5 Days in Scotland and England

Glasgow, July 30

After our four days in Iceland, Andrew and I hopped on a short but very delayed flight to Glasgow, Scotland. We only had one day and night in Glasgow before driving to Edinburgh for a day and night, and then down to Beverly, England, for family and wedding festivities. But I was so excited to show Andrew my beloved Scotland and to catch up with my childhood best friend, Tricia, in Glasgow.

Glasgow

We landed in Glasgow to surprising lovely weather and made our way to the rental-car lot, where we were greeted by our ridiculously large SUV. No one drives SUVs in Europe, for good reason. We drove over to Tricia’s house and I nervously walked up to the door. We hadn’t seen each other in well over 10 years. Not only was I going to catch up with her, but I was going to meet her husband and 2 kids for the first time. How are we suddenly grown-ups? But when she opened the door, it was like no time had passed. She was as kind and welcoming as ever, her husband was as nice as anyone can be, and her kids were freaking adorable. We sat in the living room and caught up/got acquainted over a plate full of delicious Scottish treats, and then Tricia and Graeme gave us a tour of their row house. They were almost finished with a complete renovation, which they undertook all by themselves. The place looked fantastic. Then we took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood and little Annie showed us around, but then Andrew and I had to leave to find our Airbnb. We said goodbye to the kids and made plans for Tricia and Graeme to meet us at our rental a few hours later.

Me and Tricia

And then poor Andrew had to navigate downtown Glasgow traffic and confusing streets in our giant car. We missed our street twice and ended up back on the highway each time. When we finally got to the right place, he had to circle the neighborhood for about 20 minutes before finding a parking spot big enough for our bus. Our Airbnb was fine, nothing special, but it would do the trick for one night. Shortly after we settled, Tricia and Graeme arrived (because our navigation and parking troubles took so long). But we were going to be on foot for the rest of the evening, so Andrew was already in a much better mood.

Cathedral bar

We embarked on what became a pub crawl with dinner in between. We were staying near the university, and Graeme recommended a good place to start. After a drink there, we walked through the outskirts of a beautiful university campus and cut through Kelvingrove Park and could hear a big outdoor concert going on. We came out of the park at the West End and hit up a quaint pub for another drink before making our way to the Ox and Finch, which Tricia picked for dinner. The menu was small plates of fresh, local food. Even Andrew liked it, despite his aversion to sharing food. After dinner we headed to a really cool bar in a converted cathedral with great ambiance but rude bartenders. Even Tricia, truly one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, complained about how rude they were. But I couldn’t be bothered. I was having the best time catching up with my dear old friend and thrilled to get to know what a good guy she married. They walked us back to our rental and we had to say goodbye until next time. It was a short catch-up, but well worth it.

Goodnight, Glasgow

Edinburgh, July 31

The next morning Andrew and I walked over to a cute brunch spot recommended by Tricia and then headed off to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, it was more stressful driving and terrible parking for Andrew when we made it to our rental cottage in Leith (fun fact: Leith is a suburb of Edinburgh and the site of Trainspotting. In the 20 years since it was filmed, the village has become a hipster/yuppie area of shops, restaurants, and pubs.) Our cottage was as picturesque as I had hoped when I booked it, full of fresh flowers and cool art and blankets everywhere. But we weren’t there for the cottage.

How cute is this place?

We dropped our bags and started the 20-minute walk into Edinburgh, passing quaint bookstores and pubs with overflowing flower baskets outside. It was another beautiful day and the walk went quickly. We crossed through Princes Street Gardens, which was my favorite spot in Edinburgh last time I went. It was as beautiful as I remembered. Once we hit the Royal Mile (the main strip in Edinburgh overflowing with bars and souvenir shops that leads up to the castle), I could tell Andrew wasn’t impressed. There were so many people on the street we could barely maneuver. I think on a normal day the Royal Mile is packed, but we had really bad timing and arrived the day before the Fringe Festival officially started, so the area was mobbed. But we only had one day, so I forced Andrew to rally and we elbowed our way up to Edinburgh Castle and made our way in. We dutifully wandered for about 20 minutes and I could tell I needed to get Andrew out of the crowds and with a beer.

Princes Street Gardens

We ducked into a cute little pub right on the Royal Mile that miraculously wasn’t crowded, so we had lunch and a pint before hitting the street again. I dragged him into a few shops, looking for a very specific mustard my dad requested, but none of them had it. Then Andrew got to pick the activity, so we went geo-caching. By the time we found a cache, we were both over the crowds and walked out, so we headed back to the cottage to chill for a couple hours. We had a quiet dinner at a pub in Leith and then called it an early night. I was sad Andrew didn’t love my favorite city, but you can’t win them all.

Edinburgh Castle

Beverly, August 1–3

Beverly

Sheep at our cottage

The next morning we were back in our bus, heading south for Beverly. We stopped in Newcastle for lunch, but neither one of us ordered a Newcastle. Lame. We got to Beverly just in time to meet Andrew’s family at a pub. Beverly is a very cute, quintessential British village, and the family was gathered in a pub off the town square. It was a great reunion with his aunts, uncles, and cousins. After a drink there, we all disbanded to meet up at the farm we had rented out for the stay. It was a working farm with cottages scattered around a common area, and we had most of the cottages for the family. Andrew and I went to the grocery store with a couple cousins to get food and drinks for the night and then met everyone at our home for the next few days. When we drove up, my eyes went straight to the fields beyond our cottages, filled with sheep! I’d been chasing sheep all around Iceland, and here they were, just waiting for me in England. We all spent the evening relaxing, eating, drinking, and chatting. There was a fire going in the firepit. The sheep were happily munching grass. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Borrowed fascinators

The next day was Andrew’s cousin’s wedding, the reason we had all descended upon England. We put on our finest, including fascinators for some of the ladies, and took cabs about 20 minutes outside of town to the venue. It was beautiful country spot, with a cabin area (bar and bathrooms) and a big tent on the sprawling lawn for lunch. There was a separate pavilion overlooking a pond where the ceremony was going to take place. Lawn games were set up. There wedding started around noon, and then we all had lunch in the tent. This was my first English wedding, and I don’t think they’re all like this, but it was an all-day affair. After lunch people played lawn games and lounged around, and then around 5 a second group of friends showed up for the party. A food truck appeared offering burgers, hotdogs, and fries for everyone. I thought it was ambitious to host an almost 12-hour wedding, but they pulled it off amazingly. By the time we got home, everyone was tuckered out and I slept like a baby.

Relaxing Andrew

The next day we wandered around Beverly a little and got more supplies for a big family dinner back at the cottages. The bride and groom came over and the whole family got to spend one last night together before people scattered in their different directions. Some were going to Ireland, some to Iceland, but Andrew and I were driving down to London to catch our direct flight back to Austin. It was painful waking up at 3:30 to leave, but it helped that we weren’t the only ones leaving that early.

All in all, the UK was the perfect complement to Iceland. We weren’t really sightseeing as much as we were catching up with friends and family in a beautiful setting. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the last night we all managed to pet one of the sheep and a couple of piglets on the farm. What more could you want?