Bitesized Scotland

Aberdeen Edinburgh and Glasgow

I was very fortunate to be flown to Scotland by work to take part in some field meetings and managed to grab a couple of hours in the afternoon in Aberdeen and a couple of hours in the evening in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

My rather quick bimbles around these beautiful, yet very different cities have left me wanting to make a more thorough investigation into what they have to offer. Quite remarkably not one spot of rain appeared and I was able to enjoy the sunshine everywhere I went.

I now present my whistle-stop taster guide:

Aberdeen

There for such a short time I only had a chance to wander along the very long high street and loop back before having to leave. However I noticed many of it’s shops and markets had names long since disappeared from southern England, almost like stepping back into my childhood. The architecture comprises imposing and majestic granite monolithic buildings and a great park can be found between the main roads down wide stone stairs.

Edinburgh

A dramatic scene awaited me when I walked from my hotel on the wide stone street at the bottom of the hill and walked toward the great road bridges crossing to the old city built repeatedly upon itself almost as a real life Gormenghast:

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Along the Royal Mile toward the great Edinburgh castle I find delightfully steep and beautifully preserved stepped walkways with fabulous names:

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And finally I arrive at the castle itself:

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This is a city made for bimbleling and I am looking forward to whiling away many an hour in its higgledy-piggledy streets.

Glasgow

Put simply, Glasgow is enormous. It is astonishing how far the sprawl of the centre seems to go. Set out on a not completely grid like grid I found it very easy to lose my bearings and loop round on myself whilst failing to find my way home to my hotel. This was made all the more challenging as the setting sun lines up with the streets heading east to west, shining straight into the eyes of pedestrians, making only one side of the street navigable at any one time!

Glasgow is a strange mixture of old and massive ornate stone buildings and new and old concrete monstrosities masquerading as office buildings and somewhere I would like to try and get my head around.

I also have to have a ride on the famous metro underground train, I have heard it is rather cute in comparison to the crazy-busy one I am used to in London.

This post has been waiting to be published for ages as I’ve been hunting for the photos I took. Unfortunately it  looks like they are on the mini-SD card I put in a safe place when I got my new phone. If and when I find it I shall update this post. However if I ever neded an excuse to go to Scotland again I now have one. 🙂

Old Westminster by Gaslight

Its seven o’clock on a Monday night and people begin to gather around Exit 4 of Westminster Tube Station, who will be our guide?

No big signs, no fanfare, our guide appears holding a London Walks leaflet up just enough to draw attention, and off we go on a very pleasant two hour amble about Westminster.

Now I’ve been on many a tour, from the plain ridiculousness which is the Ghost Bus, to the endurance challenge of an open-top Thames Tour boat in a rain storm, to the amphibious fun of the Duck Tours, however it is the walking tours that give you a real feel for this amazing city and this was no exception.

This tour centres around the City of Westminster which is the bit of central London where you find Big Ben, the bell of the infamous Bongs and the Houses of Parliament. Like many areas of this enormous city, Westminster has a fascinating history and is lucky to be blessed with beautiful, ancient and imposing architecture. This coupled with a well spoken and informed guide whose information and delivery were perfectly tailored to the crowd without sounding the least bit tired made for a delightfully atmospheric walk.

Thinking I already knew it all, having been quite attentive in my studies of law making and porevious tours of the city, I was most impressed to be shown the house of T E Lawrence, yup good ole Lawrence of Arabia, and slightly shocked to learn that there are Division Bells installed in not just the Parliamentary buildings but all of the local pubs which give the MPs 8 minutes to rush in and cast their votes!

And the gaslight was beautiful, the milky glow giving the streets a clean hazy feel, though the smell of gas along the embankment did make me glad I have given up smoking… the fear of going kaboom seemed quite justified!

Unfortunately as Parliament is not in session I didn’t get the opportunity to see the MPs yawning and shouting at one another, I do however intend to get there sometime.

Well you have to really don’t you?

I would definitely recommend this to people who would like an introduction to the centre of government and the history of Westminster in a gentle and interesting way. If you aren’t really into the history and want mad crazy japes around town, you’d probably be better jumping onto something with a motor.