Glasgow, Scotland

To celebrate fifteen years of marriage, we booked a trip to Scotland! When I was a little kid, my family visited Scotland and I fell in love with the green landscape and bagpipers on the street corner. Ever since I have been dreaming of my return. 

Most of our trip was spent with our Rick Steves tour group (more on that later), but the first day was spent in Glasgow on our own. We flew into Glasgow airport, took the airport shuttle bus downtown and explored the city. I wish we could have spent more time in Glasgow, but that just means we will have to return in the future to see more. 

Our first excursion was meant to be a spooky tour of Glasgow the first night we arrived. However, with 100% chance of rain (and a lot of rain at that), we opted to skip out. It sounded like it was going to be a really interesting tour, so I am a little bummed that the weather was so poor. Next time... 

On our first full day, we headed to the Tenement House. It's a small museum for a slice of life in Glasgow's recent past. We visited something similar in Bulgaria so I was curious to see this place. It did not take very long to go through it all, but it was fun to look at all the old everyday items that were showcased throughout the museum. They also had a fantastic gift shop! 

Glasgow is known for its plethora of street art. Next time I visit, I hope to take a street art walking tour to see more of it. However, just walking around we saw quite a few pieces. This one is said to depict their patron saint, Saint Mungo. 

When in the UK, you almost have to do two things: ride on a double decker bus and drink tea. Well, we crossed off both of those in one go with an afternoon tea experience ON a vintage double decker bus! It was a rainy day, so this was a convenient way to see the city while sipping on delicious tea and enjoying little sandwiches and desserts.

After our ride around Glasgow, we walked over to the Glasgow Cathedral to see it. We have visited many churches and cathedrals around Europe. This one had the most number of people working (or volunteering?) inside. 

One really great thing about visiting Scotland is that it's an English speaking country. I love visiting other places in Europe, but there was something so convenient about not having to translate restaurant menus. For our final dinner in Glasgow, we opted to visit Stack & Still for pancakes. They offer both sweet and savory options. We ordered one savory and one sweet and shared.