After a small room debacle at the next, very small hotel – we were really early and switched up roommates, so it was totally our fault – everyone set off to find breakfast. The best breakfast vote went to Mihbaj Restaurant, a Levantinian-style restaurant that also served full English Breakfast just a few doors down. I hear it was phenomenal, but we had to skip out because the ONE plan I had for the entire trip called to say they were ready for us. *Runs across London*

The London portion of the trip was almost entirely open to whatever plans the students had in mind. It was interesting to see where they scattered to on this part of the trip since they had wildly different agendas! We immediately had a group take off to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Some took a bus tour to see as much of London as possible and others scattered to various sights for a more in-depth experience, like the Tower of London.

All the Foods

I feel like a LOT of eating was done on this part of the trip. You could have rolled me out of London by the time we were done. I think a particular favorite on everyone’s agenda was high tea (high tea = a more substantial meal, low tea = social tea & snacks to hold you over until dinner). A large group of students went to Café Concerto Kensington (a TikTok find, I believe) for tea early the first afternoon. The professor group had tea a few hours later at The Grill Room at Hotel Café Royal, which was so fancy and delightful – stuffed full of gold and mirrors. Apparently, we were dining in the footsteps of many of the greats: Princess Diana, Oscar Wilde, David Bowie, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few. Fun. We tried so many teas, sandwiches, and desserts and were stuffed by the time we were done.

Doing the Things

Remember that run across London? It put us at the Voces8 Building for a choir rehearsal. I’m sure you’re wondering what in the world for? Well…the choir I used to sing in when we lived in Auburn, Alabama was on tour in London and performing the following evening with a collection of choirs from Alabama, Missouri, and Canada. Our schedule didn’t allow me to make it to the performance, so my choir bestie managed to get me security clearance (no really, they had security – so fancy) to come to their rehearsal that morning instead. I was elated not only to see so many faces I hadn’t seen in years and hug their necks, but we got to sit and listen to them for an hour, in heaven, tears streaming down my face style. Singing at that caliber is something I miss so, so much. I wish we could have stayed all day, but Jason was in major need of coffee, so we strolled past St. Paul’s Cathedral (didn’t go in, because again, coffee) and found him a coffee shop.

Here’s a snippet of their rehearsal. Not the best angle, but we’re here for sound, not the view.

We snagged the tube once Jason had coffee in hand, and got off in Mayfair for a quick run through Selfridges. Neither of us were in the mood for much shopping, so we grabbed a light lunch there instead. Jason was tempted by the watches on the ground floor but decided to pass when the first one he saw was £35,000. Woah! Nevermind. We wandered back to the hotel via Baker Street station which was overflowing with futbol fans – we missed the memo on that one. Security was literally pushing them onto the trains, they were so packed! Wild. A quick change of clothes for us and then back on the tube to head to the Hotel Café Royal for tea.

Night tours, a Beyonce concert, dinners, and whatever 20-somethings do in London late into the night on a bank holiday made up the rest of day one. We went to bed. I was already on night two with no sleep and needed to have my ducks in a row to get us out of London the following day. I have never slept so hard in a tiny double bed. Haha. The Point A Hotel was lovely and accommodating to our large group, but the rooms were literally the size of the bed with enough room to swing the door open and with no room to open even a tiny carry-on suitcase anywhere. Fortunately, we’d had training for this on the sleeper train the night before. Quaint.

IFRS and Canary Wharf

Nearly everyone made it down for breakfast the next morning and were again moving as a group. The hotel agreed to hold our bags for us until each person collected them at the end of the day to move to the airport hotel. We took the newly completed Elizabeth Line Underground to Canary Wharf. The Underground itself is such a wonder. One of the oldest stations (Baker Street) has been in operation since 1863 and is such an old-world contrast to the new stations with its noisy train, huge gaps between the train and platform, and gazillion stairs in the station. The newest modern stations like Paddington’s Elizabeth Line with their sleek lines, safety measures (the train doors open behind glass doors, so the track and train are not exposed), and escalators give a much brighter/lighter feeling. I think it’s neat that there’s almost as much history under the city as above. You can read about it here.

The students had another business meeting this morning at the IFRS Foundation, which houses the International Accounting Standards Board & International Sustainability Standards Board. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what they were talking about unless they were talking about sustainability. That’s my jam. But, about 75% of our students were made up of accountants, so they were following right along. After putting on a good show of following along from the front row, I bowed out about 15 minutes early with another professor to walk over to Mala Indian Kitchen to make sure they were ready for our group lunch.

Fun fact about Canary Wharf – this is a newly redeveloped high-rise financial area of London that once was home to many of the warehouses of the West India Docks, one of the busiest shipping docks in the world. Many of its original buildings are now listed and the docks themselves were shut down in the 1980s after container shipping became prominent (no more warehouses needed). A string of developers have come in since to revitalize the area and it is now home to 5 of the 10 tallest buildings in the UK. We were not meeting in one of the high rises, but it was fun to walk through them with our police escort, so we didn’t get lost.

When You Wish Upon A (Michelin) Star

Lunch at Mala was our last meeting as a group. After a fantastic meal, Jason gave some final instructions for the remainder of the trip, and we set everyone free again to get the last few things in before meeting us at the airport hotel that night. This had turned into a long, late lunch and we had dinner reservations at Pied A Terre, a Michelin Star restaurant for our last hurrah about 2 hours later. You remember the comment we made about the non-stop eating in London, right? We weren’t kidding.

We had just enough time to collect our bags and move them to another hotel before heading to dinner – totally not hungry. In the end, dinner was 8 courses and took HOURS, so we managed to eat everything and not feel too miserable. Luckily, when you have 8 courses, all of them are bite-sized so you can make it to the end without…well, let’s just call it an unfortunate ending. PLUS, they basically made me my own menu to avoid all the dairy when I couldn’t eat off just the regular menu or vegan menu because of my soy allergy (seriously…it’s ridiculous sometimes).

Obviously, this place gets high marks from me…if that means anything more than a Michelin Star to anyone. As a side note, if you’ve not been to a Michelin-starred restaurant, we’d highly recommend them. Before going, we assumed they were super fancy, with arrogant staff and super-strict dress codes. I suppose some of them might be, but what we found was anything but. Yes, the dress was smart casual, but no one wore a tie or jacket. The staff were amazing and went above and beyond to explain things, answer questions, and generally make us feel comfortable throughout the whole ordeal. The food though…well that was fancy, and we didn’t hate it.

Celebrating done, we thought we’d made it, were in the clear, and would be the last group to check in at the new hotel. We were not. One quickly followed us and then…we were missing a student. *panic ensues* One. How!?? After hours of frantic searching and unwillingly launching the University protocol for such things, we finally found them when they replied to a message. Asleep…in a room that wasn’t assigned to us! That’s a big hotel industry no, no (if there was a fire, for example, they wouldn’t be on the list of occupants!). So unfortunately, we feel like they’ve been blacklisted for us, which is a bummer because they have a huge European presence. We’ll have to marinate on that one.

Homeward Bound

And so…we began our trip home the following morning, again, with little sleep. We got cabs to Heathrow’s Terminal 3 because we didn’t have the brain power to figure out public transit at that point. Jason and I got breakfast quickly in one of the lounges after we saw everyone through security (United Card Perks!) and met them at the gate for the trip back across the Atlantic. I have never been able to sleep on planes, but I got a solid couple of hours in on the flight to Denver from London (Jason…not so much). The exhaustion in all forms was real at this point. After an uneventful layover in Denver – and a visit to the Centurion Lounge for food and drinks (AMEX Card Perks!) – we boarded our final flight back to Springfield.

We returned to Springfield with only about half of our group, intentionally. One student continue on to Italy and then France for another study abroad program, another stayed in England with her family, and a big group continued on to Ireland for a few days. Turns out, there was a pretty cool reason they wanted to visit Ireland, but that’s their story, so we’ll leave it to them to share.

Oh, I have one more fun story that just warms my little traveler’s heart. A group of students got together and got a tattoo (+44, the UK’s country phone code…you know, the US has +1) while we were in London to remember their trip. I think it’s safe to say they had a great time, and it was worth all our stress. Totally worth it. And yes…we’ll be doing it again next year. Even more fun…they’ve talked Jason, and a few other folks from the trip, into the same tattoo when they’re all back from summer break. Oh, the shenanigans. I just love all these connections being built.

For us for now, we will be enjoying a couple of quiet weeks of summer in Missouri and Iowa before Jason takes off to teach in Spain for 3 weeks in July. I plan to join him in France when he’s finished for a real vacation. Just us. Stand by…obviously, we’ll have to tell you about it.

Part 1 – Group Journey to the UK – Suddenly We’re Education Abroad Coordinators!

Part 2 – Learning to Appreciate the Remarkable Calm of the Scottish Highlands

The post The Remarkable City of London, the End of the Journey first appeared on The DeBode Way.

Rural Business Visits

Once we had someone fetching the bag at the next station, we all clambered into the vans and set off for the Cruachan Power Dam Visitor’s Center just a few minutes down the road. Here the students were split into two groups, one had lunch in the visitor’s center café while the other toured the hydroelectric caverns deep in the mountain, then swapped. Some of the students enjoyed this tour more than others (although it had been highly recommended to us) since it involved a lot of numbers (which typically accounting students love – ha) and science things they weren’t studying. That said, a few of us found it interesting, especially the focus on renewable energy sources in the UK.

I, however, loved it! I have a degree in History & Environmental Science and was eating up every word the tour guide laid on us. Hearing everything from the history of the blasting that created the caverns to the amount of power the dam could create in a day, to how it functioned (they can pump the water back up the mountain to reuse if there’s an electricity surplus – so cool!), and where the rest of the electricity generated in Scotland comes from – loved it. Fun fact – Scotland has ZERO coal-fired power plants as the last closed in 2016. The country’s power is almost entirely renewably sourced. Just a few nuclear sources remain, mostly in mainland Europe.

From the power plant, we made our way to our next official business visit in the highlands at Brander Lodge. This is a newly acquired hotel for our friends David & Christine’s hospitality management company. The students had a great time on a mini-tour of the lodge and grounds and talked with Christine about her plans to capitalize on the expansion of the Cruachan Power Dam (which we had just toured) by adding pods to the grounds to house workers. Once the work is complete, they plan to sell some of the pods and keep the remainder for extra holiday housing at Brander Lodge. The students asked great questions about this business plan and loved talking with Christine.

Welcome to Another World

We hopped back into the vans and were on our way down the long, twisting road to Ardanaiseig Hotel. We had a few folks that were a little green after the drive: our van drivers were experts at navigating the winding, single-track road and got us there a little too quickly if you catch my drift. Over the years, I’ve learned it’s best if I just close my eyes on that road. About 30 minutes later, it was time for everyone to catch their breath. I will never get tired of the gasps of wonder when we turn that final corner into Ardanaiseig and the manor house appears. It’s why we go through the trouble of moving everyone from the cities and into the highlands. It’s a completely different world.

Once we got the chaos of getting everyone into a room sorted, it was time for dinner, which never disappoints here. They have excellent chefs and rely heavily on local products – I love that about them. The dishes are always unique and amazing! We originally thought we had the run of the hotel for the evening, so we didn’t press the typically smart casual dinner dress code for our group. Then we discovered we were not the only ones booked into the hotel. Apologies.

We were bushed after dinner, so headed to our room to call it a night. The students and additional faculty headed for the drawing room for drinks and games. I think they thoroughly enjoyed themselves well into the morning and made friends with the staff. Later I was told we really shook the old place up – not sure if that was a compliment or not. Haha! The staff at Ardanaiseig was incredibly helpful the entire time and somehow managed to keep up with all of us. I bet they slept really hard once we left!

Business Visits in Oban

The following morning we saw nearly everyone for breakfast, then headed into Oban for the day as the students were on to their next business visits. Again, we split the group in two, one heading for Oban Distillery and the other for the Wee Wine Shop. At the distillery, they learned about the long history of Scotch Whisky making in Scotland and all the different types of marketing used to sell it. The Wee Wine Shop gave them the opportunity to learn about building a business out of need during the pandemic, though it was not the original business intended. They also spent time with the sommelier learning about wine pairings so they understand what to order at business dinners in the future. Both were very interesting. Once complete, the groups swapped locations so both got to experience both businesses.

We’ve been on the Oban Distillery tour probably four times now and I still learn things. They do a fantastic job – we highly recommend it. When we tell them we have a group of business students, they not only give us the “this is how you make Scotch” tour, but we also get a little behind-the-scenes tour of how the Scotch industry works in Scotland and how it is marketed around the world.

The Wee Wine Shop was a new visit for us this time, as they’ve only been in business for about a year. The owners, Jean-Pierre and Simone, bring his sommelier and her hospitality experience together to help customers select wines to bring home after the pubs were shuttered during the pandemic. They had originally moved to Scotland from France and Germany with the intention of running a B&B, but when the pandemic happened and B&Bs were also closed, they had to shift to a new plan – the Wee Wine Shop.

Free Time in Oban

After their business visits, we cut everyone loose to get lunch (we grabbed sandwiches at Cuan Mor Restaurant, which was fantastic) and to explore the small town of Oban. I think everyone except us went for fish n chips in various locations, an excellent local choice. Oban was once just a fishing village and ferry port, but it has turned into a bustling tourist destination and launching point to the Outer Hebrides. It’s busy but quaint and walkable, and they absolutely loved it. Everyone also requested more time there. Noted.

We had to basically drag them back onto the vans for another queasy trip back to Ardanaiseig. I think next time, we’ll adjust our days a bit and just stay in Oban overnight, so they have more time there and one less winding van ride. Back at Ardanaiseig, we definitely did not have the hotel to ourselves the following two nights, so we made sure our group knew to behave and dress appropriately for dinner. I didn’t hear any complaints from other guests and only one shushing incident, so I think they managed.

Time to Slow Down

The following day we spent entirely at Ardanaiseig. We let everyone sleep in, then have the day to themselves to wander the grounds, relax, have tea, and get some work done for class if need be. Two groups of students took up the opportunity to go clay shooting with Hugh the Ghillie and LOVED it! He’s a character in his full ghillie getup with his vest, boots, deer stalker hat, and Land Rover. I had a hard time convincing most of the others to leave the hotel to wander the extensive grounds, but a couple of students did go swim in the loch. Brrrr!

Later in the afternoon, we gathered everyone together for a photo and another chat with Christine & David about how they acquired management of Ardanaiseig Hotel and what they had to go through to keep it during the pandemic. Scotland was locked down much harder than the US throughout the pandemic and the hospitality industry suffered greatly. This year will be their first “normal” tourist season since 2019 and many businesses will not be reopening. If ever you wanted to run a little B&B in Oban, Scotland, this is your opportunity! There are many available for sale and lease.

Our final night in the highlands had me awake until nearly 4 am – which is when the sun comes up! We packed up after breakfast, loaded the students into the vans, and were nearly left behind! Haha! As we were settling the bill, the vans pulled away without us. Ok fine, we’ll stay, no complaints here! Jason ran out the door to flag them down while the staff just chuckled in the lobby. Unfortunately, no one got that on video.

They Asked, We Delivered

We left Ardanaiseig earlier than planned so the students could spend more time in Oban. We parked ourselves at the Perle Oban Hotel and had tea for 3 hours while they ran all over town. The hotel graciously agreed to hold everyone’s bags while the group went off to explore. We hadn’t planned on coming back early before getting on the train, so we were very lucky they agreed. David, Christine, and the kiddos met us one more time while were there. They wanted to chat one-on-one with some of the students about their future plans after school. I think they were quite taken with a few and are hoping for some future employees. Yay! I love making travel connections.

Off to London

Just before 4 pm we rounded everyone up and headed across the street to the train station for our journey to London. It is a three-hour train ride to Glasgow where we had two hours to change trains, change stations, and grab dinner along the way. The group split up to eat so we wouldn’t overwhelm a single restaurant, and miraculously all made it to the next station in time to get on the Caledonian Sleeper train.

The sleeper train was such a neat experience! I didn’t sleep a wink again, but it was fun to have our own Club Room complete with bunk beds, a sink, a shower, and a toilet (trust me, it’s the little things), and visit the dining car for a nightcap. I didn’t love that every time the train hit its brakes, I thought I was going to launch off the top bunk, and that there was barely enough space in our room for me to stand sideways with my broad shoulders. Plus, I really thought it would be so much smoother and lull me to sleep, so I was a bit bummed about the lack of sleep. However, I do think we’ll have to try it again sometime to see if it’s any smoother, or if we chalk it up to an over-romanticized experience. It was still fun. We’ll write more about this experience in a later post.

We arrived at London’s Euston Station at about 8 am, an hour later than scheduled. Everyone was awake and ready to go, thankfully! We gathered our things, counted heads, and headed off to locate London Underground tickets to continue onto the last leg of our trip in London. We’ll tell you all about it next week!

Part 1 – Group Journey to the UK – Suddenly We’re Education Abroad Coordinators!

Part 3 – The Remarkable City of London, the End of the Journey

The post Learning to Appreciate the Remarkable Calm of the Scottish Highlands first appeared on The DeBode Way.

We both spent MONTHS planning this trip. In fact, most of our research started nearly a year ago as Jason had to submit a budget to the University so students knew the price for the trip when they were signing up. Fun fact: the pandemic has made the travel industry absolutely BOOM this year, so our pricing ended up being a little off when it came time to do the bookings 6 months later. Some things cost nearly twice as much as we originally budgeted, even though we had added a little buffer because we knew the travel industry was coming back! So, we spent a lot of time amending our original ideas hoping to stretch a dollar (and pound) further.

Since this was such a large group, we had to deal with group reservation desks for everything: hotels, transportation, and restaurants, rather than booking everything on our own via online portals like we’re used to doing. Further complicating things, the six-hour time difference turned simple tasks into multi-day events, as it often only allowed for one email and response each day. Finding places to stay that would accommodate our group size, transportation between those locations, and restaurants to get food for a group were all huge challenges. And, since we were right on the cusp of the busy tourist season in the UK, that meant we needed to get it done early and quickly before everything booked up and prices went up even more.

In March, we thought we were in the clear: everything was booked except trains (you can only book those within a month of travel), and then we hit a snag. Cancellations. One of our London hotels flat-out canceled our reservation: they were closing. Tough cookies. Then, the small, local bus company we used and loved on the first trip canceled our reservation as the owner had retired. Do you know how difficult it is to find these things within a couple of months of travel during the busy season? Let me just say, we lost MANY nights of sleep over this, and thank goodness we’ve made great connections in all the years we’ve been going to Scotland!

In the end, we found a new hotel that wasn’t ideal for public transport connections, but it was within our budget and checked most of the other boxes we required. We also found a new local bus company, but had no true confirmation they would be there to pick us up even as we were getting on the flight to the UK (welcome to Argyll!). The moment that confirmation came through on Day 1 in Edinburgh, we both slept so, so hard. That was the last puzzle piece of this complicated journey. And then, the real fun started.

We’ll give you the quick version of leg one of the journey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

We set off for the UK from Springfield, MO on a Monday afternoon. We knew the whole trip was about to get interesting when our very first flight was delayed out of Springfield. Luckily, it was just a few minutes and we made it to the gate for our second flight out of Chicago to Edinburgh just in time. Whew. An uneventful flight on a rather small trans-Atlantic plane saw us in Edinburgh the following morning. We cabbed into the city for our first stay at the Hilton Carlton Hotel on the Royal Mile, our typical trust stop #1.

Let’s just say our stay in Edinburgh was rather eventful. We learned about the UK medical system, how 20-somethings spend their free time these days, and that giving them this freedom allowed them to have the kind of experience they wanted (and that we can’t hang at night – we’re old. Haha). Typically, the group trips we plan are far more structured, but we were worried that with such a big group, we wouldn’t be able to keep everyone happy with the tours/activities we chose. So, this time we experimented, we cut them loose for two days and let them choose! This turned out great for everyone.

However, they weren’t totally on their own, we’re not completely crazy. There were various constant group chats on WhatsApp that kept tabs on everyone, and we had check-in meetings at various points throughout the trip in the form of business visits, dinners, and location moves. Plus, we implemented the buddy system – no one was allowed to wander on their own.

Not only did the students spend time touring the obvious things like Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile shops, and nearby museums, they also found neat businesses to visit that we’d never heard of. A tour of The Chocolatarium was a particular favorite because everyone got to make their own chocolate bars after their tour. Loads of shopping was accomplished for souvenirs and needed attire, some chose to hike Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat for views of the city, and we heard many tales of step counts as they simply wandered the city exploring. We asked the students for suggestions at the end of that leg of the trip and the biggest one was more time in Edinburgh. I would agree, there’s definitely enough to keep a person busy for longer!

We managed to escape for a few hours on the second day and took a stroll through Prince’s Street Garden and into Dean Village for a little calm in the middle of the city. Jason had toured an asphalt plant with one of his students earlier that day and I was enjoying the tales from that trip as we walked. They had rented a car and drove to the outskirts of the city while I caught up on work – it was funny to hear his tale of being a passenger used to the other side of the car and road. I can totally relate to the curb checking and fake breaking as you just ride along! Haha!

After two full days in Edinburgh, we walked down the hill to Waverley Station, loaded the group onto the train, and headed out of the city to Glasgow. Once there, we had about 30 minutes to change trains at Queens Street Station before we headed North on a second train to Taynuilt in the Scottish countryside. Everyone took those few minutes to stock up on water and snacks for the journey…aka nap time. Those who didn’t sleep the entire way to Taynuilt were treated to a feast for the eyes as we entered the Highlands and the mountains were suddenly looming above us. There is even an opportunity to snap a photo of Kilchurn Castle as you round the top of Loch Awe just before our stop. Much to our relief, we were met by two passenger vans at the correct station to begin the second leg of our journey.

Did someone leave a bag on the train that sent us panic-calling our local friend, Christine, who happened to be near the next station in Oban? Sure did. Don’t worry, we got it back. It’s always good to know the locals. Whew. Welcome to The Highlands!

The purpose of our journey into the Highlands was not only to admire the countryside and experience the highland culture, but to slow down the speed of the trip. I’m not sure everyone appreciated the speed of this leg (or the midges), but they definitely loved the scenery.

We’ll fill you in on this next leg of the trip next week.

Part 2 – Learning to Appreciate the Remarkable Calm of the Scottish Highlands

Part 3 – The Remarkable City of London, the End of the Journey

The post Group Journey to the UK – Suddenly We’re Education Abroad Coordinators! first appeared on The DeBode Way.