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Published: August 21st 2016
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Today is the day I go to pick up my rental car in Glasgow.
After breakfast, I packed up my stuff and the lady at the B&B said that I could leave my things in my room until I come back as she had no one else staying there at the moment. Since I still had time before I take the train to Glasgow, I went to visit the National Portrait Gallery which was very close to my B&B. Again, I followed the self-guided listing in my guide book.
Dragging my luggage to the train station was a bit of a hassle, since the walk was uphill, at least it made me burn off some of the excellent breakfast that I ate. There is a train to Glasgow every hour on the hour, and for some timings the ticket is cheaper (about £4) if you book online, so that is what I did. Train ride into Glasgow was quick and easy. Then I had to drag my luggage to the Europcar office which was about 20 minutes walk from the train station. Getting the car paperwork done was simple (I made the reservation online in US) and as I
got acquainted with the car, I noticed that the rearview mirror was blocked. The back hatch cover was not connected properly, which was easily taken care of by one of the employees.
As I started up the car, I have to admit, I was nervous. I have to drive and navigate by myself. As I started driving and I had to make a left turn, right of the bat, I made a mistake. I tried to make the left turn as in the US, so I had to quickly backup and do the right way in UK. Then I drove around the long block one time trying to get used to the car and the turns correctly. Then I got on the highway, M8, and missed the turn off for M898 and went too far before I realized it. I was so nervous. I took the nearest exit, found a place to park, took a deep breath and calmed down, looked at the map, and got back on M8 going in the opposite direction. This time things went smoothly, took M989 to A82. A82 goes along the left bank of Loch Lomond, then at Tarbet, I took A83 until
Statue of Robert Burns
At Scottish National Portrait Gallery I got to Inveraray - this is the route recommend by my guide book. In Inveraray, I continued on A83, not realizing that I was supposed to take A819. It took me 30 minutes before I realized my mistake, so again I had to go back. A819 end at A85, which I then took towards Oban.
Once I was in Oban, again some confusion as to which way I should go, since I didn't have access to Wi-Fi, I couldn't look at Google maps. Thankfully, I looked up my B&B on the map the night before and kind of had an idea which way I should go. I was so relieved once I got to the B&B. By now, it was 8pm, and I didn't have to energy to go into town again. Luckily, I had some food left from my lunch. So, ate my meal and relaxed in my room.
As I was getting ready for bed, I realized, I didn't have the pin adapter to charge up my phone. When I was In Edinburgh, my B&B had an adapter to lend me. I was planning on buying one but it had complete slipped my mind. When
Rental Car
On the way from Glasgow to Oban on A82 I asked the lady at B&B, she said to try the supermarket the next day. The next day is Sunday, where everything opens late, and I was planning on taking the first ferry/bus tour to visit the islands. I just had to wait and see.
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