Gen Y-er On The Loose: My 2024 European Escapade

Friday, August 2, 2024

My 2024 European Escapade - Part 1: Glasgow

All right! It's another travel blog! This time I'm journaling my recent (June-July, 2024) trip to Europe, which included visits to Glasgow, Stirling, Edinburgh, Aberdeen & surrounding areas, Scotland; London, Chatham, and Southampton, England; Skagen & Copenhagen Denmark; Warnemünde, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; and Klaipėda, Lithuania.

I left Portland on the afternoon of June 17th. I had two flights to look forward to -- a 7.5 hour and a 2-hour -- plus a 4-hour layover in Reykjavik, Iceland.

On my first (and longer) flight, I got a seat in an emergency exit row. Most rows had two sets of three seats, but my row was missing the window seats. So I (in the "middle" seat) got a bunch of extra legroom, plus two tray tables! The only downside was it was about 5 feet away from the restroom, and I didn't get my own window.

In Reykjavik, I had... breakfast? Lunch? Something.

Icelandic chocolate is interesting -- it has a licorice flair.

My second flight was less comfortable; I got an actual middle seat. Hello, smushedness.

I arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, around 1:30pm UK time. I then walked to my hotel, the Courtyard By Marriott Glasgow Airport. It wasn't as close as Google maps had led me to believe. Still, I made it. It was too early for me to check in when I arrived, so I got a sandwich at the hotel's bistro.

It was very good.

At 3pm, I went to check in. The hotel's cleaning staff appeared to be running behind, so I had to wait in the lobby for about 25 minutes before I was given the key to my room.

Ah, this glorious sight! It was 3:30pm in Glasgow and 7:30am in Portland. I'd been awake for about 24 hours at this point. So off to sleep I went! And boy, did I sleep. I slept for about 10 hours and woke up at... 2am. Ugh. I spent the next eight hours listening to audiobooks and playing on my phone.

June 19th

I checked out of the hotel around 10am and attempted to make my way into the city centre. I kept going around in circles looking for one particular bus stop. Finally, I gave up and walked back to the airport, where I caught an airport bus into town.

I hopped another bus after that and made my way to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It's free, and I'd read online that they do luggage storage. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I learned this service cost £2... cash only. I only had £1 with me, so I backtracked, went into a convenience store, got some cash from an ATM, and made change by purchasing these delicious "biscuits"...

Finally, I was able to hand off my large backpack, and I went on to enjoy the museum.

The Kelvingrove was pretty average as museums go. That almost sounds like I'm insulting it, but no... it was as good as most museums of its size. It had sculptures, paintings, all the stuff.

Giant spectacles? Check!

This hall was really pretty, and at the back was a massive pipe organ.

In the early afternoon, an organist came out and gave a concert. I recognized the Theme From The Mission, a Billy Joel song (it might have been Piano Man?) and a few others. Then he played one that got a roomful of 50-plussers to sing along. Any guesses as to what that was? Could it be any other?

This enormous section of tree came from Canada and is displayed here because A) The wood is Douglas Fir, and B) the botanist David Douglas (after whom the tree was named) was Scottish. (Look, reasons are reasons, okay?)

I got some lunch at the cafe in the museum. At the gift shop I bought international postage stamps and 3 postcards, which I mailed 2 days later, and that (as of August 2) still haven't reached their intended recipients. (Update: One was received, I just learned. The plot thinnens.)

After collecting my checked bag, I made my way to my hotel via walking and one short bus ride...

I had made reservations at the Ambassador Hotel for the next two nights. It's a little bit outside the main city centre but it's still close enough to important things like shops and public transport.

I had a single room, and it was rather small, but it was a penthouse apartment compared to the one I would have later in London. The floor squeaked so badly I was sure the building was 100 years old at least, but when I asked the guy at the front desk he said it was built in the 1980s. Yikes! Well, I guess I creak a bit sometimes, too.

After checking in, I headed to a nearby mini mart for some groceries. I had crumpets and jam cookies for dinner, which is a pretty nice meal, as meals go.

June 20th

One place I really wanted to visit in Glasgow was the Necropolis. It sounded so cool! And it was. It's a huge cemetery with hills and steps and all kinds of old grave markers. Over 50,000 people are buried there, but there are far fewer stone markers than that.

I have a handful of ancestors who lived and died in Scotland, but I wasn't really expecting to find any of them at the Necropolis. BUT I DID! I found a great-great-great-something uncle's grave marker. Cool.

Next I visited Glasgow Cathedral, which is a short walk from the Necropolis...

I then went to the LEGO store, where I got a passport and my first (of many) passport stamps.

From there I headed to the train station, because I'd booked a ticket to Stirling (kind of northeast of Glasgow) to visit Stirling Castle. I'd arranged my tickets so I'd arrive in town about an hour and a half before my castle entrance time. So once I arrived in town I began walking up to the castle via a roundabout way. It turned out to be TOO roundabout, because I ended up walking for miles.

Half a mile? Be not fooled. This was near the end of my walk.

Don't blink -- this is the one and only selfie I took on the entire trip. Enjoy.

Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old

Eventually I reached the castle itself, and I spent about an hour looking around. Stirling Castle is very important in Scottish history. Our girl Mary Queen Of Scots spent some time there. But it hasn't been lived in in many years.

The castle, in 2024, is decorated with tapestries and furniture, but most of those things seem to be recent reproductions. The castle looks old, but all the added interior stuff gives it an air of artificiality. There are also random statues/figures/mannequins hanging around. It definitely feels like the kind of place you'd take school groups on field trips. That said, I enjoyed the architecture, I enjoyed the surrounding views, and I enjoyed walking through the town, so... overall, a nice visit!