Interesting experience arriving into Glasgow late on a Friday night.. there were definitely some 'different' characters around :) Took me awhile to find the hostel after navigating the buses and the maze of streets where the hostel was located, but it was a pretty cool one with a great view back over the city and a good lounge to chill out in. Duncan & Claire, if you read this you'll be happy to hear I enjoyed a good dose of Iron Bru while I was there too :)
Saturday morning was an early wake up call to head down to the centre of town to catch my day tour bus. I had booked in for a day trip with a local scottish small tour group into the countryside. Our first stop was Sterling Castle, a cool castle with heaps of nooks and crannies to explore. You could even go into the guards towers and look down into the underground prison. Sadly I didn't get to find out much history about the castle, the audio guide and booklets really didn't give much info about any interesting events or battles which I'm sure would have occurred there. The castle was up on a hill though which great spectacular views back over the valley.
We headed on towards Loch Lommond and stopped at a little road side cafe where a local friendly Highland cow called Hamish hung out. Hamish was gorgeous! Massive horns and a big shaggy coat, he was so tame I got to pat him, and oh so cute!Our driver was really friendly and gave us a great rundown of Scottish history, plus he had the coolest accent! We drove up into the Trossachs National Park and wow Scotland is beautiful! This was the Scotland I'd been imagining; beautiful lakes and forests with mountains dotting the horizon.
We stopped at a little village called Aberfoyle for lunch. I headed for the pub of course and enjoyed a nice glass of wine with some pub grub. I then strolled along the river walk to check out the cute local sheep :) felt like home!After lunch we headed to Loch Lommond (Loch means Lake). It was a huge lake surrounded by mountains and was the perfect place for a walk. I took off from the group and found a path that led around the lake to a bay. It was a stunning view and the perfect quiet spot for some chill time. It was so peaceful I could have stayed there all afternoon.
The last stop on our tour was the Glengoyne Whiskey distillery. Yay! Whiskey tasting ;)We got to sample a dram of the 10yr on arrival before taking a tour. It was really interesting seeing how whiskey is made and the smell was fantastic. At the end of the tour we were treated to a dram of the 17yr. Too good. Sadly due to the airport liquid restrictions I couldn't get a bottle (I was on hand luggage only) so I settle for a miniature bottle of the 17yr.
On Sunday I had planned to have a bit of a sleep in but in a hostel that's not the easiest of tasks. Thankfully earplugs help. After breaky I headed into town for a look around Glasgow. It looked a lot nicer during the day and it seemed like a great town for some shopping but again sadly I had no room in my hand luggage for that. So I simply headed down for a walk along the river. I made my way along to a park where there was a 'viewing platform', I walked onto it and found myself staring at a factory.. hmm interesting... not my choice for a viewing platform... hehe.. finally figured it must have been used to watch rowers or similar on the river.
In the park I found a lovely garden cafe inside a large greenhouse where I enjoyed a rest and a coffee, then headed up the hill to the cathedral and Necropolis. The Necropolis was beautiful. Lots of old gravestones, shrines and tombs dating back to the early 1800s up on a hill overlooking the city. I wondered through for ages reading all the inscriptions.Across a bridge was the Cathedral which I popped into for a sec but didn't stay long as it wasn't technically open for visitors, they'd just finished a service. Beautiful gothic style church. Not too much more to see in Glasgow so I hung out in the park opposite the hostel till it was time to catch my plane home.
No comments:
Post a Comment