Glasgow 2018
On Friday, we continued our trip and moved on to Glasgow! None of us have ever been here before, so we weren't sure what to expect. We were able to check into our flat a few hours early, which was EXTREMELY helpful. Our flat was pretty great. The building looks super strange and walking in, we were a bit concerned, but it is in an old school building. The flat is WAY nicer than it looks from the street, that's for sure. We had three bedrooms, which was great. We actually got to spread out. We dropped our stuff off, got ready, and went out to central Glasgow, which was one subway stop from our flat. Buchanan Street is pretty cool. It's full of people, shops, restaurants, bars. It's pretty great. We stopped at a Bombay Gin bar for drinks before wandering round the shops.
We wandered for awhile, went into a few shops, found a restaurant where we had excellent Italian food, and then headed back to the flat where we *tried* to play Trivial Pursuit, but it was in French. We settled for Who Wants be a Millionaire, the British version, and then the French version of Scrabble. We aren't sure how different the French Version of Scrabble is from the English, but it seemed like there were A TON of vowels.
For our first full day in Glasgow, we didn't plan a tour because we needed to get home in order to get ready for the main reason we came over here in the first place: ED SHEERAN. We decided to take a train to Balloch to walk around the bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. If you haven't listened to Loch Lomond by Runrig (they didn't write the song, they just have the most popular version of it), you really should. We walked through the Balloch Castle Gardens then down to the bank of the loch. We walked back to where we started along the bank with two swans who were following us. When we stopped at a little beach, so did the swans. They looked like they were going to come on land, but a dog that was playing fetch with its owners chased them back into the water. I feel like the swans were saying things like they were going to attack us and the dog wasn't going to stand for it, so he chased them away. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.
Once we got back to where we started, we decided to take cruise on the loch. It was really nice. That was one of our best weather days and I actually got sunburnt, which I wasn't too chuffed about, but hey-ho, it wasn't a terrible burn. We had lunch in Balloch and then headed back to Glasgow to rest up a bit and head to the concert! Getting there wasn't terrible. It was crowded, but it wasn't as crowded as going to football games at home. The concert was good, he talks to the crowd a lot more over here than he does in the US. It was cool. TWO fights broke out near us during the show and that is what it took to get our section to actually stand up during the show. Hampden Park is a terrible venue. If you come with people who are sitting in a different section, you can't actually go in the same entrance as them because they have it all sectioned off so only certain sections can actually have access to the same things. Not like arenas in the US where you can be inside the doors and walk all the way around.
Getting back to the flat as a NIGHTMARE. The Mount Florida train station is tiny. We were in a line that was so long we were around a mile away from the train station. It wasn't a single file line either, There were at least two people across everywhere, usually it was 3-4 people across. We waited for well over an hour. When the line started moving quickly, we started to get worried. There was a police officer telling people that there were no more trains for the night and we'd have to walk. My mom and I didn't want to believe it, so we kept going toward the train station. There were three other police officers telling people that there MAY be another train coming and that we should make our way to the station. We grabbed Alice and Teresa and ran for the station, where we were put into another line. They lined us all up on the platform, right the way down to the end, there were hundreds and hundreds of us. They did, in fact, bring another train, which was completely empty, to get all of us to Glasgow city centre. When we finally got there, the subway had stopped running and the taxi line was absolutely ridiculous, so we had to walk the mile and a bit. Mind you, it was after midnight at this point and the whole reason we didn't walk in the first place is because we had never been to this city before and walking 4+ miles in the dark was not something we were willing to do.
This is where Glasgow surprised me. Getting there the day before, for some reason I had it in my head that Glasgow was an unsafe place. I'm guessing I heard that somewhere. Glasgow did not feel unsafe AT ALL. Sure, it was dirtier than Edinburgh, but while we were walking, not a single person acknowledged us. It was a bit rowdy, but that made me feel even better because there are people out all over. We didn't get home until about 1 and the next day we had to get up early for our first tour from Glasgow.
Our second full day, Sunday, and Alice's last day, was spent on a tour to Glenfinnan, Mallaig, and the Jacobite Steam Train. We drove past the mountain they used in Skyfall, stopped at the Three Sisters, which is an excellent view, and then we went on to Glenfinnan. Glenfinnan is awesome, especially for Harry Potter nerds, such as myself. The viaduct is really cool. The Bonnie Prince Charlie monument is just across from it. It's alright, from everything I know about the Bonnie Prince, I don't like him much. The Loch that is right there is used as the Black Lake in Harry Potter movies, which is cool, and at the end of the loch is the island where Dumbledore's final resting place is. We hiked up to the top to get the view of the viaduct, which Alice and I had been to before, then crossed the street to the monument and we were back on our way.
We had a short stop at Traigh Beach, which was really nice. It blows my mind that Scotland has beaches that look tropical. It isn't at all what I ever would have imagined Scotland to be. Which is one of the reasons I love Scotland SO MUCH. We drove up to Mallaig for lunch and that is where we were going to board the Jacobite Steam Train. The train was cool. It was old and loud, so there was no A/C and we had to have all the windows open. It was still VERY hot. Because the windows were open, we had soot coming in, covering the tables and whoever was closest to the windows. I feel bad for the person who was shoveling coal the whole way, we saw them when we got off and they were BLACK from the coal. I mean, it's something you see in movies, never something I thought I'd see in real life.
Coming across the Glenfinnan Viaduct was pretty cool. I would like to be able to watch the train go by from the ground, but that'll have to be another time. The train took us to Fort William where we met back up with our tour guide. We stopped at a little house which is old enough that they don't actually have power, they have a generator, and they don't have running water. They get all water from a well. The view from the bridge out front was SO PRETTY though, You look off either side and it was just amazing. Our final stop was at Drover's Inn, which was creepy af inside. There were so many taxidermy animals on all walls that I was extremely uncomfortable. Like. You're greeted by a bear in the front door. It was just unsettling. We used the bathroom and decided that we would sit outside until it was time to get back on the bus.
Once back in Glasgow, we were let off at George Square where the first annual Italian Festival happened to be going on. Alice and I heard someone singing Paolo Nutini and we walked over to the fence to look in and see who was singing. The voice didn't sound exactly right but the guy looked so similar to him that we had to go see. Turns out, it was Britain's first ever Paolo Nutini tribute act, Paolo Martini. He was pretty good and entertaining. We had pizza for dinner at a really good, pretty cheap restaurant a couple blocks away, then headed to a champagne bar to have drinks for Alice's last night. We made my mom and Teresa try Irn Bru for the first time, thinking they would hate it as much as we do, but they actually liked it. To me it tastes like bubblegum flavored medicine has gone bad.
Monday morning, Alice left us. It was terrible. I cried, as I always do (I HATE being a cryer), and they I got them to agree to let me lay around for a bit and not get ready immediately. I took my time getting ready and then we went out to do some shopping and get lunch. We went all over, had lunch at Hard Rock, grabbed supplies to make dinner at home, and then headed back to the flat to have an early night.
Tuesday, we had a tour to Loch Lomond, The Trossachs, Stirling Castle, and Doune Castle. Our first stop was the little town of Luss. Luss is pretty nice, very small. We walked along the loch and then over to a little church where there was a Viking grave, which had a very strange "headstone", it was easy to spot. I have discovered that I really like Rhododendrons, which a lot of people hate. I get that they spread EVERYWHERE but they are so pretty. The pink ones especially are super bright and I want to look at them all the time. Our next stop was a view from the highest point in The Trossachs. It was really pretty. Our guide was really good at finding photo stops for us to take, so our next stop was at Loch Venachar.
Early in the day, I had asked about our chances of seeing a Highland Coo, so before moving on to Doune, he pulled off for us to see Hamish, Honey, and their calf. Honey was the only one who came over to see us and she was ADORABLE. I love Highland cattle so much, I don't think anyone gets it. We got to feed her pieces of potato and it was lovely.
Doune Castle was cool. It was used as Castle Anthrax in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Winterfell in the first season of Game of Thrones, and Castle Leoch in Outlander. We took the audio guides and wandered about. Didn't listen to all the numbers, I just listened to the ones where Sam Heughan was narrating because he is LOVELY. After wandering the castle, we had a few minutes to spare so we wandered around in front of the castle a bit. The river Teith runs through Doune and we learned that there were two rival clans right near each other and if they wanted to go to the markets or whatever, they had to surrender all weapons at the River Teith. Which is where the phrase "Armed To The Teeth" came from.
Stirling Castle was huge. We had two hours there and we didn't even see everything. I won't go into too much detail because it was just like every other castle really. I did like the tapestries with the unicorns on though. Did you know that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn? At the end, we got caramel ice cream, got on the bus, and headed back to Glasgow. We had steak and ale pies at a pub for dinner, I think this was my third or fourth this trip, and then headed to the flat to get some rest.
Our final day in Glasgow on Wednesday was spent on a very long tour to Loch Ness. Our tour guide, who we also had the day before, changed our first stop from Drover's Inn to a different little cafe on Loch Lomond. I was extremely happy about that because I really didn't like the Drover's Inn. We got to walk along the loch a bit before heading back to the bus to carry on into the Highlands. Our second stop was at a Rannoch Moor lookout point. I'd been here before, but it still was way pretty. I love views in the Highlands. They never seem to get old.
We drove past where they filmed Skyfall, and back to the Three Sisters where we had stopped a few days before, and then made a quick stop at Loch Leven. We had lunch in Spean Bridge and then stopped for bit at The Commando Memorial. From here, there was a monument and you could also see all of Ben Nevis. We drove again for what seemed like FOREVER, and finally arrived at Urquhart Castle. We wandered around the ruins, climbed up to the top of one of the towers, and wandered around until we needed to get on the boat. There was one area that weirdly smelled like old books. It was like we'd walked into a library. We boarded the boat to sail Loch Ness and then essentially froze to death because it was so windy.
We didn't see Nessie, but even if I had, I probably wouldn't say anything because it would actually start a monster hunt and I don't want her hunted. Loch Ness is so pretty. The cruise was good, except for being cold. We had drinks, sat back, and looked for Nessie. After we got off the boat, we got to go in the gift shop and then we had to be back on the bus and be on our way. The tour guide wasn't going to stop again for about two hours, but then suddenly turned off because there was a place where we could feed Highland Coos. IT WAS THE BEST STOP OF THE WHOLE TRIP. I love them so much. They're so cute. There were four of them. I don't know their names, but I got some great pictures of one of them using portrait mode on my phone.
The last stop before going back to Glasgow was Pitlochry, which I figured out I'd been to before. We had whisky ice cream and then we wandered around the town and in and out of shops before we had to go. Getting back to Glasgow, we stopped and had Nando's for dinner, which was great even if they were out of wraps, and headed back to the flat to try to pack all of our stuff up. The next morning was spent packing, cleaning up, and traveling. It was a long day.
I learned a few things while we were in Scotland this time. Glasgow is AWESOME. I was so worried I was going to feel unsafe or nervous the whole time but the Glaswegians are all so nice. I don't think we had a negative experience with anyone while we were in Glasgow. I also like the accent in Glasgow much more than in Edinburgh. It can be harder to understand at times, but in Edinburgh I can't even tell that they have an accent. I don't like the subway cards in Glasgow. Half the time they didn't work and we were just standing there trying to get the stupid machines to read them. Like. Com on. Be like the Oyster cards and work already. I will just choose not to go to an event if it's at Hampden Park. It isn't worth trying to get back. Just don't do it.
Scotland still has so much I need to explore, so many islands, so much that I just haven't seen. I will be going back as soon as I possibly can. I love Scotland SO MUCH ❤️🏴
We wandered for awhile, went into a few shops, found a restaurant where we had excellent Italian food, and then headed back to the flat where we *tried* to play Trivial Pursuit, but it was in French. We settled for Who Wants be a Millionaire, the British version, and then the French version of Scrabble. We aren't sure how different the French Version of Scrabble is from the English, but it seemed like there were A TON of vowels.
For our first full day in Glasgow, we didn't plan a tour because we needed to get home in order to get ready for the main reason we came over here in the first place: ED SHEERAN. We decided to take a train to Balloch to walk around the bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. If you haven't listened to Loch Lomond by Runrig (they didn't write the song, they just have the most popular version of it), you really should. We walked through the Balloch Castle Gardens then down to the bank of the loch. We walked back to where we started along the bank with two swans who were following us. When we stopped at a little beach, so did the swans. They looked like they were going to come on land, but a dog that was playing fetch with its owners chased them back into the water. I feel like the swans were saying things like they were going to attack us and the dog wasn't going to stand for it, so he chased them away. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.
Once we got back to where we started, we decided to take cruise on the loch. It was really nice. That was one of our best weather days and I actually got sunburnt, which I wasn't too chuffed about, but hey-ho, it wasn't a terrible burn. We had lunch in Balloch and then headed back to Glasgow to rest up a bit and head to the concert! Getting there wasn't terrible. It was crowded, but it wasn't as crowded as going to football games at home. The concert was good, he talks to the crowd a lot more over here than he does in the US. It was cool. TWO fights broke out near us during the show and that is what it took to get our section to actually stand up during the show. Hampden Park is a terrible venue. If you come with people who are sitting in a different section, you can't actually go in the same entrance as them because they have it all sectioned off so only certain sections can actually have access to the same things. Not like arenas in the US where you can be inside the doors and walk all the way around.
Getting back to the flat as a NIGHTMARE. The Mount Florida train station is tiny. We were in a line that was so long we were around a mile away from the train station. It wasn't a single file line either, There were at least two people across everywhere, usually it was 3-4 people across. We waited for well over an hour. When the line started moving quickly, we started to get worried. There was a police officer telling people that there were no more trains for the night and we'd have to walk. My mom and I didn't want to believe it, so we kept going toward the train station. There were three other police officers telling people that there MAY be another train coming and that we should make our way to the station. We grabbed Alice and Teresa and ran for the station, where we were put into another line. They lined us all up on the platform, right the way down to the end, there were hundreds and hundreds of us. They did, in fact, bring another train, which was completely empty, to get all of us to Glasgow city centre. When we finally got there, the subway had stopped running and the taxi line was absolutely ridiculous, so we had to walk the mile and a bit. Mind you, it was after midnight at this point and the whole reason we didn't walk in the first place is because we had never been to this city before and walking 4+ miles in the dark was not something we were willing to do.
This is where Glasgow surprised me. Getting there the day before, for some reason I had it in my head that Glasgow was an unsafe place. I'm guessing I heard that somewhere. Glasgow did not feel unsafe AT ALL. Sure, it was dirtier than Edinburgh, but while we were walking, not a single person acknowledged us. It was a bit rowdy, but that made me feel even better because there are people out all over. We didn't get home until about 1 and the next day we had to get up early for our first tour from Glasgow.
Our second full day, Sunday, and Alice's last day, was spent on a tour to Glenfinnan, Mallaig, and the Jacobite Steam Train. We drove past the mountain they used in Skyfall, stopped at the Three Sisters, which is an excellent view, and then we went on to Glenfinnan. Glenfinnan is awesome, especially for Harry Potter nerds, such as myself. The viaduct is really cool. The Bonnie Prince Charlie monument is just across from it. It's alright, from everything I know about the Bonnie Prince, I don't like him much. The Loch that is right there is used as the Black Lake in Harry Potter movies, which is cool, and at the end of the loch is the island where Dumbledore's final resting place is. We hiked up to the top to get the view of the viaduct, which Alice and I had been to before, then crossed the street to the monument and we were back on our way.
We had a short stop at Traigh Beach, which was really nice. It blows my mind that Scotland has beaches that look tropical. It isn't at all what I ever would have imagined Scotland to be. Which is one of the reasons I love Scotland SO MUCH. We drove up to Mallaig for lunch and that is where we were going to board the Jacobite Steam Train. The train was cool. It was old and loud, so there was no A/C and we had to have all the windows open. It was still VERY hot. Because the windows were open, we had soot coming in, covering the tables and whoever was closest to the windows. I feel bad for the person who was shoveling coal the whole way, we saw them when we got off and they were BLACK from the coal. I mean, it's something you see in movies, never something I thought I'd see in real life.
Coming across the Glenfinnan Viaduct was pretty cool. I would like to be able to watch the train go by from the ground, but that'll have to be another time. The train took us to Fort William where we met back up with our tour guide. We stopped at a little house which is old enough that they don't actually have power, they have a generator, and they don't have running water. They get all water from a well. The view from the bridge out front was SO PRETTY though, You look off either side and it was just amazing. Our final stop was at Drover's Inn, which was creepy af inside. There were so many taxidermy animals on all walls that I was extremely uncomfortable. Like. You're greeted by a bear in the front door. It was just unsettling. We used the bathroom and decided that we would sit outside until it was time to get back on the bus.
Once back in Glasgow, we were let off at George Square where the first annual Italian Festival happened to be going on. Alice and I heard someone singing Paolo Nutini and we walked over to the fence to look in and see who was singing. The voice didn't sound exactly right but the guy looked so similar to him that we had to go see. Turns out, it was Britain's first ever Paolo Nutini tribute act, Paolo Martini. He was pretty good and entertaining. We had pizza for dinner at a really good, pretty cheap restaurant a couple blocks away, then headed to a champagne bar to have drinks for Alice's last night. We made my mom and Teresa try Irn Bru for the first time, thinking they would hate it as much as we do, but they actually liked it. To me it tastes like bubblegum flavored medicine has gone bad.
Monday morning, Alice left us. It was terrible. I cried, as I always do (I HATE being a cryer), and they I got them to agree to let me lay around for a bit and not get ready immediately. I took my time getting ready and then we went out to do some shopping and get lunch. We went all over, had lunch at Hard Rock, grabbed supplies to make dinner at home, and then headed back to the flat to have an early night.
Tuesday, we had a tour to Loch Lomond, The Trossachs, Stirling Castle, and Doune Castle. Our first stop was the little town of Luss. Luss is pretty nice, very small. We walked along the loch and then over to a little church where there was a Viking grave, which had a very strange "headstone", it was easy to spot. I have discovered that I really like Rhododendrons, which a lot of people hate. I get that they spread EVERYWHERE but they are so pretty. The pink ones especially are super bright and I want to look at them all the time. Our next stop was a view from the highest point in The Trossachs. It was really pretty. Our guide was really good at finding photo stops for us to take, so our next stop was at Loch Venachar.
Early in the day, I had asked about our chances of seeing a Highland Coo, so before moving on to Doune, he pulled off for us to see Hamish, Honey, and their calf. Honey was the only one who came over to see us and she was ADORABLE. I love Highland cattle so much, I don't think anyone gets it. We got to feed her pieces of potato and it was lovely.
Doune Castle was cool. It was used as Castle Anthrax in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Winterfell in the first season of Game of Thrones, and Castle Leoch in Outlander. We took the audio guides and wandered about. Didn't listen to all the numbers, I just listened to the ones where Sam Heughan was narrating because he is LOVELY. After wandering the castle, we had a few minutes to spare so we wandered around in front of the castle a bit. The river Teith runs through Doune and we learned that there were two rival clans right near each other and if they wanted to go to the markets or whatever, they had to surrender all weapons at the River Teith. Which is where the phrase "Armed To The Teeth" came from.
Stirling Castle was huge. We had two hours there and we didn't even see everything. I won't go into too much detail because it was just like every other castle really. I did like the tapestries with the unicorns on though. Did you know that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn? At the end, we got caramel ice cream, got on the bus, and headed back to Glasgow. We had steak and ale pies at a pub for dinner, I think this was my third or fourth this trip, and then headed to the flat to get some rest.
Our final day in Glasgow on Wednesday was spent on a very long tour to Loch Ness. Our tour guide, who we also had the day before, changed our first stop from Drover's Inn to a different little cafe on Loch Lomond. I was extremely happy about that because I really didn't like the Drover's Inn. We got to walk along the loch a bit before heading back to the bus to carry on into the Highlands. Our second stop was at a Rannoch Moor lookout point. I'd been here before, but it still was way pretty. I love views in the Highlands. They never seem to get old.
We didn't see Nessie, but even if I had, I probably wouldn't say anything because it would actually start a monster hunt and I don't want her hunted. Loch Ness is so pretty. The cruise was good, except for being cold. We had drinks, sat back, and looked for Nessie. After we got off the boat, we got to go in the gift shop and then we had to be back on the bus and be on our way. The tour guide wasn't going to stop again for about two hours, but then suddenly turned off because there was a place where we could feed Highland Coos. IT WAS THE BEST STOP OF THE WHOLE TRIP. I love them so much. They're so cute. There were four of them. I don't know their names, but I got some great pictures of one of them using portrait mode on my phone.
The last stop before going back to Glasgow was Pitlochry, which I figured out I'd been to before. We had whisky ice cream and then we wandered around the town and in and out of shops before we had to go. Getting back to Glasgow, we stopped and had Nando's for dinner, which was great even if they were out of wraps, and headed back to the flat to try to pack all of our stuff up. The next morning was spent packing, cleaning up, and traveling. It was a long day.
I learned a few things while we were in Scotland this time. Glasgow is AWESOME. I was so worried I was going to feel unsafe or nervous the whole time but the Glaswegians are all so nice. I don't think we had a negative experience with anyone while we were in Glasgow. I also like the accent in Glasgow much more than in Edinburgh. It can be harder to understand at times, but in Edinburgh I can't even tell that they have an accent. I don't like the subway cards in Glasgow. Half the time they didn't work and we were just standing there trying to get the stupid machines to read them. Like. Com on. Be like the Oyster cards and work already. I will just choose not to go to an event if it's at Hampden Park. It isn't worth trying to get back. Just don't do it.
Scotland still has so much I need to explore, so many islands, so much that I just haven't seen. I will be going back as soon as I possibly can. I love Scotland SO MUCH ❤️🏴
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