Scotland to London ... Thursday!

Well, since I am on vacation from classes, in addition to Glasgow not being a tourist city at all - we all slept in till about 11 am today. Anthony and Thomas were in Scotland for the whole week, so they were going to head to Edinburgh today while I just planned to walk around the city and do some last minute shopping. My plane to London Stansted didn't leave till 8:10 pm so I had plenty of time in the afternoon. But before we split our separate ways we exchanged contact info as they're not that far from me in France and I had a blast hanging out with the two of them - really made Scotland great!

But I headed off... about lunchtime cause I got all my things packed and ready to go later on. I headed out walking towards the main square in the city right in front of the City Chambers, as well as the tourist office for Glasgow. There is a huge area for shopping and food - basically the city center like it's called! So I did some little shopping but more browsing because I couldn't spend all my money before I get to London. One thing I did in Dublin, and wanted to do in Scotland but hadn't yet is to have a traditional Scottish meal. So I asked at the tourist office where to go, and he directed me to the area over by Ingram street. Though naturally when I walked over that way there didnt seem to be a lot of traditional pubs and restaurants - just construction and buildings... I did find a bar/restaurant that looked cool and had what I was looking for - The Blackfrier's. I got in there, ordered a pint of Guinness and Haggis Neeps and Mash - which is traditional Scottish food. Haggis is a meat patty/roll of sheep and various herbs and stuff, Neeps is a yellow turnip mashed, and of course mashed potatoes. It was amazingly good!

After that, I had gotten a map my first day in Glasgow of a walking self-guided tour of medieval Glasgow which sounded cool. However, I read it all while we were coming back from Iverness on the tour yesterday and half the places talked about on this tour no longer exist at all. But being I was right at the start of that tour from the Blackfriar's, I followed it. The main point of this self guided tour was the Glasgow Cathedral, and the area around it. I first went to the oldest house in Glasgow and it wasn't too bad but kinda boring. Then, I went to the Cathedral itself. It was astounding to be inside it and see the old medieval architecture and everything. Compared to the Christ Church in Dublin, the Glasgow Cathedral seemed so much older!

I walked all through the cathedral and just took in it's beauty and history. It was really cool because under the front part of the church is a lower church which holds the grave of St. Mungo, who is well known to the Scot's and Glasgow area. It was just amazing to walk through it all. But what was just as cool as the Cathedral itself, was the Necropolis behind it! There are just so many tombstones, monuments, and more all over this huge hill behind the Cathedral - it just looked amazing! Unfortunately, it was drizzling almost the whole day and at this point was the worst, so I didn't really get to go through the Necropolis. It was also about 4 pm and I had to grab my things and get over to the airport.

By 5 pm I had my ticket via the rail to my airport, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport and got on the train to leave Central Station. However, a few stops later, I realized that I wasn't on the right train - the direction was right but the one I was on started going north instead of south! So I got off at once, and found out that in Central Station there were two trains lined up one behind the other. I got on the second one when I really wanted the first one which went directly towards the airport.

So I waited for the next train to come back to take me back one station so I could catch the right train. I finally figured out what I had to do but it was so slow because we stopped at each stop along the way. By now I had already wasted almost an hour due to the mess up and started worrying about missing my check-in. But thankfully, my dad looked the info up online and got back to me and I had plenty of time. So I finally get to the airport, and go to check my bag in - knowing it would be overweight... but it was 5 kg overweight! So that cost me quite a bit as it was £7.50 per kg overweight plus the cost of checking a bag in at the airport. But I got that settled and just sat down to wait for my flight.

We finally started boarding and as usual with RyanAir, you walk outside and up the ramp to the plane. This time I sat on the aisle as I was towards the back of the line to board and thus less seat selection. But this flight was much better than the other one with RyanAir - a lot smoother take-off though weather made landing a little rough. We ended up arriving in London Stansted 15 min early which was nice! I then got my bags, little worried that I didn't have to have my passport checked or stamped (I hope it doesn't become a problem when I go back to Lille...) and then headed to get my ticket for the Stansted Express which is a rather nice train that takes you into the actual city of London. I got off at the Tottenham Hale stop and from there hopped aboard the Tube - or the underground. After navigating that to the Camden Town stop, I walked to my hostel in London (when I finally found the road it was on!)

I then checked in, paid the fees and such and headed to my room - to find 5 girls in there! Well, I was the one guy in the room among the Slovakian girls but they were cool. This hostel really is not much better in my opinion. It's called Smart Camden Inn. We had to make our own beds at this one - which are not much more than an air mattress. The lockers to store our luggage in are odd and the only key that worked in my room is for one that is horizontal and stacked at top - oh well... The guys showers are right next door, but there are only a few bathrooms spread out through the hostel. The kitchen area seems clean but rather barren and the lounge area is almost nothing and tiny. To top it off, the guy at the desk was rather rude or at least not friendly at all. But, you live and learn when you book hostels online! I'll know better next time then!

Anways, now that I'm all caught up for the most part with everything - it's late and I have a busy day aimed for tomorrow including getting up early! So it's off to bed for me! Cheers!