It seems that going abroad is not as easy or cost effective as it was before the pandemic. We have to pay for multiple Covid-19 tests after returning, and most destinations require us to isolate when we arrive. So I thought to myself...where is the furthest I can go from England without having any restrictions? Scotland was a winner. I already had flight vouchers from a previous flight that was cancelled, which meant that my flight was pretty much free. I stayed at the Euro hostel in Glasgow which cost me £90 for 3 nights in a private room.
Glasgow reminds me of continental Europe because the architecture is very similar in most of these cities. You are guaranteed to find statues of historic figures, bridges, and there will ALWAYS be a statue of a horse somewhere too.
Glasgow is also a city that is known for its street art. Coincidently I found all of these graffiti murals on the same day. Two of them were found on my 30 minute walk to Glasgow cathedral, and the other two were found in Glasgow city centre.
On day 3 I took a day tour to the Scottish highlands. This was the highlight of my trip and I definitely want to come back in the future. I can imagine how beautiful it looks in the winter with snow. I got to see the three sisters mountains in Glencoe. I also got to spend a bit of time in Inveraray which is a small town with old shops. I bought a couple of whiskies here, along with some handmade organic lip balm. Loch Lomond was another stop on the tour where we got to take in some natural scenery along the lake. Oban is a resort town where we had the most free time during the tour. This town is known as the seafood capital of Scotland, with restaurants serving fish that's caught fresh out of the Atlantic ocean. The weather was hot (which is not normal for the UK) and this was good because it meant that I could really enjoy this tour.
On the last day it was hot enough to the point where I could feel that my skin was close to burning. This was also the day that I decided to visit Glasgow botanic gardens. It's a free attraction with many beautiful glasshouses. They had plants from all over the world, and being there made me feel like I was in a rainforest. It has definitely given me more of a desire to travel to South America.
These pictures show all of the food I had in Scotland. I had an avocado and salmon toast because Scotland is known all over the word for having good salmon. Haggis, neeps, and tatties was the meal I was most nervous about trying. It's Scotland's national dish which includes sheep organs, mashed turnip, and mashed potato. The Haggis (sheep organs) was actually VERY nice. To be honest all I could taste was something earthy mixed with herbs. I ordered a Scottish breakfast from my hostel...but you can see that this clearly wasn't right. They gave me chopped tomato...and there was no potato scone or mushrooms. It was still nice though! Whilst in Oban, I had mussels and chips. Mussels are like my favourite fish so of course I was excited to eat them. Cullen skink is a soup made from Haddock and potato. Usually I don't like haddock but this soup was very tasty. Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert which includes oats, cream, crushed raspberries, and Whisky. It was very nice but also more filling than I expected. In the final picture you can see 3 plates of "Scottish tapas" which I ordered from the piper whisky bar. This includes Mince and tatties (minced beef and mash potato), fish and chips, and clapshot (mashed turnip).
