a memorable concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra) but captures something of the spirit of the city.

Though it didn’t displace Edinburgh and the highlands in my heart, I was glad to meet Glasgow.