Richie's Scottish Adventure!

First stop... Edinburgh!

After a tranquil and scenic train ride in, especially as I approached Edinburgh, I was filled with feverish excitement. 5 days. 5 precious days of holiday away to travel bonnie Scotland!

I was giddy and literally bouncing off the ceiling at the prospect of getting into my Chinese tourist persona, which involved taking a plethora of non-stop photos, and taking everything this idyllic and at times stunning city had to throw at me.

Equipped with my irksomely heavy rolling suitcase, I traversed as much as I could before my patience wore thin at hauling around this behemoth of a carrier bag. That didn’t prevent me from getting jaw cramps from the breathtaking Edinburgh backdrop.

 It was an absolute joy strolling and at times skipping gleefully through the picturesque, stone cobbled streets of the capital; Edinburgh, you may have a new resident in a year or two, I love it that much! 

Museums, historical sites, parks, quirky Scottish shops, you name it, I was mesmerised by Edinburgh’s beauty: many, many merry hours spent!
With nowhere to go and a heavy wheelie suitcase by my side/rolling behind me, my resolve and my arms were beginning to fail me.

I therefore, as any on the ball tourist does, sought the nearest tourist information point and eventually meandered down Princes Street, where I stumbled across my place of sanctuary for the night: £12 at the Caledonian Backpackers Hostel.

A real fruit salad of cultures it was: Spaniards, Aussies, Swedes, English, Scots, Americans and an extremely garrulous Latvian. The majority of which all joined in on a spontaneous night out which involved a fair amount of merriness, both with and without liquor, which reached a crescendo at a nightclub that reeked of vomit! Yay!

After an impromptu evening of inebriation, I envisaged a morning of throbbing headaches and sure enough it descended upon me with a fury I had not foreseen, rendering me completely of any eloquence and the ability to articulate how I was to get to the bus station to a confused, yet very helpful Czech receptionist; Sorry!

A Megabus journey awaited, which is never much fun, but who cares... next stop, Glasgow!!!! :D

Second stop.... Glasgow!

Messed up the photo again...

After a fairly tumultuous bus journey, (non-stop crying baby, travel sick guests and a toilet door that would not close) which felt like several days rather than hours, a disgruntled, dishevelled and irritable Richie finally trudged off the bus to a sodden Glasgow.

Another cheap hostel awaited, “St. Enoch Square”, where I met an extremely intelligent, hospitable and captivating South Korean-German who was studying law. We spoke for quite some time in the evening on the law system, I loved it. I mean I do love to learn!

Mind powers!

Before that however, I got my tourist mindset in full gear, headed to the nearest tourist information shop and planned my day ahead from there.... HELLO SCIENCE MUSEUM!

What followed were several, knowledge driven hours of science... oh and a prolonged spate of jovial immaturity! See pics for more details.

I have always been mesmerised by the cosmos and my fascination was heightened at the 16:30 planetarium showing, for which I had quite rightly purchased a ticket: I couldn’t wait!

What may have been construed as “badgering”, when referring to my non-stop questioning to the poor planetarium speaker, I finally left the science centre, complete with several pages of note taking, at around 5pm.

Unlike the beautiful Edinburgh, where I was trigger happy snappy snappy with my aging camera, the merchant city of Glasgow possessed none of the charm, character and awe that the capital had in abundance, IMO (for fear of upsetting the Glaswegian tumbleweed which won't read this blog). Personally I feel it is a city trying to reinvent itself and not entirely sure in which way to go about it.

Never judge a book and all that but in terms of photo worthy pictures, let’s just say they were hard to come by. However my unabating optimism and enthusiasm would not waver like a dying ember.

Thriller!

Next up was a strange viewing of Glasgow’s most noteworthy Necropolis park, near St. Mungo’s, which looked over most of the city. A peculiar sight and one for me that encapsulated Glasgow itself... not the image of the icy spectre reaching out a cold withering hand, more the fact of a lack of identity, bolstered by random and quirky jigsaw pieces that don’t quite fit.

George Square!

On an unrelated note I did very much enjoy the Sainsbury’s salad bar and the £3, 9-inch pizza hut margarita: Bargain city!

2014 is a big year for Scotland as many may well know. As I am predisposed to adore sport, my interest lay firmly in the direction of the upcoming Commonwealth Games, rather than Scottish Independence, which would take place in Glasgow itself. 

A more mellow night out was on the agenda in Glasgow with some of my hostel mates, which was good fun; I really do enjoy meeting randomers and off the cuff socialising, ala Interailing 2013. *PLEASE READ MY BLOG, I AM AN ATTENTION SEEKING WHORE!* 

On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed my brief stay in Scotland’s second city, but I cannot foresee me racing back there anytime soon. Soz!

Final stop.. Aberdeen: aka the Granite City!

My third and final stop would be a long overdue reunion with my very good friend from home, Shaun (3^rd from the left). He is currently undergoing his fourth year finals at Aberdeen University, studying Psychology (Good luck to you Bau!).

There wasn’t much to say apart from a lot of laughter, drinking, comradeship, reminiscing, food and Lacrosse (which was awesome!).

A drunken Mayweather no1 pose

If I may permit myself to say a word to two on the city itself, cheers. Aberdeen is an odd city. Not one building in the centre can escape the cloudy paintbrush that has been swept across the city.

The saying “paint the town red” must have been mistranslated when those town painters arrived in their Transit vans/horse and cart/piggy back to say “paint the town grey”. They did a good job at that but again the city itself did not really appeal to me. 

Two days of chilling out with a great mate was just what the Doctor, specifically catered to Richie but has no medical expertise or medication to extend my way, (not really a Dr at all then come to think of it) ordered.

So that was it. My Scottish escapade had come to a magnificent theatrical close. As far as performances go, my mini tour of scratching the Scottish surface delivered with flying colours.

I am becoming so fond of this wonderful country: It’s people, culture, nature, I really could go on. It will be a very sad day when I leave this place.
I may try and change the saying “don’t know what you’ve got until its gone,” to “cherish what you have got for every second it’s worth, because this is frigging amazing,” ... or something a tad catchier!