Glasgow to Edinburgh - Day 25

Date: September 12th, 2009
Distance: 65 miles
Country: Scotland
Song of the Day: Nothing Left to Lose - Edentree

Woke up early and had a big (free) breakfast at the hostel. Just simple stuff, but man I had a lot of it. Toast and cereal and tea. Lots of carbs. Got packed up and left the hostel. Since Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, I thought I might look around for a few supplies. I did find a good camping store in town, basically by accident. One of the things that I was badly in need of was a smaller and faster drying towel. The one I have just isn't cutting it and I am tired of drying off with a cold, damp towel. They had some quick drying towels in a fancy case and everything, but they were pretty expensive. I did find one at the bottom of the rack that was lighter, more compact, and faster drying, all for less money. About 20 bucks. Sold. I also got a small (face) towel that I want to sew up into a drying bag. Something to put damp clothes into while they are in my panniers. This will keep the other clothes from getting wet, and hopefully dry them out a bit.

I also found a bike shop and picked up a spare tube. I was hoping to do something about my pedals, because the toe clips I have fit backwards. Basically I think they were installed incorrectly. I was hoping it would be simple with a socket wrench to swap the pedals around, but no. They have some kind of press fit bearing that I didn't want to mess with. So I just left it alone.

Then I took a short tour of downtown Glasgow. Nice place. Nothing really spectacular though. Oh, they did have a necropolis. That was kind of weird. I don't think I have ever been somewhere with one before.

I was also able to get in touch with some relatives over here. My dad's uncle, so my great uncle, has been living in the UK for I don't know how long. I don't think we have ever met, but if so it was probably when I was very young. I actually ended up talking with his son. So I made some arrangements to meet up with them.

Then it was off to Edinburgh. I found the NCN 75 cycle path out of the city. That was pretty good, right along the river Clyde. There were a few minor problems with it though. First, it did tend to wander with the river. Not exactly a straight line. It would also go over the river and back, then over again. Then it would send you back East around a school, then West again. Frankly, the zig-zagging was a little exasperating. Also, there were tree roots growing up under the path, so it made for a bumpy ride. Not a real problem for mountain tires. But on my slicks with a full load I was worried about pinching my tube. Finally, there were bugs. Huge clouds of them fling into my face. (More reason to keep my mouth shut.) The bugs constantly flying into my nose, hair, and helmet were quite annoying.

After that the path kind of dumped me onto the A8 motorway. It was the right direction, but not how I wanted to travel. I got off and ended up in an industrial park. I did find my way though. Just using the sun (which was out) I could find the way I wanted to go. Eventually this led me to a highway just off the motorway that was going the right direction. Followed that basically all the way into the city.

Now Edinburgh is really a spectacular city. It just seems to scream "We are an old and beautiful city". The Victorian buildings and the castle at the top of a huge rock. Really quite stunning. I found a hostel to stay at close to the Royal Mile. I ended up in a room with a girl from Canada, her mother and two aunts. Let the party begin! Actually, they were really nice. Quite fun to talk with as well. They were staying in hostels, not just because it was an inexpensive way to stay, but also because it is so much more fun to meet people. Better than staying in a hotel and being locked away from everyone else. I couldn't agree more. There was also a guy from Iceland, but he was sleeping when I got in. Didn't talk much after he woke up either.

Headed out to the Grassmarket for dinner. Went to a Kurdish restaurant up on the second level of shops above the ones at street level. If you thought Seattle or San Francisco were hilly, I don't think they have anything on Edinburgh. At least the area around the castle. At first the restaraunt didn't have anywhere to sit. I ended up meeting an American living in Denmark. Very cool guy. I guess he was working for Lego on their next generation of robotic systems. He was in Scotland because the town that Lego is headquartered in is quite small and basically boring. So he just went to the airport and got the first ticket out. We ended up talking about travels and so forth. He even let me take his table after he had left.

I also met a Czech guy who had gone outside to smoke. He had moved to Edinburg a couple of years previously and was working and going to university. He was out for the birthday of a friend. I should mention that I was told nightlife in Edinburgh was dead. That if you wanted to have fun, you go to Glasgow, the bigger city. I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but it seems that the people in Edinburgh are way more wild than those from Glasgow. For one thing, people dress up all the time. Not just in nice clothes, I am talking in full costumes. There were a couple of bachelor or bachelorette parties. Other groups were just dressed up for the hell of it. I saw someone dressed up as spiderman, a couple as paramedics. My Czech friend and his mates were all dressed up as cowboys (some with awesome glue on mustaches).

He invited me out to go to a club with them called Frankenstein. So after dinner I headed over there. They wouldn't let me in because of my shorts. Fortunately I had thought ahead. I was wearing my coverable shorts and had brought the pant legs along (one pair of pants does it all). A couple of quick zips later and I was in. The place was done up like a Victorian era Frakenstein's workshop, so that was cool. The music was terrible though. They had a mashup of Michael Jackson, which would have been okay. The changes were quick and the tempo didn't match up well. So it took a second for everyone to find the rythm again. (I haven't found the rythm since 2003, so it didn't matter to me that much.) Hard to dance to. Then it was selections from Grease. Who wants to dance to Olivia Newton John? Finally some Tom Jones. Maybe that is why Glasgow is better, at least they have good music.

The club closed at 1:00, which I thought a bit early. I said goodbye to my Czech friend, but gave him the address for this blog. (Hopefully I will get more people following along as I travel.) I went next door for a late night snack and got a Scottish tablet. Which is cocoa powder and sugar cooked until it is a caramelized chunk. It was good, but even for someone who likes sugar as much as I do I thought it was a bit much.

Across from the hostel I was staying at, two guys were busking with guitars. Mostly playing Oasis tunes. Gotta say, at least they know what they are doing. Easy to dance to, plus everyone knows the words to sing along. One guy walked into the middle of the crowd and busted some smooth dance moves. He made it over to my side and said "Whew, got thought that" then wandered off. I guess he was just trying to get through the crowd. Nice performance though. I threw the guys with the guitars a bit of change and went to bed.

-Dravis