the life of david volz // a david and tiffany travel blog » glasgow

UK_Travel//9.19.09

david — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:27:28 +0000

(Glasgow, Scotland) Wake up @ 8a. Cold again. Stirling Castle today. Should be pretty great. And we’re off to the train station. We are looking for the 9:43a to Aberdeen calling at Stirling. hmm. Waiting in the station. Enough time for breakfast. Costa. Two caramel coffees. And a chocolate swirl pastry for Tiffany. 9:23a. Platform 4. Board the train. Some very thick accents on this train. Probably, the local Aberdeen residents. Aberdeen is a city in the north east of Scotland. Almost as far north as Inverness in the west. Find seats. Now we wait. Coffee is good. The caramel shot adds to the glory. Train is off. Glasgow outskirts. Interesting. It was dark when we traveled from Fort William. Increible. I have to focus super hard to understand the people on this train. A different brand of English. Riding backwards. Arrive. 10:09a. Fast. Off the train. Out of the station. Stirling is a lovely town. Very Old. Super clean. Shops everywhere. Time to find the information center. Found it. Quite far from the train station. Off to find the castle. Atop a hill. Sounds about right. Really a great town. Up. Up. Up. Castle is big. Massive. Purchase a ticket to tour. Old. 1000AD to 1100AD. Amazing. Sterling Castle. William Wallace and Robert thw Bruce are notable characters here. Whoa. There is some kind of event at the castle today. “A day of Legends”. Numerous Plays/Skits/Dialogues this weekend depicting historical events. Awesome! I love it. We’ll start with the walking tour. 45minutes. 11a. Tour is great. Loads of information. An overview of the castle. Now to explore. High stone walls. Various buildings within the walls. Great hall. Church. Armory. Living area. Castle is great. Photos. William Wallace skit was good. More exploration. Time for lunch. Cafe on the grounds. The Unicorn Cafe. Perfect. Two jacket potatoes, two Pepsi’s, and haggis. Dude. Tastes odd. They linke to mix it with their potatoes. Not the greatest. Done with lunch. A bit more exploring. Leave the castle. Back down into the city. Shops. Small Coffee/Tea shops are everywhere. 2p. 3p. Done. Back to the train station for the ride back to Glasgow. Wait. Earlier train. Nice. No. The train came to the wrong platform. Stopped for 60 seconds. And left. People are a bit upset. Lots of locals waiting for that train. We’ll wait for the original train. Platform 3. On the train. Table seat. That’s a first for the ScotRail. Riding forwards. Also a first. Fast. 25 minutes. No Stops. Back at Queen Street Station Glasgow. Return to our hotel for a quick break. Tired. Back on the streets. Walk around. Exploration. Small boys break dancing on the streets. Awesome. Little Pizzeria on the corner of our street. No name. Nine inch cheese pizza for Tiffany. Twelve inch peperoni for me. Eat dinner in our room. I stopped by a small shop for some soda and treats. Delicious. Pizza was great. Relax before our journey to England tomorrow. Good night world.

UK_Travel//9.18.09

david — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:31:45 +0000

(Glasgow, Scotland) Awake. Another three night stay. Lovely. 8a. Off to the information center to get a map of Stirling for tomorrow. Glasgow is very industrial. Great architecture. Not very historical. Walk to the Cathedral Church of Saint Mungo. Uphill. Typical. Beautiful building. Dark. Very Gothic. Students are scattered around painting and drawing. Giant arches. Stunning. Gargoyles. Lovely cemetery just outside. Somber. Massive. A bit cold. Back to George Street Square to explore. Great area. Though it was a bit creepy last night. Grey skied today. Buchanan Street Subway is right next to our hotel. Purchase discovery ticket. One day pass. 3 pounds per. We’re off to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for a Dr Who exhibit. Yes! 4 minutes til the subway arrives. Creepy sounds coming from the underground tunnel. People waiting are strangely quiet. Similar to a scene from an old horror film. On board. Fast. Yellow and red. Five stops later. We’re off. Awesome. Up some stairs. Kelvin hall subway stop. Back on street level. Alley. Turn right. In the street. Towards museum. 5-10 minute walk. Beautiful. At museum. Incredible building. Gorgeous. Dr Who exhibit signs. Inside. Pick up tickets. Ahh. In the exhibit. Face of Boe. Cybermen. Dalek. Sonic Screwdriver. Timelord watch. Ood. This is great. Absolutely great. I love Dr Who. Exhibit is over. Time to explore the rest of the museum. Rembrandt. Monet. Van Gough. Loads more. Lunch at museum. K.G. Cafe. Coffee for us both. Tiffany had a ham sandwich. I had a mushroom pasta. Out of the museum. Walking back to subway. Back to Buchanan Street Station. Arrive. Now to explore Glasgow Exchange Square. Super old building with a Borders in it. Awesome. Shops everywhere. Apple Store. North Face. A million others. Exploring. Feeling weird after mushroom pasta. Back to hotel for afternoon break. 3:30p. Update blog. Rest. I am tired. A bit of TV. Time to find something to eat for dinner. Back on the streets of Glasgow. Tiff is in the mood for pizza. Me too. Pizza Express. A Eruo chain. Kinda similar to California Pizza Kitchen. Very nice. Peperoni for me. Cheese and tomato for Tiffany. They don’t cut the pizza for you over here. And everyone uses forks to eat it. Strange. Tastes good. Paid. More shops and what not. Explore. Else. Back to hotel for the evening. 8:30p. IT Crowd. Skype with Rachel. I love my family. And it’s over.

UK_Travel//9.17.09

david — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:17:39 +0000

(Glasgow, Scotland) 0107 – Locker. Code: 17483. Woke up at 8a. This hotel/hostel has been great. Very interesting. Check-Out. Back to town. Train station. Left Luggage for 5 pounds. Today we are riding a steam train through the Highlands to the Coast. This is the train they used to film Harry Potter. Nice. Supposed to be the best steam train ride in Europe. Two English people are setting across from us today. They seem very nice. A few kids have boarded the train. “I don’t want to ride backwards daddy.” Beautiful views. Absolutely lovely. Onward to Maliag. A small sea port. 11a. This is great. the Black Loch is to the right. Ocean is to the left. People with us are great. A quick stop at a station. And we’re off for the final leg. Famous white sands of Morar. At the port. Off the train. Perfect town. Fish. Boats. Sea. Gray. Now for lunch. The Tea Room. A small cafe. A girl is playing the fiddle in the distance. Coffees and soup for us both. Fish market across the street. A true sea town. Ocean view. I can see three Scottish Islands. I’ll come back and travel them someday. Numerous viaducts on the train track. Note: This was a round trip from Fort William to Maliag. Mike and Judy. Sitting across from us on the train. Giving us tips for visiting London. They love to travel also. Pulling back into the station. Say farewell to our new friends. 4p. Our train to Glasgow leaves at 17:37. On time. And we’re off to explore Fort William again. Tiffany wants ice cream. Done. Small shop single scoop vanilla for Tiff and a toffee for me. I made a sticky mess. Grocery store. Picked up sandwiches for the train. Tons of sport equipment stores in Fort William. Ahh. Because it is at the base of Ben Nevis. Lots of backpackers waiting for this train. All aboard. straight shot to Glasgow with numerous stops along the way. Stuff packs overhead. Fit great. Sweet. Beautiful scenery. Highlands are much grader that I had originally thought. Massive. Love it. Dude next to me is listening to RadioHead. 8:34p. Estimated arrival at 10p. 10:05p. Getting close. A bit late. And we’re there. Through the station. On George Street Square. Can’t find hotel. Maps. Found it. Kinda scary city at night. Check-In. Call Mom. It’s her birthday. I love my mom. And good night planet earth.