📍Glasgow, Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇬🇧

Let’s take it back: as a kid (and teenager, and 3 months ago as a grown ass adult), I was always scared when I was home alone. I can’t explain why. But this is a travel blog, not a therapy blog so let’s move on. I decided that on this long adventure, I wanted to spend at least a bit of time traveling alone to get over this unnecessary fear. So, I did and it all started in Glasgow. This blog will just be about my time alone, so if you are looking to read about J’s time, get on him for writing about his solo travels. If you want to read about me, you’re smart and have come to the right place.

Day 1: J and I actually traveled to Glasgow together because of the train schedule. I had booked a bed in a hostel and he decided to stay in a hotel (bougie). We had to run a few errands in the city, so we did those together then ate at Maki & Ramen which was good, but not as good as the Google reviews said it was going to be.

It was finally time. I had to go check into my hostel, but it was already dark out and I was in a city I was unfamiliar with. Did I make J drop me off like I was a child going to sleepaway camp for the first time? Yes. Did I also cry when he was going to leave as if i was 12? Also, yes. Don’t worry, the rest of my time alone I went from 12 years old to a ripe 31 rather quickly, if I do say so myself. I checked into Glasgow Youth Hostel, explored the hostel and just hung out for the night.

When I got into my room, I met a girl named Mariana who was also traveling alone. We quickly became friends bonding over our solo travels.

Day 2: I woke up earlier than usual, probably because I wasn’t that used to sharing a room with five strangers, but everyone was really nice so it wasn’t a problem. I had gotten a few suggestions from the girls in my room and went out for my first adventure to an art/history exhibit at the University of Glasgow. Truly, who am I?! Truthfully, art isn’t my thing, but there was a temporary Mary Queen’s of Scots exhibit that was closing the next day so I thought I’d give it a try. Can confirm: solo traveling does not mean I have changed and I still don’t care for these type of exhibits.

I decided to walk around the rest of the campus and it was beautiful. I am interested as to when the students study potions because I am convinced this is a real life Hogwarts and Harry is in there somewhere. It’s simply the only thing that makes sense.

I took a walk around Kelvingrove Park, which was near my hostel, and then made my way to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Now I know I just said these aren’t always for me, but apparently there are organists that play at 1 pm each day and I wanted to see this massive instrument being played.

Who knew they used their feet? I sure did not. The rest of the museum had some interesting things—I’m sure they all made sense—but remember, not a huge museum girl so I honestly did not read and find out why such random things were spread throughout.

And now for a quick representation of my face during a meal…maybe this museum was for me after all.

Mariana had told me to check out Byres Road because it had a lot of cute restaurants, bars, and antique shops. I was getting pretty hungry, so I walked over to check it out. I saw a place called Bagel Mania but decided I should probably eat something local since I was in Scotland. I walked the street and could not stop thinking about a bagel, so I turned right around and got a bagel to go. The heart wants what the heart wants. I walked around a bit more until I decided it was time for a break. I went back to the hostel, ate my bagel, actually did some laundry, and regrouped.

It was a Saturday so I decided I had to go out to either a pub or a restaurant to get some food. There was a restaurant not too far from the hostel called Hooligan that looked good so I decided to walk over (apparently, food wins over my fear of walking alone at night). I ordered some paprika cured sea bass with this cashew butter and lemme tell ya, it was something special. I also ordered some alcoholic drink because it was Saturday after all.

Day 3: I woke up and just aimlessly walked around while deciding how I wanted to spend my day. Naturally, I was pretty hungry so I went into a deli called Santa Lucia Deli. I ordered not knowing the sandwiches were massive and could probably feed a small village (or me when I’m really hungry). The picture does not do the size justice, but I could only finish half so that should say enough. Edit: *I could finish it all but I was satisfied after just half.*

I started talking to a really nice local couple who gave me a bunch of recommendations around the city. We ended up sitting there for 45 minutes just talking about their upcoming and previous travels, my trip, their kids (who were my age), etc. They mentioned the transportation museum, which other people had also recommended, so I made my way over there. The nice thing about all of these museums and exhibits is that they are free.

Between walking to the museum and walking around it, it had been a few hours since I had eaten. I tried to go to a quaint bakery called Kember & Jones but it was packed and I was not feeling like waiting, so I went to the next place. I saw a loud, rowdy bar so I went to check it out—if the quaint cafe wasn’t it, maybe it was my sign for a Sunday Funday. I went in and found out it was a “reservation only” drag brunch. Clearly, I missed my opportunity for that fun so I found a place a few doors down and had some soup. It was no drag brunch, but it did the trick.

The hostel was close by, so I went back to relax for just a bit and then started talking to my roommate Mariana. She asked if I wanted to do dinner, which was an obvious answer: of course.

Were were both pretty tired from an eventful last few days, so we wanted to go somewhere close. We tried to go to the restaurant I went to, Hooligan, but they had an expensive set menu for their Sunday dinner and we didn’t love what they had to offer, so we decided to try somewhere else (strike 1). We found another place that looked good and wasn’t too far, so we made our way there. They were OUT OF FOOD (strike 2). We finally decided on a sushi place called Nanakusa that was completely open, we could order from the menu, and they had food. WINNING. The food turned out to be amazing.

Remember how this was supposed to be an easy, quick dinner because we were both really tired? Yeah, no. We ended up talking for hours and had amazing life-changing conversations. All good things come from good sushi and you cannot convince me otherwise.

Day 4: Glasgow is known for its wall art, so I looked up a bunch of different artwork I wanted to see and mapped out a route. Ok, so apparently I like art outside, just not in a museum. Can’t explain.

I made a quick stop at George Square and then I was off to see the walls.

And now, wall art enhanced:

One of the guys I met at Oktoberfest was Scottish and happened to live in Glasgow. He was nice enough to meet me for a drink before my time in Glasgow was up.

Day 5: After an eventful four days, my time in Glasgow was up and it was time to find my meeting spot for the start of my tour to Isle of Skye and the Highlands. Time for the next solo adventure!

P.S. During this time J was meeting new friends and having a blast in England.