A Much Belated Trip Report - Scotland: The Land of Sheep, Roots, Scenery and Chippie Stands!
Mar 4th, 2008, 06:59 PM
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A Much Belated Trip Report - Scotland: The Land of Sheep, Roots, Scenery and Chippie Stands!
Last September my parents (both 70) and I departed Halifax, Canada for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Scotland. They've always wanted to visit Scotland to explore their roots - as have I - and they had never travelled out of North America before. It was my idea to do this trip because I knew they would never go on their own. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to plan our whirlwind adventure without the excellent advice given to me by many helpful Fodorites. So please know how grateful I am, and accept my apologies for being so late with the only payment I have - my trip report. Luckily I kept good notes otherwise my memory would be failing me right now! Also, my photos of the trip are online at http://lifeofmytime.myphotoalbum.com for anyone who is interested.
Day One: Halifax to Glasgow
Our flight left Halifax late Saturday night - around 11:30. All our plans to take it easy that day had gone out the window, so we were fairly exhausted. Plus, my parents had travelled from their home in Cape Breton a couple days before so they had been using my bed and I had slept on the couch. Unfortunately I just could not get to sleep the night before the flight. So we were off to a great start!
Our flight was nothing out of the ordinary, but there was of course the requisite crying baby. So we arrived early Sunday morning on no sleep. We decided we were too tired and crabby to deal with a bus so we cabbed to our hotel. We arrived the lobby of the Kelvingrove Hotel and Valerie kindly let us store our luggage since we were still hours away from check-in time. She was very helpful, giving us tips on attractions and providing us with maps.
We strolled over to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum but it wasn’t set to open for another hour. Although in our sleepless state we thought it was still Saturday and were looking at the Saturday schedule wondering, “Where is everybody?” Once we finally clued in that it was Sunday we walked across the street to the Museum of Transport but they were also slated to open later that morning. We stopped into a centre of some kind where there was a flea market going on because Mom and I needed to “powder our noses”. I asked the ladies at the admission counter if they had public bathrooms we could use. They both giggled and shook their heads no, looking at us incredulously like we were a few cards short of a deck. I must have looked very confused, and after a moment one of them said, “Oh you meant a rest room maybe?” Our first culture shock moment - they thought we were looking for a public shower! Once our noses were freshly powdered, we decided to grab a hop on hop off bus. I had bought the tickets online and they were good for 2 days. So we thought we’d stay on for the entire trip first time around and get our bearings. We sat on the top part of the double decker in the front seats so we had a bird’s eye view of Glasgow. Yay - we were really in Scotland! The bus comes complete with earphones to plug in and listen to an audio tour which was very informative.
When we eventually headed back to the West End, our bus driver recommended the steak and ale pie at a local pub for lunch. - Stirling Castle Pub. Mom and Dad both ordered brunch which included eggs, back bacon, sausage, potato scone, black pudding, beans, toast and mushrooms. They enjoyed it and Mom was especially happy to be reunited with her old childhood favourite - black pudding. After recommendations from both the bus driver and the waitress, I took the plunge and ordered the steak pie. And… let’s just say it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was basically boiled dinner with a piece of pastry on top. But I was still happy to have tried something new. The bill came to 21GBP total.
We were still about 30 minutes early for our check in, so we headed back to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It’s a gorgeous building inside and out and I’m so glad we went. They had an exhibit of Kylie Minogue’s costumes which I was interested in seeing, but the lines were long and we were tired. Couple that with the fact that my parents have never heard of her, and we thought it best to skip the exhibit.
We walked back to the hotel and finally checked in. We were thrilled with our room - very charming with a lot of character but also a modern touch. It was very clean and quite spacious, with a double bed and a single bed. Our room was just below street level with a lovely garden just outside our window. The room was surprisingly quiet considering our proximity to the street. We paid 190GBP total for our triple room for two nights (You can view the Tripadvisor review and photos by going to http://tinyurl.com/2k7a4c. I posted under the same screen name. My review was still pending as I wrote this but should be up soon).
We napped for a couple hours and grudgingly got up to grab a bit to eat for supper. We stopped at a chippie stand for our first dose of fish and chips loaded with salt and vinegar. So good - but I could only eat half of it. Our meal cost only 3.50GBP each. We explored our neighbourhood a bit further and then decided to take it easy for the rest of the night. We headed back to the hotel but couldn’t figure out how to work the TV and we hadn’t thought to bring cards or anything. So we sat around reading and fighting sleep until we eventually lost the battle.
Coming up: Shopping in Glasgow - I’ve never seen a food court quite like this…
Day One: Halifax to Glasgow
Our flight left Halifax late Saturday night - around 11:30. All our plans to take it easy that day had gone out the window, so we were fairly exhausted. Plus, my parents had travelled from their home in Cape Breton a couple days before so they had been using my bed and I had slept on the couch. Unfortunately I just could not get to sleep the night before the flight. So we were off to a great start!
Our flight was nothing out of the ordinary, but there was of course the requisite crying baby. So we arrived early Sunday morning on no sleep. We decided we were too tired and crabby to deal with a bus so we cabbed to our hotel. We arrived the lobby of the Kelvingrove Hotel and Valerie kindly let us store our luggage since we were still hours away from check-in time. She was very helpful, giving us tips on attractions and providing us with maps.
We strolled over to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum but it wasn’t set to open for another hour. Although in our sleepless state we thought it was still Saturday and were looking at the Saturday schedule wondering, “Where is everybody?” Once we finally clued in that it was Sunday we walked across the street to the Museum of Transport but they were also slated to open later that morning. We stopped into a centre of some kind where there was a flea market going on because Mom and I needed to “powder our noses”. I asked the ladies at the admission counter if they had public bathrooms we could use. They both giggled and shook their heads no, looking at us incredulously like we were a few cards short of a deck. I must have looked very confused, and after a moment one of them said, “Oh you meant a rest room maybe?” Our first culture shock moment - they thought we were looking for a public shower! Once our noses were freshly powdered, we decided to grab a hop on hop off bus. I had bought the tickets online and they were good for 2 days. So we thought we’d stay on for the entire trip first time around and get our bearings. We sat on the top part of the double decker in the front seats so we had a bird’s eye view of Glasgow. Yay - we were really in Scotland! The bus comes complete with earphones to plug in and listen to an audio tour which was very informative.
When we eventually headed back to the West End, our bus driver recommended the steak and ale pie at a local pub for lunch. - Stirling Castle Pub. Mom and Dad both ordered brunch which included eggs, back bacon, sausage, potato scone, black pudding, beans, toast and mushrooms. They enjoyed it and Mom was especially happy to be reunited with her old childhood favourite - black pudding. After recommendations from both the bus driver and the waitress, I took the plunge and ordered the steak pie. And… let’s just say it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was basically boiled dinner with a piece of pastry on top. But I was still happy to have tried something new. The bill came to 21GBP total.
We were still about 30 minutes early for our check in, so we headed back to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It’s a gorgeous building inside and out and I’m so glad we went. They had an exhibit of Kylie Minogue’s costumes which I was interested in seeing, but the lines were long and we were tired. Couple that with the fact that my parents have never heard of her, and we thought it best to skip the exhibit.
We walked back to the hotel and finally checked in. We were thrilled with our room - very charming with a lot of character but also a modern touch. It was very clean and quite spacious, with a double bed and a single bed. Our room was just below street level with a lovely garden just outside our window. The room was surprisingly quiet considering our proximity to the street. We paid 190GBP total for our triple room for two nights (You can view the Tripadvisor review and photos by going to http://tinyurl.com/2k7a4c. I posted under the same screen name. My review was still pending as I wrote this but should be up soon).
We napped for a couple hours and grudgingly got up to grab a bit to eat for supper. We stopped at a chippie stand for our first dose of fish and chips loaded with salt and vinegar. So good - but I could only eat half of it. Our meal cost only 3.50GBP each. We explored our neighbourhood a bit further and then decided to take it easy for the rest of the night. We headed back to the hotel but couldn’t figure out how to work the TV and we hadn’t thought to bring cards or anything. So we sat around reading and fighting sleep until we eventually lost the battle.
Coming up: Shopping in Glasgow - I’ve never seen a food court quite like this…
Mar 4th, 2008, 11:45 PM
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I'm glad to see this.
And they're great photo (are you sure you didn't post all 1300 of them?).
You can see your parents- especially your dad- relax across the holiday.
I hope none of you bought one of those Kilt towels?
Your Bohuntine glen is sure bleak and beautiful. Is that where the little church is? I thik I may have visited that graveyard with a friend of mine who has Macdonald relatives buried there. Where exactly is it? Was it what you and your folks were expecting?
You know you can see the poor man's gap for his tooth, in one photo?
And they're great photo (are you sure you didn't post all 1300 of them?).
You can see your parents- especially your dad- relax across the holiday.
I hope none of you bought one of those Kilt towels?
Your Bohuntine glen is sure bleak and beautiful. Is that where the little church is? I thik I may have visited that graveyard with a friend of mine who has Macdonald relatives buried there. Where exactly is it? Was it what you and your folks were expecting?
You know you can see the poor man's gap for his tooth, in one photo?
Mar 5th, 2008, 03:28 AM
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Enjoying your report & photos and looking forward to the rest ! What a nice person you are, of you to arrange this for your parents.
Homing in on the food element (as is my wont
)... I am always disappointed by those pies which are basically a stew with a puff pastry lid. Tbat's what most pubs do - I suppose it's easier for them. I now won't order a pie in a pub without quizzing the person taking the order about what type of pastry is involved & hearing it's not puff pastry. Re the fish supper - £3.50 is very cheap ! It's generally £5 in Edinburgh (and rubbish).
It looks like you were lucky with the weather which I'm glad about - last summer was generally awful.
Homing in on the food element (as is my wont
)... I am always disappointed by those pies which are basically a stew with a puff pastry lid. Tbat's what most pubs do - I suppose it's easier for them. I now won't order a pie in a pub without quizzing the person taking the order about what type of pastry is involved & hearing it's not puff pastry. Re the fish supper - £3.50 is very cheap ! It's generally £5 in Edinburgh (and rubbish). It looks like you were lucky with the weather which I'm glad about - last summer was generally awful.
Mar 5th, 2008, 07:50 PM
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Hey LOMT:
Good to hear from you again. Life gets busy doesn't it. Thanks for posting a trip report. Ain't Scotland great?
I hope you and your parents enjoyed every moment of it.
I look forward to the rest of your report. BTW, your pics are great.
All the best,
d1
Good to hear from you again. Life gets busy doesn't it. Thanks for posting a trip report. Ain't Scotland great?
I hope you and your parents enjoyed every moment of it.
I look forward to the rest of your report. BTW, your pics are great.
All the best,
d1
Mar 7th, 2008, 08:00 AM
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More coming soon... I didn't realize it took so long for reviews to get posted on tripadvisor, so I decided to submit all of them first and wait till they're posted before continuing. That and the fact that I somehow got roped into hosting 2 parties tonight at my house... once all that's over with, the next installment will be here.
Mar 10th, 2008, 09:25 AM
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Bleh - 25 mph winds with 40 mph gusts! We were holding out tents down much of Saturday, and it never got above 60 degrees. No people - no sales. Very draining. The good news is I got a new tax client (one of the other artists) and made some more local connections. Never a zero sum!
Mar 10th, 2008, 10:49 AM
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Yeah, it was down in the 20s Sunday morning. In Florida! In March! Very strange...
I plan on bringing many layers when I go to Scotland in June (to bring the thread back to topic). I know it will be cold and windy up in Orkney!
I plan on bringing many layers when I go to Scotland in June (to bring the thread back to topic). I know it will be cold and windy up in Orkney!
Mar 10th, 2008, 03:50 PM
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<b>Day Two: Glasgow</b>
We slept until about 8am and then wandered up to the breakfast room. This hotel is all about the little things that make a big difference, like the crisp white linen table cloths, and the simple but elegant place settings. We were waited on immediately by Valerie herself. Our breakfast (included in the price of our room) started off with orange juice , plus tea or coffee. Next up was a choice of cereal or porridge. Mom and I went with the porridge and Dad went with his old standby - Special K. The porridge was fine - mom used to make it for us growing up but I was never a huge porridge person. I like it with some brown sugar sprinkled in but they only had white. Then we had a lovely hot breakfast of egg, back bacon, sausage, toast, beans, mushrooms and a potato scone. It was delicious and really hit the spot.
By the time we were ready to hit the road it was almost 11am. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and “hopped off” at Buchanan Galleries. The weather wasn’t too bad - overcast mostly. It rained from time to time, but never for too long. We spent a few hours there doing some shopping. Poor Dad spent the day standing outside of each shop waiting for us. I picked up a few sweaters for myself and a pack of marmalades made with Scotch whiskey to take home to my aunt. We hit the food court for lunch and grabbed some coffee and prepackaged sandwiches for 14GBP total.
We decided to try and find our way to Prince’s Square for more shopping. It started to rain quite heavily on the way, so we ducked into a kilt shop. It was a fortuitous stop for all of us because we found enough souvenirs there that we didn’t really have to worry about looking for much else the rest of the trip.
We arrived at Prince’s Square and we were in awe - so posh! I loved it. Though going through it, we didn’t actually see that many shops. I did manage to find a knit cap I really liked and the folks offered to pick it up as a Christmas gift, so I said sure thing! Then we checked out the food court - if you could even call it that. On the top and bottom floors, there are several restaurants that seemed quite posh as well. Well in relation to most food courts anyway! We chose Darcy’s (which I believe was on the bottom floor) and we were very happy with our choice. They had a full menu, but also offered a fix price menu where you can have a two-course meal for 11.95GBP or a three-course meal for 14.95GBP. You could choose from a limited menu of starters, mains and desserts. Mom went with a two-course meal of chicken breast in piri piri sauce with potatoes and veggies, and an apple crumble for dessert. Dad had the same without dessert. I chose the soy and honey-seared salmon with potatoes and veggies, and a warm caramel shortcake for dessert. It was nothing short of superb. Best meal of the trip so far. With a coffee, a soda, and a bottle of water, the bill came to 39GBP. And my parents treated me to dinner, which was nice.
As great as our meal was, we used up our last hour of shopping since everything closed early due to the bank holiday. We walked around the city a bit, popped into Borders to pick up a road atlas and then tried to find a 16 or 18 bus back to the hotel. The Hop On Hop Off had stopped running for the evening. We got lost (happily for me as I would rather spend the evening exploring the city at night then go back to the hotel to stare at each other until bed time), but we eventually found the bus stop after getting help from another tourist. That probably should have been a red flag, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. So we waited for quite some time at the bus stop, and then asked 2 older ladies how much the bus fare would be. Luckily one of the women asked us where we were headed and let us know we were at the wrong bus stop - these buses were going in the opposite direction. They gave us excellent directions and we found it with no problem. It was just up the street from Borders - where we started. The bus arrived within minutes and we got back to the hotel with just enough time to stare at each other some more before we went to bed at 10:30. We had a 5:30am wake up call to look forward to as we had a very long day ahead of us.
Coming up: White knuckles and clenched teeth - our first day on the road.
We slept until about 8am and then wandered up to the breakfast room. This hotel is all about the little things that make a big difference, like the crisp white linen table cloths, and the simple but elegant place settings. We were waited on immediately by Valerie herself. Our breakfast (included in the price of our room) started off with orange juice , plus tea or coffee. Next up was a choice of cereal or porridge. Mom and I went with the porridge and Dad went with his old standby - Special K. The porridge was fine - mom used to make it for us growing up but I was never a huge porridge person. I like it with some brown sugar sprinkled in but they only had white. Then we had a lovely hot breakfast of egg, back bacon, sausage, toast, beans, mushrooms and a potato scone. It was delicious and really hit the spot.
By the time we were ready to hit the road it was almost 11am. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and “hopped off” at Buchanan Galleries. The weather wasn’t too bad - overcast mostly. It rained from time to time, but never for too long. We spent a few hours there doing some shopping. Poor Dad spent the day standing outside of each shop waiting for us. I picked up a few sweaters for myself and a pack of marmalades made with Scotch whiskey to take home to my aunt. We hit the food court for lunch and grabbed some coffee and prepackaged sandwiches for 14GBP total.
We decided to try and find our way to Prince’s Square for more shopping. It started to rain quite heavily on the way, so we ducked into a kilt shop. It was a fortuitous stop for all of us because we found enough souvenirs there that we didn’t really have to worry about looking for much else the rest of the trip.
We arrived at Prince’s Square and we were in awe - so posh! I loved it. Though going through it, we didn’t actually see that many shops. I did manage to find a knit cap I really liked and the folks offered to pick it up as a Christmas gift, so I said sure thing! Then we checked out the food court - if you could even call it that. On the top and bottom floors, there are several restaurants that seemed quite posh as well. Well in relation to most food courts anyway! We chose Darcy’s (which I believe was on the bottom floor) and we were very happy with our choice. They had a full menu, but also offered a fix price menu where you can have a two-course meal for 11.95GBP or a three-course meal for 14.95GBP. You could choose from a limited menu of starters, mains and desserts. Mom went with a two-course meal of chicken breast in piri piri sauce with potatoes and veggies, and an apple crumble for dessert. Dad had the same without dessert. I chose the soy and honey-seared salmon with potatoes and veggies, and a warm caramel shortcake for dessert. It was nothing short of superb. Best meal of the trip so far. With a coffee, a soda, and a bottle of water, the bill came to 39GBP. And my parents treated me to dinner, which was nice.
As great as our meal was, we used up our last hour of shopping since everything closed early due to the bank holiday. We walked around the city a bit, popped into Borders to pick up a road atlas and then tried to find a 16 or 18 bus back to the hotel. The Hop On Hop Off had stopped running for the evening. We got lost (happily for me as I would rather spend the evening exploring the city at night then go back to the hotel to stare at each other until bed time), but we eventually found the bus stop after getting help from another tourist. That probably should have been a red flag, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. So we waited for quite some time at the bus stop, and then asked 2 older ladies how much the bus fare would be. Luckily one of the women asked us where we were headed and let us know we were at the wrong bus stop - these buses were going in the opposite direction. They gave us excellent directions and we found it with no problem. It was just up the street from Borders - where we started. The bus arrived within minutes and we got back to the hotel with just enough time to stare at each other some more before we went to bed at 10:30. We had a 5:30am wake up call to look forward to as we had a very long day ahead of us.
Coming up: White knuckles and clenched teeth - our first day on the road.
