The Sherbrook cattle hotel is another folly castle built in the 1800s but it is still quite grand and features a tartan clad stair case and rooms within the eaves of the hotel. On this visit, as it was a quiet time of year, we got an upgrade to a suite which was stunning. If you are staying for a few days I highly recommend it – it was a large room with a four poster bed and an expansive bathroom with a proper claw footed bath. Dinner was the first order in Glasgow after we checked in so we wandered down the hill from the hotel and jumped on a train into the city centre. On my first trip here I had planned on a meal at the Wee Curry shop but because it literally is tiny, you had to book quite far in advance. I planned this as an activity once again on my last visit but it was closed due to the pandemic. We  hadn’t had an Indian meal since arriving in the UK so decided tonight was the night – The Wee Curry Shop appeared to be closed according to google so when an Indian place popped up in our search of nearby places to eat, we headed there. The name should have been a giveaway – Chaakoo Bombay Café. This wasn’t a cheap and cheerful Indian, rather a hipster place with an Indian menu. Not something we’ve seen at home really. The interior design turned this inner city Gerorgian bank space into a colonial era Bombay or Irani Indian café. Not really the traditional Scottish curry experience but it was quite good. You can get chips with pretty much everything in Scotland and that includes curry. We decided to eschew the chips in favour of more traditional menu treats. We had samosas to start and they were great. Not as spicy as we are used to but seemed to be made in the restaurant. Of course we try the butter chicken – which wasn’t as sweet as the curries in London but also not as strongly tomato based as at home, And the pieces of chicken were breast meat and larger. We also had the Saag Paneer  and Keema Matar, a house made lamb mince curry which was the standout. We paired it with Jerra rice and garlic naan that were larger than a dinner plate. The naan was lighter than those at home and slightly crispy at the edges like a thin pizza base but covered in more butter and less garlic. Tired after the long drive from Isle of Skye, we headed back to the hotel. Sherbrook hotel does a pretty good breakfast – I had the traditional Scottish (although it came with black pudding rather than haggis). Day two was smoked salmon and scrambled. Dan opted for the benny both days. The smoked salmo vn in Scotland is fantastic. Like all breakfasts here it came with toast and in most hotels that means in a toast rack. They also have a small continental buffet which meant juice, yoghurt and fruit. The strawberries were particularly good. Ripened on the plant and red all the way through. Like the ones we grow at home (and unlike the punnets you buy). Sustained it was onwards to the day – another short train trip into town.

Glasgow is not a pretty city. It’s city motto, clearly dreamed up to drive some kind of Glaswegian pride, is ‘people make Glasgow’. And that is exactly the feeling you get here. It’s reputation of as a hard city where there are lots of pub brawls is only part of the story. Like most northern industrial towns in the UK (notwithstanding that there are some pretty swish 19^th century piles in the area where our hotel is located and clearly some money from when shipping drove the UK economy), Glasgow was a trade and shipbuilding town. It is also a monument to Art Nouveau (not my favourite period for design and architecture but important all the same). Charles Rennie Mackintosh was from here and in Glasgow’s hey day was commissioned to complete a number of buildings around the city. These days, like many towns emerging from an industrial past, Glasgow is a hub of artistic endeavour from the murals that grace many of its gable ends to the music scene, where you can find something playing every night of the week – from troubadours in pubs through to late night metal clubs.

After three days soaking up the ancient charms of Edinburgh, we didn’t have the inclination to walk for miles to see the cathedral. And while the transport museum is interesting, I had visited on my last trip so we set about wandering the streets looking for street art and our first mural was one of the best – woodland animals and a highland cow. We found many other murals as we wandered around and came across some comic book shops and second-hand dealers. No matter where we go, Dan has the ability to gravitate us to these kinds of places. Lucky we were in the early part of our trip or there would have been one or two major purchases here. Dan found a Star Wars piece he had not seen before, but which would have been impossible to carry on our travels. I am certain our day in LA just prior to coming home will take us to the end of Hollywood Boulevard that is a treasure trove for these kinds of things. We continued our journey up the main shopping boulevard to the mecca of comic bookstores in Glasgow (well in the UK actually) -Forbidden Planet. I am sure it is associated with the store in NYC but it is definitely a chain in the UK. They even have their own t-shirts (I may have purchased one). We continued our stroll through town searching for murals and coincidentally the last one we found was equally as stunning g as the first – two sides of a laneway were painted – one with a little girl blowing bubbles and the other with a pug bemused by them. After our wander, we headed back to the hotel for a siesta before dropping the car back to Glasgow airport. [Sparky’s Dream – Teenage Fanclub – this was anthemic at the time of its release. The spiffy little hook that the song hung on was just infectious.]

We caught the bus back from the airport to town for an early dinner. We had decided that while here we should embrace the Glaswegian of frying everything so we headed to Blue Lagoon Fish and Chip shop – it has three or four outlets around the city and you can get almost anything battered and fried, including that famed Glaswegian dessert, the fried mars bar. We ordered way more than we could eat (and left quite a bit behind) but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I had the fish and chips (crumbed rather than fried). In retrospect, this probably wasn’t the greatest place to try fish and chips. The way they keep the prices down, and this place really is cheap as chips, is that they give you smaller portions and the fish fillet is about the thickness of a Macca’s cheeseburger rather than the juicy thick fillet of white fish you might get in a pub. The chips were good though – they are hand cut but not the traditional beer battered, crispy kind I am used to. We also took the opportunity to try curry sauce, a staple in this part of Scotland and also Northern Ireland. It wasn’t bad – think a Keens based sauce rather than something truly Indian – but I think I prefer the way they traditionally serve chips in the UK. With malt vinegar. It is among the things that come on the table with everything here. Tomato Ketchup, malt vinegar, brown (HP) sauce, mayonnaise, and occasionally English mustard. The tartare sauce with the fish was also quite good and it came with a reasonable sized lemon wedge. But on to the other more interesting fried foods. There were also battered sausages that were quite good – a bit like a dagwood dog but made with proper sausages. Dan also ordered deep fried pizza. It was made with pretty ordinary pizza with a thick crust and a smear of tomato base and cheese. Dan reckoned it probably would have been quite good if the quality of the pizza was better. Even though I am not the biggest pizza fan, I am not sure why you would ruin a good pizza. There was just one thing left to try –yep, you got it. We couldn’t go past the deep-fried mars bar. And by the way, although completely terrible for you, with all the same (lack of) health benefits as a donut, it was pretty damn good. The molten chocolate released inside the batter as it is quick deep fried presented as a delectably gooey mess – just like the best of desserts. More than one would likely put you in a diabetic coma. But it was so good. [Stupid Girl – Garbage – This band promised so much. Much heralded because Butch Vig produced their album and in large part they delivered. Shirley’s voice is stellar  a band whose albums I feel compelled to buy but this

After dinner, we decided it was time to find a pub and have a pint, preferably one with some music. I had done some research earlier in the day and the only gig I could find that wasn’t sold out was a metal show that kicked off at 11pm. Now while I am quite partial to a large helping of metal, it is definitely not Dan’s cup of tea. I mostly go to metal shows on my own or with mates who are similarly inclined (although most of them reside in other places these days). However, I didn’t think I’d make it to 11pm to go to a show. So we settled for MacSorley’s, a pub with a pretty decent muso playing covers. The pub itself was pretty cool with a loft style area which we headed up to – a couple of pints in hand (Guinness for me of course). I went to the loo at some point – curiously in this part of the world, the toilets in pubs and restaurants seem to always be downstairs in the basement. This one, though was a treasure trove – plastered with posters from shows that played here and in other small Dublin venues in the 70s, 80s and 90s – including one for the infamous two tone tour featuring two of the greatest bands of all time (IMHO) on the same bill – Madness and The Specials. That would have been a show to see. And for the record, I might have stayed out till all hours if that was on offer.

Our two days in Glasgow came to an end with a day of travelling. With our packs on our backs, we wandered down the hill to the train station early to ensure we didn’t miss our train to Stranrear. There was a train change at Ayr which appeared to come with the option of a bus to the ferry terminal. This may have been what I did this time fourteen years ago in reverse. I remember walking up a hill to a train station, which I thought was at Stranrear. When we arrived at Stranrear, it was clear it wasn’t. The station is on an altogether different peninsular to the ferry terminal. There is a bus every two hours following a half hour trek into town, which, coincidentally is where the taxi rank is as well. There were a few taxis at the station booked by people on the train. I flagged one of the drivers down and he put in a call to get one for us. Our driver was awesome. She was extremely helpful with our bags and getting us to the terminal after my request to go to the port turned out to refer to an actual port in a different direction. There was a bit of waiting at the ferry terminal. They let you into a lounge type area about an hour or so before boarding where you can get a pretty ordinary coffee and sandwich. Not sure what it is about ferries in Europe – they all seem to have gold fittings like they are trying to make the ferry look like an opulent way to travel. As it is, ferries are a bit like trains in Australia – used by people who have access to discounted fares. And tourists. And in this case lorry drivers to move freight. I always find the curiosity of duty free shopping on the ferry intriguing. For about half an hour to an hour, you are in international waters and thereby able to shop without British duties. If you smoke or drink a lot, it is probably worth it but I never see people clamouring to get to the merch. The crossing itself is fairly short – about two hours – and is a more pleasant way to travel than by air. Just be warned that weather can affect the ferry. Especially the fast ferry (which we took). Regular readers of this blog will recall I have been caught out by this before…

Fridge Magnets – 5     Postcards – 7     T-shirts – 2   Christmas decorations – 2