Glasgow

This afternoon I got back to London after my weekend in Glasgow and the Highlands, and my lukewarm take is that Scotland is a better place than England. It’s cheaper, it’s infinitely more beautiful, it has better food and it’s universally accepted that the Tory government are scum. Admittedly, it does rain quite a lot, but given that I invested in some nice waterproof trousers last week, even that couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm for Caledonia.

We climbed Ben Nevis on Friday, and it was an incredible experience. The guide for the route we were taking (the easiest one) advised to allow 7-9 hours for the ascent and descent, so we predicted it’d take us around 6, but then did the whole thing in less than 4 and were somewhat impressed with ourselves, particularly given that we did all the usual faffing that comes with this kind of thing; taking photos, wandering in circles at the top, adding or removing clothes, inhaling flapjacks. The views were breathtaking, or at least they were while they lasted, as the top of the mountain was wholly shrouded in clouds. Visibility was poor, the wind was biting and it was snowing hard, but I loved it; it felt like we had journeyed to another world.

Oban was also wonderfully lovely, we spent the night there and enjoyed some of its famous fish and chips, and I got my fix of being by the sea for another few weeks. We also went to a Spoons that sold beer for £2.10/pint, or about a third of what I have grown accustomed to paying. Driving in the Highlands, through places like Loch Lomond and Glencoe, is beautiful and calming, and made me want to go back to do a proper road trip around the country at some point soon.

Glasgow itself also exceeded my expectations. I’m sure there are some not-so-nice bits of it, but everywhere we went seemed clean and friendly, the architecture was interesting and the food and drink consistently both great tasting and great value for money. We even bumped into Beth Potter while having a pizza.

It was an amazing break from the stress of my usual life, which is exactly waht I wanted. I’ll definitely go back soon.