Blogs from Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

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

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

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

My train arrived in mist, at a station half an hour from my hotel by foot. (You guys, this is good because of all the beers and no bootcamp). I need to get a waterproof cover for my bag so I can walk in the rain. My workout started at George Square, and took me up through wealthy Victorian era neighborhoods, on to plain brick tenements from the 1970s, and under a freeway. I found my modern looking hotel nested among chic restaurants and bars. My airbnb had fallen through in Glasgow so I ended up in a hotel in the up-and-coming West End, the recently refurbished hipster community. The Lorne Hotel is trying its best to keep up with the neighborhood, but, like a 13-year-old trying to manage make up, it's a little over its ... read more

Soooooo... Der letzte Urlaubstag ist vorbei und damit endet auch dieser Blog. Pick-Up um 9 Uhr, alles wie gewohnt. Oder doch nicht? Natürlich nicht, denn diesmal hat mich nicht Scarlet von Thistle Trekking in ihrem türkisfarbenen Minibus abgeholt, sondern Helmut, ein deutsch-südafrikanischer Schotte gekleidet in Kilt und Sporran (das ist die kleine Tasche, die vorne am Kilt getragen wird). Helmut war mein Guide für den Outlander Day Trip. Nach der mittlerweile ungewohnten Verwendung der deutschen Sprache folgte gleich die zweite Überraschung des Tages: die Dreiergruppe, die eigentlich mit mir für heute gebucht war, hat gestern Abend abgesagt, sodass ich nun meine ganz exklusive Privattour bekam. Und da dachte ich, Outlander sei mittlerweile so ein Megahype, dass ich in einem Bus vollgestopft mit vollverrückten Totalfans lande... Die gebe es aber auch, meinte Helmut. Meist alleinsteh... read more