Blogs from Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

Advertisement

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow August 27th 2018

Now that was a long journey... Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur (1hr 15min), Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong (5 hours) then a 5 hour wait. Hong Kong to London (13 hrs) then a 3 hour wait, London to Glasgow (1hr 30min) where my Dad met me for the short trip of ten mins to home... phew... Aw man it's lovely seeing Dad again, gosh I miss my family! So first day back and I get to see most of the family, brother's, sister-in-laws, neices, nephews and great nephews... oh plus all the doggies who missed their Aunty Clare. So breakfast what do I want... easy a morton's roll, black pudding, bacon with a runny egg on top with HP sauce... nom nom nom... Dad and I went down to the local butchers and my eyes were wide ... read more
20180827_160423
20180831_111049
20180831_104327

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow June 12th 2018

After the lovely long weeks in France when we had time to do whatever we wanted and there was always the space to respond to the weather or how we felt, these weeks in Scotland will be different. Like our earlier trips to Europe we will be spending only three nights or so in each place and travelling on to the next destination. So what to do in the historic city of Glasgow in a couple of days? For starters, we were exhausted! Our epic train trip took its toll on these senior travellers, so we were slow starters. Our plan was to do the open bus tour of the city on the first day, as we know that is an easy way to get our measure of a city without having to work out how ... read more
Glasgow University
Our new favourite burger joint!
Wonderful fountains and monuments

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow June 10th 2018

At 11pm on Friday night we were checking all our arrangements for the epic trip the next day from the south of France to Glasgow, Scotland. We had already done all our research before we booked the three train trips to make sure it was feasible, and we planned to take the RER train to get across Paris between the TGV and Eurostar. We put the trip into the app, and it said 'cancelled', for all RER trains on that line. What?! What would we do? We were thankful that our TGV was still running, because the French trains are on strike two out of every five days and our date was not one of the strike days. But suddenly the transfer looked tight, as we well remember how daunting the major Paris stations are - ... read more
Goodbye Provence - sunny skies the day we leave!
TGV arrives at Gare de Lyon in Paris
Gare de Lyon Paris

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow May 16th 2018

I’m happy to report to the golfers out there, my score did improve on the second day. 36 points! With John’s 39, the match against Bill and John’s mate, Ross, finished on the 13th! That was before Billy’s chipping lesson - things might be different next time. We booked in to the Mandarin Restaurant Motherwell for dinner. A favourite haunt of John & Betty’s. Unbeknownst to us, the 2018 OVO Energy Series was also in Motherwell. This cycling tour has ten stages at various locations throughout Scotland. This was Stage 2. All the main streets were blocked off. After several U turns and many tight squeezes, we found somewhere to park and hoofed it to the restaurant in time to see the start of the men’s race right out front. The manager of the restaurant then ... read more
The Duke of Wellington
George Square
Lunch time crowd

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow September 26th 2017

Back on the real bus now that the 2 day ticket for the hop on hop off bus has expired. Back on the bus and for me it's off to Macs Adventures, the company that organised my TMB walk. Simply called in because I could and to say thanks for their efforts. Very trendy workplace, very open, bikes hanging on the wall, table tennis, open plan...but good atmosphere and lively work place. But really today is about the Willows Tea Rooms. Big build up in the Scotland guide book and various websites and with the reputation of Charles Renee Mackintosh to uphold there was quite a bit riding on the Willows. sadly doesn't really deliver. The architecture is OK but it is only 2 rooms and they are not that special. All the figures and fittings ... read more
It's no Belfast Goliath but...
Peacock design, modern but good.
Willows Tea Room.

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow September 25th 2017

Just about to go to the local brewery for evening meal and drinks. Almost enough to engender a belief in something or someone divine when the closest decent place to eat is a brewery! The pubs here are best described as 'atmospheric' or 'with character' otherwise they would be credited as pretty downmarket, dingy or disgusting! They look like they missed out on being condemned by some council oversight! Sure they have cheap beer but... One of the major pubs in town did not allow women in until the late 70’s and there are a few around here I wouldn't take a woman into! We may have seen them initially at their worst as they were full of Celtic fans after they had seen their team thrashed again (and as usual) by their arch rivals. They ... read more
Spray can graffiti for Comm Games.
'Squinty' or not straight bridge.
The 'armadillo'.

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow September 24th 2017

Day spent driving around on the hop on hop off bus just orientating ourselves around what for us is a new city. Some parts of Glasgow are as I anticipated, that is, pretty tough looking and fairly brutal (in their architectur!) but there are some charming sections for sure. It's not as old as Edinburgh and most buildings have been bombed, burnt or just bashed down under the banner of urban renewal so the city sprawls out in a manner that 'old Edinburgh' does not. Additionally the M8 motorway cuts through the city like some ugly scar meaning that in some areas the constant noise of traffic is the background to any conversation. Apparently the Clyde Bridge on the M8 has the greatest traffic flow, or traffic density, of any river bridge in Europe. I'll listen ... read more
Airbnb kitchen at breakfast time.
From our Glasgow Airbnb.
On the hop on hop off bus.

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow September 7th 2017

Another morning, and I woke to a good heavy drizzle. Oh well, on with my day. Breakfast in the hostel cafe was with a trio of similar aged cyclists who were cycling from Pitlochry to Carlisle and averaging about 25 miles per day. Rain gear donned, I headed off along forest trails that led up Duke's Pass. A hard climb up, one turn in the road, then another, each with another climb ahead. While GPS is good, viewing a rain splattered screen is difficult, especially with rain drops also on the glasses. That's my excuse for missing the route change to another trail and forging on to the top of the pass. Once on top, I cleared my glasses and GPS screen, and came up with no defined route map. The turn off was back down ... read more
Glasgow Gal

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow August 12th 2017

More than a wee bit of rain on my ride in to Glasgow from Edinburgh but I survived, although I had to stop and switch to my full helmet at one point because the rain was stinging my face with my short helmet. I chose the Radisson Blu because it was in city centre. I have to admit I wasn't overly impressed with the area when I first arrived. Turns out the West end is a better area. However, the Radisson staff was great and very helpful, the hotel itself was very modern and fit in with a lot of the Art Deco architecture interspersed about the city. Unlike Edinburgh where most of the buildings are Georgian - Glasgow is a mix of many different architectural designs. Hit a couple pubs on my walk about and ... read more
IMG_4986
IMG_4980
IMG_4981

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Lanarkshire » Glasgow July 3rd 2017

You know those hop on and off buses? Double decker? There's no shame in that. I went back to George square and jumped aboard, upper deck. The rain let up so I can do what I want! The tour was pretty decent. I visited St. Kentigern, a 13th Century cathedral up on a hill, across from a scenic necropolis. This cathedral is supposedly build upon the tomb of St. Kentigern, also known as MUNGO (how can you not love this - no offense, Scots, really - performing chimp like name?), who died in 612. According to an informational sign, everything that was written about Mungo was written in the 12th century and was made up - healing powers,etc. The only certain fact is the date of his death. Apparently, for many centuries, this was a destination ... read more
Cathedral With Coat of Arms Lamp
Crests everywhere. I want a crest and I'm not talking about toothpaste!
Sweet unicorn




Tot: 0.133s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 10; qc: 88; dbt: 0.0707s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb