Did not have to get up early. Train is at 11:24 am from Oxford Road station. All was okay. Shruti made tasty omelet for me and kept a potato sandwich for lunch. I got to the train station well in time. (took the tram from S Quay to St Peters Square and walked about 10 mins to the Oxford station). I found my seat on the train and 3 hrs later I was in Glasgow. It’s a lively town. It is just filled with people. The walk to the hotel is about 1 mile. George Square is all boarded up, they are redoing it and it will be like this for one year. It does not look pretty here but what can one do? The buildings here are made from a different kind of stone – a reddish stone. They look really sturdy. The Premier Inn hotel is really nice. There are the self-check kiosks but luckily an actual person helped me out. I had bought the breakfast for this stay (that is 10 pounds per day).
Today’s plan is to see the cathedral and necropolis (a strange name for a graveyard). The walk is nice; it is a sunny day but still kind of cool and windy. The cathedral is not that far. I made the mistake of going to the necropolis first. The cathedral closed at 4:30 pm – little too soon for a weekday. So I missed seeing the cathedral. The necropolis was interesting. An old graveyard with elaborate headstones. it was quite big and old – some graves were dating back to 1850s.
Wanted to walk to Chaiiwala for tea but saw the clocktower and decided to walk towards it. I decided to see inside an Aldi on the way. I needed to get shampoo (the hotel does not have shampoo). Bought some chips also. Anyway, walked towards the Clyde River. And just like that it started raining – for 2 mins! Walked back to the hotel to drop off stuff and go to Chaiiwala for chai. It is about 6 pm. I am tired today and my right knee is hurting. I had the karak chai and tikki chaat. Both were excellent. I still have to come back to eat the omelet as Shruti recommended.
That is it. I am done for the day. All the walking and dragging the luggage has done it for me.
Wednesday - 28 May – Highlights of Scotland Tour
It was going to be a long day today. The tour itself (booked through Get Your Guide) is 10 hrs long. I got up at 6 am. Breakfast was at 6:30 am. It was a nice spread of eggs, hashbrown, toast, pastries etc. Good stuff. I walked to the Buchanan bus station. It’s not that far but a bit uphill. I should have read better the instructions on where to find the bus. But the tour operators were very helpful on Whatsapp in finding the bus. The bus station is quite big and clean and nice.
The tour started 10 mins early since everyone was there. I am in the front again! We are going to see so many things. The first stop is “Rest and be Thankful” Viewpoint. This is by the lake. There are many many lakes on the way today. Mountains are everywhere. The mountains change their look as we keep moving on, which is interesting.
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| View Point |
Then we come to Inveraray which has a castle and a small cute town by the lake. The castle is closed today, but the driver/tour guide, Clay, mentioned that the grounds are also pretty. So we all made the trek there. It is about 1 km from the road. But the grounds were closed, but I took some photos of the castle, which really looks really like a huge manor. Pretty. I walked around the town. I did get some nice bags from here and had a hot chocolate. The lake (loch) is really pretty. I think we had an hour and a half here.
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| Inveraray Castle |
Then comes the stop at Kilchurn Castle. By now we are driving on really narrow roads and through forests occasionally and mostly near lakes. Clay says he does not know why this is the most photographed castle. I can understand – its broken and not in good condition, but the location is so pretty. There were some Scottish cows around and water in the back with the mountains. So scenic! Took a lot of photos.
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| Kilchurn Castle |
Time to go to Oban for lunch. This is a big touristy town on the coast. We have about an hour and half again. I am not super hungry and I also need to walk around. But I did have a cheese and tomato toastie at the Oban Inn. It was so tasty! Just hit the right spot. I did do some shopping here – some magnets, chocolate and bookmarks. I still got done in time. It was a pretty town.
Then it is time for Castle Stalker – smallest castle ever! Clay went to a really small road to get to this castle. It is privately owned. It is too far to get a nice photo, but still was very photogenic. It could very well be a jophdi 😊
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| Castle Stalker |
As we are driving out of this region, comes another interesting region – the Etive Mor. This is like a swamp with grass on the top, but anyone walking there would promptly get sucked into the earth and disappear. Another mysterious region. No wonder the people here are so different. They live in such dangerous and harsh conditions.
After this was the Loch Lomond National Park. It was nice – not much to mention except it is pretty – the forest, the lakes. We stopped at a hotel in the park at the Loch Lomond. I did not need anything but it was nice to stretch the legs before the drive back to Glasgow.
We got dropped off at the bus station again. That is it. I am done for the day. I have walked over 6 miles today. I need some bed time and tea!
If I could come back here, I would drive around Glencoe on my own and probably stay overnight in Oban.
Thursday - 29 May – Walking tour Glasgow and Museum
I don’t want to get up early today. I don’t even want to go for the walk, it’s going to be rainy all day. But….I cannot cancel. What else am I going to do? Got to the tour meeting point at George Square near Costa Coffee. I did not get the email about meeting there but I heard some others talking. Back up plan is to take the sightseeing tour bus for 20 pounds and go around to see the city sights. It is raining. Thank goodness for my umbrella.
The guide Bruce came on time and took a bit of attendance and took us for the walk. It was a great walk. I am glad I did it, despite the rain. He stopped at all the spots designated in the tour list. Told us good stories and places to eat and museums to see. All in all - good! He dropped us off at the cathedral. Finally I went inside the cathedral. It is big and quite empty. Saint Mungo is what this whole city is about. He brought Christianity to this area and helped establish this town. The cathedral also has his tomb. The stained glass windows are beautiful.
It stopped raining in the middle of the walking tour, but it is back on again. First I need to have chai and something to eat – best place to do that is Chaiiwala! I had the Bombay sandwich. It was good.
Now it is time to go to the Kelvingrove museum. Bruce said it was the place to visit. Well…I am not too much into the museums but there is not much I can do outside. Google maps told me to take the #2 bus from Hope and Vincent streets. I love the tap in method of payment. We cannot overpay it seems. The museum took me about 3 hours to see – there was something for everyone: photos, Egypt relics, natural museum, paintings and a bit of Glasgow history. All in all not bad, but definitely not a must see. If it had not been raining I would have gone to the Botanical gardens. But I still have Inverness and Edinburgh to visit which also have gardens. Took the same #2 bus back, this time to the Gallery of Modern Art which is not too far from my hotel. Now the sun is out and it is lovely but I feel so tired. And there is really not much to do in Glasgow.
Came back and made my reservations for London. I have to go from 10-12 June since Gaurav can drop me off on Tuesday and Shruti is going to London also on Wed for a training. Well….London here I come!
That is it for my day today. I think it was the rain that tired me out. Tomorrow on to Inverness.
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