Glasgow, Scotland

After our stay in Edinburgh, we planned to go to Inverness--but there was nearly three feet of snow blocking our path! So we headed West by Southwest to the second largest city in Scotland, Glasgow.

Much newer and more urban than Edinburgh, the experience was completely different from the eerie enlightenment era city. 

The city is full of museums and shopping centers, and is the home of BBC Scotland.

One of these museums was the Museum of Transportation

It was very cool, full of every method of transit from wooden canoes to horse-drawn carriages to hippie vans

And, of course, my personal favorite

A 19th century sailing vessel!!!!

awwww yisssss

Bucket List item--check!

The Tall Ship was in use until the early 1900s, and was SO MUCH BIGGER ON THE INSIDE

The Cargo Hold

It has been turned into a museum so nerds like me (but mostly small children) can learn about ships

Sail storage

Did some 'research' that will come in handy next time I write a pirate story!

After the museums, we wandered around the city for so many hours. Bergen was in charge of the map, so...you can guess what happened. 

If you guessed that we got lost and climbed on things, you would be correct.

We walked a couple hundred miles (exaggeration, sure, but it was a very walking heavy day) and spotted some cool landmarks from the university and museums. 

We did eventually find the Botanical Gardens, which was our destination, and saw some cool things on the way. Parks, various pointy buildings, cool fountains, coffee and belgian fries, etc.

Went to the national museum, saw Thranduil's battle moose. I'd ride it into battle, wouldn't you?

Doctor, is that you?

 Then we struck off across town for our ultimate goal: the Necropolis.

If your graveyard needs its own name, you're probably in Scotland.

The Necropolis takes up basically an entire mountain on the Northeast side of Glasgow

It is the highest point in the city

We managed to hit it right at nightfall and immediately after a nice hard snowflurry, giving us some spectacular views of the city

As well as some admittedly irreverent selfies in a super cool graveyard. Still not nearly as creepy as Edinburgh's graveyards!

We grabbed some IronBru, a soft drink so high in caffeine and sugar that it's illegal in some countries. Workjuice brand perhaps? (self five for an inside joke with myself)

It was a really cool modern city with a lot of really interesting architecture.

All in all, Glasgow was a nice detour from the heavy atmosphere of Edinburgh, and although I wouldn't spend more than two or three days there I'd probably go back just for the things we missed.