The English countryside is so beautiful. But while it doesn't snow in England too often, it does in Scotland! By the time we crossed the border and saw the "Welcome to Scotland" sign, sleet was pelting down on our Mercedes van. The closer we got to Glasgow, the worse it got. We could only see a few feet in front of us, so we had to drive very carefully, not to mention we passed a huge sign saying: "CAUTION! ROAD LIABLE TO ICING." Oh, that's just great considering we were driving on an incline! The sleet became full-on snow the further we drove and the countryside transformed from green fields into icy, frosted, rolling hills. We could see snow capped slopes appearing in the distance. Breathtaking. I felt kinda sorry for all the sheep we saw out in the cold and snow, though. I know they have thick coats of wool and they are used to it, but I still feel like warm-blooded animals must get uncomfortable in the freezing temperatures after a few hours at least! They have no options for shelter.

We finally arrived at our hotel and were pleased to discover that the parking garages in Glasgow were waaaaay better than the ones in Manchester and Birmingham, where the spaces were so small and the overhead clearance was almost impossible if you're driving anything bigger than a smart car! At one point I thought, "Wait, are we in Japan?"

Glasgow must have been the most fun show so far with NKOTB. The crowd was amazing, and we had so much energy between them and us on stage. The catering was crazy good, too!

On the way back to our hotel, we took pictures of a beautiful bridge near the arena. The next day we had off, which was perfect because Glasgow is one of the best places in the world for shopping. We took a walk around the city after the show and saw what appeared to be people playing on a Wii through a window. We walked inside and realized it was this cool bar with large screens playing MTV videos. (To our relief, much more music and videos play on MTV outside of the US!) We grabbed some cranberry and apple fizz from the bar and went to watch the guys play Wii Bowling. They came over and hung out with us. Something told me at first glance they were American. Turns out they were a bunch of bartenders from North Carolina who just decided to "see the world." They were with an Australian girl who they had met while touring the UK. They were a fun bunch, and we even had a Wii Bowling tournament. I won my game by one pin! After a fun night of games, we went over to a nearby McDonalds to grab a quick bite and then we turned in.

I slept in soooo late! I didn't get to bed until after 1 p.m. After much effort, I finally managed to drag myself outside. We walked around Glasgow like real tourists, taking pictures and footage of everything. We had fish and chips for lunch and joined the dancers later at what was supposed to be Glasgow's best authentic Italian restaurant, Costanzo's. After the West Indian food I grew up on, Italian food is my favorite type of food. I always tell people I believe I was Italian in a previous life! I'm so in love with the people, the culture, the food, the music. What an experience we had. Apart from the food and service being impeccable, the owner Costanzo was so hospitable, and he personally served us, taught Shortman about how to treat a lady and took pics with us. He even did a video drop for Shortman. I can't wait to go to Italy!

We couldn't stay out too late, unfortunately, because we had to be up super early to take the ferry across the rough winter seas from Scotland to Belfast, Dublin. I'm so excited about it. I'll be in all my tourist glory yet again...

Shon

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