Quite a few months ago my youngest sister and I decided that we wanted to embark on an international adventure together. Knowing my school breaks ahead of time was very beneficial to us so we decided to get together in March 2016 for Easter break. Thankfully our kind mom could spare her from work and our wonderful father took on her role at the daycare. Therefore, she boarded a plane from one country, and I from another, and we met up to spend a week in......Scotland!
We arrived in Edinburgh late on Friday night (Good Friday that is, and man, seeing her I think it should have been called Great Friday lol #dadism) and picked up our rental car.
We made it! SO happy to see her :)
Our little Fiat. What colour does it look here? ;)
Cute was our word to describe it.
I think it could have fit in the bed of Dad's truck.
And she's off!
Now I have to give huge kudos to my sister for agreeing to do this; renting a car and driving around the country of Scotland in it. We knew it was going to be an adventure but she took on a HUGE role in this. Rental cars are standards/manuals for the most part in Europe, but you can rent automatics it will just cost you an arm & a leg more. Therefore, a standard/manual for us it was. This meant that I couldn't drive. In what may be considered typical North American fashion, I can only drive an automatic. That's what's most prevalent where I come from. Thankfully, Whitney has had a standard that she drove for years so she had the skills we needed that I lacked. Not only was the vehicle a standard, but now we had to drive on the opposite side of the road, and she had to shift with the left hand. :o Oh boy, was there some learning curves here. However, as I knew she would, she took off in that little thing and had it flying in no time. Thank you Whitney! (And thank goodness the clutch was in the regular spot or oh my, it could have been even more fun lol).
Our first night we were staying in Edinburgh at the Hampton Hotel. When we finally located the hotel, after going the wrong way, realizing that roundabouts were going to be the pain in our driving, and trying to get used to the navigation system, we walked into.....a bar. Utterly confused, and lugging stuffed backpacks, we stood in the entrance dumbfounded. Soon a man came up to us and within a brief conversation we realized we were in the right place. In true typical Scottish fashion, our first room of the week was.....above a bar/restaurant. LOL. Without even trying I'd been able to drop us right into one of the stereotypical Scottish adventures we were hoping to have.
The Hampton Hotel was a great place! Super friendly people and although the rooms were above the bar they were clean, comfortable, large and surprisingly quiet. A great first stay for us. :)
Welcome to the Hampton Hotel
What colour does the car look like now
Old stone homes in Edinburgh
"Borrowing" some condiments from the room
A grand staircase and entrance to the rooms
Arrows to keep us tourists on the "right" side of the road
Our MINT GREEN Fiat (a surprise the next morning considering
we thought he was white the night before).
We named him Pep, aka Peppermint.
Back in a land of Cadbury. Gotta have a creme egg for Easter.
#justlikehome
We left Edinburgh and headed north to Falkirk to see The Kelpies. It took a little bit to get to them - a few wrong turns, trying to manoeuvre on the M9, passing by them but not knowing how to get there - but when we did, we were breathless. The Kelpies are MAGNIFICENT works of art that stand metres above the earth, made of steel by artist Andy Scott. After meandering to, around and staring up at them awestruck, we went back to the car for a picnic lunch.
Next, we aimed to go to Stirling Castle. However, let's just say that getting here via vehicle is not for the faint of heart, or for us. The road leading to the castle was a single lane at about a 60° incline with cars parked along one side of the road. Therefore, if you meet someone on the road, one of you has to back up. Considering we were going up, that tended to be our job. Yeah, well that was not a feat we were going to undertake. It was seriously a scary road to try and manipulate, especially in a standard. We did get a lovely view of the castle though from the highway, aka motor way, and it was quite impressive the plateau upon which it was perched overlooking the land.
Whitney's first pass of the trip. Not many more followed lol
Drove by them twice and couldn't figure out how to get there
The Kelpies
Enjoying a picnic lunch in the car
Stirling Castle
Then it was on to our next stop: Renfrew. We were actually planning to go to Glasgow but the accommodations there over the Easter weekend were quite pricey, and I didn't want Whitney to have to manipulate the car through the city. Renfrew was just outside of Glasgow - easier to get to and we could avoid downtown city driving.
When we arrived at our next accommodation, The Ferry Inn, we were at a loss for words. It seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. Seriously. And I was a little concerned about what I'd gotten us into, since I'd booked this place. When we walked in the front door directly into a bar, this time I was not surprised but still unsure of being at the right place. We approached the bartender who immediately began to usher us towards the baby shower that was going on in the next room. This time I was a little surprised by all that was occurring at this moment and felt like I was in some sort of twilight zone. A baby shower, in a bar, in an area that seemed like the middle of nowhere, that was also supposed to be an inn?? We then told the bartender that no, we'd booked a room (we think) and it turns out that he was also innkeeper, further known as Norrie. He quickly led us upstairs (Yes, another room above a bar lol), to a quaint little room. It was very nice! And had the most modern shower I've seen yet in Europe.
The Ferry Inn, Renfrew (outside of Glasgow)
After getting our bearings, we asked Norrie how to get to Glasgow without driving. This man was super friendly, and through his thick Scottish accent we learned that we were in a good location for this endeavour. Turns out we were super close to a bus stop that would take us right into the centre of Glasgow. So, waiting in the rain, we boarded bus #26, bought a ticket on board (gotta love Scotland for this; not an option in most Italian cities), and rode into the centre of the city. It was not too long of a drive and we got an expansive view of the city streets.
Waiting for the bus in, wait for it, ..... rain! lol
Once we reached Glasgow, we first took to strolling around the streets. I absolutely loved the old, stone buildings that depicted history and times gone past, but did so in a clean, up kept fashion. These weren't the only buildings on the streets though as more modern buildings popped up here and there as well.
On the streets of Glasgow
One thing we'd wanted to do while in Scotland was to get a UK sim card. Since we'd be on the road and hopping from place to place we wanted the security of being able to contact people when we needed, and for safety reasons; not solely relying on wifi at wherever we stopped.
So, while in Glasgow we stopped at 3 and purchased a sim card with a UK number for £20. This may seem a little pricey but with unlimited data, a superb number of talk and text minutes, and the security of knowing we had the ability to contact others, it seemed like a good deal for us. That is now four different sim cards I have. I'm ready to return to travel in many countries and stay connected any time. ;)
Next, our grumbling tummies indicated that we needed to nourish ourselves. Finding neat restaurants that served any type of food you'd want was not a difficult task in downtown Glasgow. There were almost too many options for us; just kidding. It was the menu outside The Raven though that spoke loudly to us, and we weren't disappointed. Amid Guinness, craft beer, wings, ribs and nachos that we devoured we were very satisfied.
My craft beer taste tester. Sunburst was the best.
My little Irish woman and her Guinness
Fed and full, we took the bus back to Renfrew. There were some interesting characters on the busses here, from incoherent ones with lacerations to sleeping ones. I'm sure this is common in many cities worldwide. However the Scottish people are very tolerant and understanding, and the bus drivers will intervene when needed.
Prior to leaving for Glasgow, after Norrie had given us directions he also informed us that the pub we were staying above had karaoke that night until 1am and that we'd be welcome to join should we choose. Well we couldn't pass up an opportunity like that. So when we got back to the inn-pub, we dropped our stuff and headed downstairs to check out this scene. A few hours later we'd sang karaoke, danced, enjoyed bevies and had a grand ole time with the locals. And what a traditional experience it was. There were young people, older people, really people of all ages and walks of life. It was honestly just like something you'd see in the movies. And they were all so welcoming of us! It was one of my most favourite experiences of our trip.
Knowing that we'd have to be on the road the next day, and that our trek involved quite a few hours to reach the northern part of Scotland, we bid our adieus and headed to bed with happy hearts but some sore feet.
Karaoke and dancing at the Ferry Inn
Already in the course of 36 hours, Whitney and I had Scottish adventures we'd hoped for but didn't plan on having, met some fabulous people, got lost, got found and experienced doing this while being together again, in true Simonsen road trip style. It'll be interesting to see what the next few days holds for us. :p
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