Scotland, baby!!
I'm in Scotland!! Have been for almost three whole days now, and is it a fabulous place! Except the weather, of course.
I'm here for the Methodist Conference (I'm here of my own accord...I'm a nerd.) which is happening in Edinburgh. I hadn't really planned on doing much else besides Edinburgh, but last Friday my plans abruptly changed. You see, as some of you will be aware, I'm an idiot. Apparently, I can't read a calendar or in general, and booked my flight to Edinburgh two days before the Conference (and my accomodation) began. What now? Well, might as well take advantage of the situation and see some more of Scotland than just Edinburgh. So I did (am).
I arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday, at about 8:30am. I stayed here for about two hours...enough time to make my way into the city to catch a train to Glasgow. At this point, I hadn't noticed many things that were different from south of the border, except the accents...but don't tell a Scot I said that! I spent about 7 hours in Glasgow. The weather was awful (though as bad as it was, not as bad as it got on Wednesday...more about that later).
Before it got really bad, I made my way from the train station to my first stop in every city...the Cathedral. A very different looking Cathedral than what I often see...the stone is dark! Somebody told me later that the darkness of the stone is due to the industrial nature of Glasgow and the softness of the stone. If they attempted to clean the stone, it would damage too easily. So it stays dirty. That only took about an hour and a half. I had over five hours left to kill. So I hopped one of those touristy sightseeing buses and rode around the city for an hour, listening to a native Scot tell me all about Glasgow. A good way to spend 9 quid and a free hour or so. By this point, it was nearing 2pm and I still hadn't had lunch. So I looked for a pub that was still serving food (most stop at 2) and showing the World Cup matches. I got off the bus in what looked like a promising area for such a venue. And lo and behold, I found one! Matches didn't start until 3, but I wasn't bothered...I was dry, fed, and had a pint in my hand! As I waited for the match to begin (I watched the Germany-Ecuador game), the rain started to come down a bit more steadily. I decided I didn't feel at all guilty for staying inside to watch a soccer game.
Well, all good things must come to an end and so when the match ended, it was time for me to venture out into the rain--to find my bus and make my way back to the train station. Bus never came. So I started walking. It was still raining. Oh well. I'd have a 3 hour train ride to dry off. Finally made it back to the station and got on the train to Oban.
When I told Jenny of my scheduling error, her words to me were, 'You've got to go to Iona!' So I did. However, Iona isn't exactly the easiest place to get to. Did I mention the three hour train ride from Glasgow to Oban? (I think Oban and Glasgow are closer than Glasgow and Edinburgh, though the train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh is only about 50 minutes). Finally get to Oban and into my hotel room to see the last 10 minutes of the England match. (I was bummed when I found out I'd be on the train for the most of it.) This was all in one day. I left my house at 6am and got into Oban about 9:45pm. I was tired. But the next day, I needed to get to Iona. So I got up early to catch the ferry to the Isle of Mull. Yep, Mull, not Iona. The ferry from Oban to Mull is about 45 minutes. Once I got to Mull, I then caught a bus (a coach, actually, driving on a single-track road) across the island. That took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, I took yet another ferry to Iona--another 20 minutes. Did I mention it was raining heavily with gale force winds on the day of the summer solstice? I was cold. I was wet. And I was dealing with several hundred other tourists from all over the world who felt the exact same way. We arrive on the island (after standing on the other side in the rain, waiting for the ferry) and half the people on the ferry headed straight for the restaurant. After eating, I headed to the Abbey (still raining). I stopped by a small convenience store and found they had a fleece on sale! It was quite pricey, but I was quite desperate. The warmest thing I packed was a t-shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and a cardigan. So I got an Iona fleece. Went to the Abbey, which was lovely. Then headed back. Made the entire trip back to Oban. Got to my room, dried off, and then headed to the local pub for a meal and watch the World Cup.
This morning, I got up, got to the train station by 8:15, caught the 3 hour train back to Glasgow (turned into almost 4 hours) and then on to Edinburgh where I sit now. The trip between Oban and Glasgow is absolutely gorgeous! It's incredible the views that I saw from the train. So beautiful. Wish I had more time to just stop and explore for a while. But alas. All good things must come to an end.
Tomorrow I'll go Conferencing and intend to report on what I see over the next three days that I have in Scotland. So stay tuned...or as they say over here...watch this space!
I'm here for the Methodist Conference (I'm here of my own accord...I'm a nerd.) which is happening in Edinburgh. I hadn't really planned on doing much else besides Edinburgh, but last Friday my plans abruptly changed. You see, as some of you will be aware, I'm an idiot. Apparently, I can't read a calendar or in general, and booked my flight to Edinburgh two days before the Conference (and my accomodation) began. What now? Well, might as well take advantage of the situation and see some more of Scotland than just Edinburgh. So I did (am).
I arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday, at about 8:30am. I stayed here for about two hours...enough time to make my way into the city to catch a train to Glasgow. At this point, I hadn't noticed many things that were different from south of the border, except the accents...but don't tell a Scot I said that! I spent about 7 hours in Glasgow. The weather was awful (though as bad as it was, not as bad as it got on Wednesday...more about that later).
Before it got really bad, I made my way from the train station to my first stop in every city...the Cathedral. A very different looking Cathedral than what I often see...the stone is dark! Somebody told me later that the darkness of the stone is due to the industrial nature of Glasgow and the softness of the stone. If they attempted to clean the stone, it would damage too easily. So it stays dirty. That only took about an hour and a half. I had over five hours left to kill. So I hopped one of those touristy sightseeing buses and rode around the city for an hour, listening to a native Scot tell me all about Glasgow. A good way to spend 9 quid and a free hour or so. By this point, it was nearing 2pm and I still hadn't had lunch. So I looked for a pub that was still serving food (most stop at 2) and showing the World Cup matches. I got off the bus in what looked like a promising area for such a venue. And lo and behold, I found one! Matches didn't start until 3, but I wasn't bothered...I was dry, fed, and had a pint in my hand! As I waited for the match to begin (I watched the Germany-Ecuador game), the rain started to come down a bit more steadily. I decided I didn't feel at all guilty for staying inside to watch a soccer game.
Well, all good things must come to an end and so when the match ended, it was time for me to venture out into the rain--to find my bus and make my way back to the train station. Bus never came. So I started walking. It was still raining. Oh well. I'd have a 3 hour train ride to dry off. Finally made it back to the station and got on the train to Oban.
When I told Jenny of my scheduling error, her words to me were, 'You've got to go to Iona!' So I did. However, Iona isn't exactly the easiest place to get to. Did I mention the three hour train ride from Glasgow to Oban? (I think Oban and Glasgow are closer than Glasgow and Edinburgh, though the train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh is only about 50 minutes). Finally get to Oban and into my hotel room to see the last 10 minutes of the England match. (I was bummed when I found out I'd be on the train for the most of it.) This was all in one day. I left my house at 6am and got into Oban about 9:45pm. I was tired. But the next day, I needed to get to Iona. So I got up early to catch the ferry to the Isle of Mull. Yep, Mull, not Iona. The ferry from Oban to Mull is about 45 minutes. Once I got to Mull, I then caught a bus (a coach, actually, driving on a single-track road) across the island. That took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, I took yet another ferry to Iona--another 20 minutes. Did I mention it was raining heavily with gale force winds on the day of the summer solstice? I was cold. I was wet. And I was dealing with several hundred other tourists from all over the world who felt the exact same way. We arrive on the island (after standing on the other side in the rain, waiting for the ferry) and half the people on the ferry headed straight for the restaurant. After eating, I headed to the Abbey (still raining). I stopped by a small convenience store and found they had a fleece on sale! It was quite pricey, but I was quite desperate. The warmest thing I packed was a t-shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and a cardigan. So I got an Iona fleece. Went to the Abbey, which was lovely. Then headed back. Made the entire trip back to Oban. Got to my room, dried off, and then headed to the local pub for a meal and watch the World Cup.
This morning, I got up, got to the train station by 8:15, caught the 3 hour train back to Glasgow (turned into almost 4 hours) and then on to Edinburgh where I sit now. The trip between Oban and Glasgow is absolutely gorgeous! It's incredible the views that I saw from the train. So beautiful. Wish I had more time to just stop and explore for a while. But alas. All good things must come to an end.
Tomorrow I'll go Conferencing and intend to report on what I see over the next three days that I have in Scotland. So stay tuned...or as they say over here...watch this space!
posted by RevSarah at 11:22 PM
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