Living the retirement dream

We are sharing our ideal retirement experiences.

Glasgow

We did a day trip to Glasgow in 2016 with the aforementioned, from the last blog, crew of friends. The trip was spearheaded by Margaret who was very interested in the architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh as her career had been the CFO of a prestigious Boston Architectural Firm. On that day trip we did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour which was quite good with a live narration by a medical student. We also went to the Willow Tearooms with the internal design and furniture by Mackintosh and to the Glasgow School of Art which Mackintosh and his wife both attended.

It was a pleasant and short one hour train ride from Edinburgh to Glasgow. The Queen Street Station was only a couple of blocks from our apartment but we took a taxi anyway as we have a lot of small bags to lug.
We took a brief cab ride to our Air BNB at 121 West George St and were happy to have a lift in the building as we were on the 4th floor.
Our host Collin met us there and we were grateful to him for an early check in.
The two bedroom flat was clean and comfortable.
Our accommodations were very close to the pedestrian only Buchanan Street which is a bustling hub of retail activity, renowned for its blend of boutiques and popular brand stores.
We walked a couple of miles to visit the beautiful Glasgow Cathedral. The building began in 1136 and took 350 years to finish.
It is dedicated to St Mungo also known as St Kentigen. He was a much revered bishop of Glasgow. Tradition says he was buried on this spot in 612. He became somewhat of a cult figure in the Scottish Church.
The building is the most complete medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland, having survived the Protestant Reformation almost intact.
Originally built as a Roman Catholic Cathedral, it passed to the Church of Scotland following the Protestant Reformation of 1560 and remains so to this day.
The Cathedral has an outstanding collection of post-war stain glass.
We almost always light a candle in the churches we visit for someone or something. I think this one Jim lit to ask for our protection as he drove on the left side of the road during our two month stay in Scotland.
Jim suggested we also go into this Royal Infirmary Museum which commemorates the history of the oldest hospital in Glasgow and the only museum in a working hospital in Scotland. It was basically a small one room display with a volunteer/docent who was a retired nurse. She cornered Sandy to educate her on the history of Nursing!!
Glasgow is know for its street art murals to brighten derelict buildings which has transformed the city into an outdoor gallery.
There are around 30-33 murals on an official Glasgow City Center Mural trail which is a self guided tour covering over a mile.
On our second evening in Glasgow we went to see Downton Abbey: A new Era. Now this one Sandy loved. Jim never watched the series so he was a bit lost with the characters but it reminded Sandy of the days in Beacon Hill when the neighbors would gather at Peggy’s house to watch the episodes on TV. She said she might just watch the whole series all over again.
Our last photo before our short two day stay in Glasgow was the River Clyde.
We rented a car in Glasgow for the rest of our tour of Scotland. Here is Jim white knuckled clutching the steering wheel as he bravely takes on driving on the left. He even opted for a stick shift. Sandy’ response to that was WTF. You don’t want to see the terror on Sandy’s face.
Well it did not take him long to feel comfortable behind the wheel and he was driving like a local. Notice the stickers on both sides of the windshield saying “Drive on the left”.
Such great scenery along our drive as we headed to Tarbert for the night.
On our way we came across the picturesque town of Inveraray which is on the western shores of Loch Fyne. It was the home of the Earl of Argyll from the early 15th century.
This is the Main Street where Sandy and Jim bought hats.
Here we are with our new Scottish hats.
We arrived at our final destination in Tarbert
Comfy living room.
Fresh bouquet of fresh red roses greeted us.
Very comfy bed and love having two side table and device outlets.
Kitchen with a great Nespresso coffee machine. We are pleasantly surprised that we have coffee prep option in such a tea drinking country.
We had a fabulous meal at a nearby seafood restaurant called The Red Herring. Sandy had delicious local scallops. Jim opted for a local lamb steak. If you are ever in Tarbert, we can highly recommend this place. Our server was from Montenegro complimented us by saying we looked very stylish.
We were the only customers in the restaurant but observed many locals coming in to get their take out orders of mostly Fish and Chips.
Nice selection of cocktails and wine from the bar.
Despite the raw rainy day the sight of lovely local flower boxes brightens the day.
Can you imagine living here? One wonders how different your life would be.
Less stress perhaps.
A simpler life but then would you feel isolated?
And want to move away or carry on the family tradition of fishing or other local trades.
These are the things we find so interesting and can understand both choices; opting to stay or leave but we are so grateful for those who stay and provide us the experience on our travels of a vastly different, beautiful and simple but hard working culture and life style. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by”. Robert Frost.

We are excited about our next travel to the Scottish Islands so stay tuned for our trip to Islay planned solely for Jim to enjoy their peaty scotch whiskey.

Living our retirement dream

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2 responses to “Glasgow”

  1. Bill Boyle Avatar
    Bill Boyle

    Aiee, ye make the Glasgow look very charming. Beautiful cathedral.
    Have a wee nip of Islay for me.
    Bill

    Reply
  2. peggy scott Avatar
    peggy scott

    Wonderful blog….that cathedral is absolutely amazing. Love the street art murals…what a nice way to cover some otherwise unattractive buildings.
    You two do indeed look “stylish” in your Scottish hats!!!…Enjoy..

    Reply

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