Glasgow, Scotland, UK
We got up at 7:30AM, had oatmeal (again--we ate a lot of oatmeal and Alex was very sick of it, but that is what we knew would travel the best and give us some fullness). Then off to the train which was about a 20 min walk. Every train we have walked into has been very warm until it leaves and then a little A/C will come on. This one not being an exception, it was really warm this train. However, the A/C was much more powerful then all the others so it actually cooled down nicely (that is first train thus far that has actually cooled down quickly, the rest have been fairly toasty). We took our layers off as we entered and got comfortable, this would be the last train ride (5 hours and 20 min). All the trains have left on time except Munich which were all about 5-10 min late coming and going.
This train ride was pretty long, but we napped, talked, and played hangman. We knew we were in Scotland, because of all the green pastures, sheep, lambs, and goats, open fields, rolling green hills, and adorable neighborhoods of thousands of stone houses.
Once we arrived in Scotland, a rambunctious male group, all drinking and loud, boarded. They were speaking English/Scottish so Celtic. We could not understand what they were saying, except for F***, that word was the same and we heard that a lot. Especially from the guy sitting right behind us. And boy were they loud, all drinking their own 1.5L's. They laughed a lot, joking with each other and making comments about women that passed them. They were a bit obnoxious so we decided to move one cart forward. We needed a table anyway for lunch and we wanted more peace and quiet. Luckily we found a table not too far away and ate the lunch we packed- chicken sandwich with chips that were like sunchips and we had that cinnamon pretzel we got the night before. Pretty soon after we ate we were pulling into Glasgow.
The weather was 54 and cloudy, raining a little on and off. We started exploring right away. The first stop was the Lighthouse-we figured like a Lighthouse in Harbourtown. Nope we were dead wrong, it was an Architecture Gallery which through us off a bit. We could go to the 6th floor and look at the whole town which was a wonderful panoramic view. That was probably the most exciting part because the other 5 floors were rather boring with building material samples, drawings, and models. So we went on to Buchanan Street which is a famous shopping street. It has tons of high stores and large name brand stores. We walked along the street for a while and on to the City Chambers which was a very white house-looking building. Not too much to look at so we proceeded in to the University of Strathclyde. It was a straight uphill climb-Alex thought Colgate was bad being on a hill, this hill was twice as steep! We were very warm by the end of the climb and very out of breath--we have not worked out now for over a week so we are feeling a little out shape now. Walking the university street, the school led us right to the Glasgow Cathedral which was breath-taking, It had a green roof which Danielle thought was fitting, but Alex knew it was not always green. From the rain and calcification, the roof turned green over time. Danielle thought it was awesome anyway. This led us right to the Necropolis, an old cemetery of the UK. It had massive headstones and winds up and down hill so we had a few more hills to climb. The headstones, some readable and some now, were just monstrous and impressive! It was a nice walk around and then we headed down to the People's Palace & Winter Gardens. This is more of a park with a museum, fountain, and tall monuments in it. It was very pleasant but it was starting to rain a bit so we quickly walked by and on to our Airbnb to check in.
Our place was only 5 min from the train station which was perfect the next morning. The hostel was immaculate. Great front desk staff, we had a private double room with a bunkbed and it was a beautiful room. A little warm for Alex so we cracked a window and put towels over the heater, but a perfectly clean and spacious room. We had our bathroom and shower of course, very open and spotless. This was not the place we stayed at in London or Amsterdam which was not very nice. They even printed our boarding passes at the front desk, saving us money at the airport.
After relaxing for a bit and checking emails (we had felt so disconnected because we didn't have internet at the last place), we went back out. It had started to drizzle more consistently (so we put on our rain jacket hoods) but that didn't slow us down. We expected rain more than we got in Europe, but we figured we would get some in Glasgow at least. We were off to Kelvington Park. This park was massive like People's Palace and had a museum, monuments, and fountains as well. This was close to the University of Glasgow so we saw many students passing through. It was very enjoyable. We headed back the way we came and saw St. Andrew's Church and now it was really starting to rain. We decided we would try to find a pub and get some dinner. Luckily the place we picked out back at the hostel, was only about 5 min away.
The place was called Bon Accord and it was a traditional Scotland pub. It was adorable, had large, comfy parlor chairs at tables to sit in and lots of beer options (the bar was fairly packed). What Alex liked was all the bottles/ boxes of expensive whiskies around the perimeter of the pub and it was large pub. We took a look at the menu and asked a few questions so we knew a little more of what we were ordering. Did you know baked potatoes are very popular in Scotland, but they are called jacket potatoes. Of course we ordered one as an appetizer to give it a shot and we could add a topping so we added prawn (which are baby shrimp-we figured do as the Scottish do)). Their potatoes are little drier than ours and they served it with an orange sauce that tasted a little like tangy mayo. Since we split both the appetizer and entree they split our plates for us which was nice and convenient. Our entree was peppered chicken (steamed chicken breast with pepper gravy-too spicy for Danielle but she just scrapped it off), peas, and chips (fries). The accents of everyone in the pub (employees and customers) were Scottish so we picked a good one--where the locals hang out. The waitress was young and friendly, had a beautiful accent which both of us loved to hear. It was a bit hard to understand at times, she would say an English word and with her accent it of course sounded different. Our whole meal as only 9.90￡= $12.70 and there is no tipping in the UK. The waitresses get paid a normal wage so there area never any tip lines on receipts.
Luckily when we stepped back outside the rain had stopped so we casually strolled back toward the hostel. We stopped to scope out a breakfast item for the next morning which we could travel with and get from a train to a bus to the airport with and found 2 protein bread triangular things in the bakery section of a grocery store. Both looked really hearty and could go with some peanut butter for Danielle and the hazelnut spread for Alex. They only cost 29 Pence each ($.37)--can you say sold!!!
We also stopped at McDonald's because the Mcflurries were only 99 Pence ($1.25). We enjoyed the oreo Mcflurry very much and then back to the airbnb. Danielle got some hot water for tea before bed, then we showered, and facetimed Danielle's family. Then it was to bed, we had an early morning ahead for our last city!
First impressions:
Super large city, very clean, accents are awesome- hard to understand. A lot less smoking overall, very classy dressed, seems more upscale, like they try harder here compared to London. Buildings appeared old and new and burnt (we read more about a fire that happened here years and years ago and left the buildings with a black soot). They of course still drive on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. They also walk on the left side of the street so that a little hard to get accustomed to. Everyone is very proper and nice-they say cheers as goodbye. It was very easy to navigate around the city (spaced out well). There are a lot of pubs and beer, everyone drinks a lot (by the bottle it seems, they can put down more and hold more than the typical American).
This train ride was pretty long, but we napped, talked, and played hangman. We knew we were in Scotland, because of all the green pastures, sheep, lambs, and goats, open fields, rolling green hills, and adorable neighborhoods of thousands of stone houses.
Once we arrived in Scotland, a rambunctious male group, all drinking and loud, boarded. They were speaking English/Scottish so Celtic. We could not understand what they were saying, except for F***, that word was the same and we heard that a lot. Especially from the guy sitting right behind us. And boy were they loud, all drinking their own 1.5L's. They laughed a lot, joking with each other and making comments about women that passed them. They were a bit obnoxious so we decided to move one cart forward. We needed a table anyway for lunch and we wanted more peace and quiet. Luckily we found a table not too far away and ate the lunch we packed- chicken sandwich with chips that were like sunchips and we had that cinnamon pretzel we got the night before. Pretty soon after we ate we were pulling into Glasgow.
The weather was 54 and cloudy, raining a little on and off. We started exploring right away. The first stop was the Lighthouse-we figured like a Lighthouse in Harbourtown. Nope we were dead wrong, it was an Architecture Gallery which through us off a bit. We could go to the 6th floor and look at the whole town which was a wonderful panoramic view. That was probably the most exciting part because the other 5 floors were rather boring with building material samples, drawings, and models. So we went on to Buchanan Street which is a famous shopping street. It has tons of high stores and large name brand stores. We walked along the street for a while and on to the City Chambers which was a very white house-looking building. Not too much to look at so we proceeded in to the University of Strathclyde. It was a straight uphill climb-Alex thought Colgate was bad being on a hill, this hill was twice as steep! We were very warm by the end of the climb and very out of breath--we have not worked out now for over a week so we are feeling a little out shape now. Walking the university street, the school led us right to the Glasgow Cathedral which was breath-taking, It had a green roof which Danielle thought was fitting, but Alex knew it was not always green. From the rain and calcification, the roof turned green over time. Danielle thought it was awesome anyway. This led us right to the Necropolis, an old cemetery of the UK. It had massive headstones and winds up and down hill so we had a few more hills to climb. The headstones, some readable and some now, were just monstrous and impressive! It was a nice walk around and then we headed down to the People's Palace & Winter Gardens. This is more of a park with a museum, fountain, and tall monuments in it. It was very pleasant but it was starting to rain a bit so we quickly walked by and on to our Airbnb to check in.
Our place was only 5 min from the train station which was perfect the next morning. The hostel was immaculate. Great front desk staff, we had a private double room with a bunkbed and it was a beautiful room. A little warm for Alex so we cracked a window and put towels over the heater, but a perfectly clean and spacious room. We had our bathroom and shower of course, very open and spotless. This was not the place we stayed at in London or Amsterdam which was not very nice. They even printed our boarding passes at the front desk, saving us money at the airport.
After relaxing for a bit and checking emails (we had felt so disconnected because we didn't have internet at the last place), we went back out. It had started to drizzle more consistently (so we put on our rain jacket hoods) but that didn't slow us down. We expected rain more than we got in Europe, but we figured we would get some in Glasgow at least. We were off to Kelvington Park. This park was massive like People's Palace and had a museum, monuments, and fountains as well. This was close to the University of Glasgow so we saw many students passing through. It was very enjoyable. We headed back the way we came and saw St. Andrew's Church and now it was really starting to rain. We decided we would try to find a pub and get some dinner. Luckily the place we picked out back at the hostel, was only about 5 min away.
The place was called Bon Accord and it was a traditional Scotland pub. It was adorable, had large, comfy parlor chairs at tables to sit in and lots of beer options (the bar was fairly packed). What Alex liked was all the bottles/ boxes of expensive whiskies around the perimeter of the pub and it was large pub. We took a look at the menu and asked a few questions so we knew a little more of what we were ordering. Did you know baked potatoes are very popular in Scotland, but they are called jacket potatoes. Of course we ordered one as an appetizer to give it a shot and we could add a topping so we added prawn (which are baby shrimp-we figured do as the Scottish do)). Their potatoes are little drier than ours and they served it with an orange sauce that tasted a little like tangy mayo. Since we split both the appetizer and entree they split our plates for us which was nice and convenient. Our entree was peppered chicken (steamed chicken breast with pepper gravy-too spicy for Danielle but she just scrapped it off), peas, and chips (fries). The accents of everyone in the pub (employees and customers) were Scottish so we picked a good one--where the locals hang out. The waitress was young and friendly, had a beautiful accent which both of us loved to hear. It was a bit hard to understand at times, she would say an English word and with her accent it of course sounded different. Our whole meal as only 9.90￡= $12.70 and there is no tipping in the UK. The waitresses get paid a normal wage so there area never any tip lines on receipts.
Luckily when we stepped back outside the rain had stopped so we casually strolled back toward the hostel. We stopped to scope out a breakfast item for the next morning which we could travel with and get from a train to a bus to the airport with and found 2 protein bread triangular things in the bakery section of a grocery store. Both looked really hearty and could go with some peanut butter for Danielle and the hazelnut spread for Alex. They only cost 29 Pence each ($.37)--can you say sold!!!
We also stopped at McDonald's because the Mcflurries were only 99 Pence ($1.25). We enjoyed the oreo Mcflurry very much and then back to the airbnb. Danielle got some hot water for tea before bed, then we showered, and facetimed Danielle's family. Then it was to bed, we had an early morning ahead for our last city!
First impressions:
Super large city, very clean, accents are awesome- hard to understand. A lot less smoking overall, very classy dressed, seems more upscale, like they try harder here compared to London. Buildings appeared old and new and burnt (we read more about a fire that happened here years and years ago and left the buildings with a black soot). They of course still drive on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. They also walk on the left side of the street so that a little hard to get accustomed to. Everyone is very proper and nice-they say cheers as goodbye. It was very easy to navigate around the city (spaced out well). There are a lot of pubs and beer, everyone drinks a lot (by the bottle it seems, they can put down more and hold more than the typical American).
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