Scotland

Glasgow

Again, Ryanair came to save the day and finally allowed me to visit Scotland. I booked a flight from Berlin to Glasgow for 10euro and I was due to stay with my friend Erin who I had met in Vancouver at he beginning of my time there. We were such good friends in Canada and stayed in touch constantly almost two years later and I was so excited to reunite with her. I was actually planning on many reunions here in Scotland- It seemed to be the place to be for everyone. Erin and I had a blast together over the next week and even hired a car to go to the highlands which I  have written about seperately. I explore Glasgow while Erin worked and walked all around the city. It is a big city but if you like to walk, it is doable, until the end of the day when you have to return the whole way home- thats when you take advantage of the quirky underground. I explored the Riverside Transport museum, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and even walked to Hillside and the cute alley way of pubs, Ashton Lane.

​Erin and I met with my friends Angi and Karen who I had met in Australia almost ten years before and we took part in a local pub quiz, which we didnt win unfortunately. When we werent in Edinburgh or the highlands, Erin took me around the whole East Side and showed me some cool flea markets and the Necropolis. While in Glasgow I organised a couchsurfing event too where we met some locals and some travellers and had a great night together. I even got to reunite with my friend Analine from my travels and also Rebecca who I worked with on Seabourn Encore. Glasgow was something super special and I was so happy to be able to reunite with some many of my friends in one place. This is a city a lot of people opt to ignore in replacement for Edinburgh, and although they are very very different, I would say that Glasgow should not be missed.

Edinburgh

Erin had planned my itinerary like a pro and had decided that we would go to Edinburgh to explore. She had lived there for over 7 years and knew the city well. We also planned to meet our friend Dominic who we knew from Canada and exlplore the Christmas markets. We took the train from Glas gow Central station to Edinburgh which was less than an hour with some beautiful views, similar to home, beyond the window. In Edinburgh we made our way towards Arthurs Seat which we planned to hike but the terrible weather prevented us from going more than half way. The view however was so nice from up there and It was yet another location spot from the movie Trainspotting. We walked through the city and I took many pictures of the ancient windy streets, Edinburgh Castle, the famous Royal Mile, the gothic style churchs in the old town and the famous Greyfriars Kirkyard (where JK Rowling got the names for her characters), the iconic phone boxes and the scottish bagpipers. We went to a small local pub for a beer which was super cute with its Scottish style, open roaring hot fire and comfy chairs. We decided to carry on and headed towards another bar for a wuick drink before continuing to the Christmas markets. The markets were absolutely stunning and the Christmas spirit was truly alive here with the smell of mulled wine, various foods and with people everywhere enjoying the fun. We met Dom as planned and had some food and some mulled wine for the evening before heading back on the train to Glasgow. Edinburgh was so cute and It was somewhere I had known about my whole life but has never had the chance to go until now.

The Scottish Highlands

Erin had planned for us to hire a car and drive into the highlands towards Lough Lomond and Glencoe. We got up early, braced the icy roads and made our way to pick up the lovely car we had to ourselves for the day. We decided that I would drive in the city and she would drive in the country, both in our skillsets. I started the trip as we headed off towards a small town of Brannach where we stopped for breakfast in the only cafe in town- if you can call it a town. We ordered two veggie breakasts and out came two of the most unusual veggie breakfasts we had ever seen including a potatoe samosa looking thing, beans, eggs, a veggie burger and a hash brown. We planned to hike that day so we ate it all for energy. As we drove higher and higher into the highlands we became surrounded by snow. The scenery was very Queenstown, New Zealand, British Columbia, Canada looking and I was shocked by the incredible scenes at every corner. Scotland was unbelieveable, how had i not been her before. We drove towards Glencoe, stopping at some beautiful places along the way including Glenfinnan (Harry Potter bridge) and Fort Williams. The scenery was incredible as you can see below but as you can imagine, pictures dont do it justice.