We arrived in Glasgow, but our bags did not. We were reminded once again why we do not like to travel through JFK, and will not again. After getting our hired car, we headed to the Kingsknowes Scottish Hotel in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Because were a little early, we were served soft drinks in the bar while our room was being prepared. When we told the hostess of our baggage plight, she offered to follow up with the airline and gave us an upgrade to the nicest room in the hotel. A call to the airline indicated that we would not get our bags till the next day, so the hotel offered to wash our clothes – then delivered our bags to our room when they did arrive late that evening. The hospitality of the hotel mitigated any stress we felt at our arrival in Scotland.
In addition to beautiful scenery, the Scottish Borders has a flourishing arts and crafts industry. We visited studios and stores with some lovely textiles, woodworks and jewelry, but we were struck most by the glass at Selkirk Glass, Lindean Mill Glass, and Scottish Borders Art Glass.
At the Scottish Borders Art Glass studio outside Hawick, we were invited in by Peter Holmes to watch him work his craft. We got a close up view of how a paperweight was made.
