Belfast to Glasgow

Hello everyone,

So, Tues 10th of July.

We woke up early on our last day at the Linen House hostel and got all of our things together for our 10:30 checkout time. The plan for today was to make our way to Glasgow, and then see what there was to do. Our ferry departed at 11:30, so we had an hour to get to the docks. The plan went from taking public transit to just taking a taxi. It cost us 10 pounds to get from our hostel to the docks, but it was well worth it because of the many turns we had to take. 

Our gorgeous view outside the ferry

We got our tickets, then checked in our bags. It was here that we encountered 2 police officers who asked us for our passports and a variety of questions, including "Aren't you two too young to be travelling?". Everything was fine and we checked into our ferry and tried to find ourselves some seats, and soon after we ate. We were then amazed to find out that the ferry had wifi, and interestingly enough the wifi network was called "Internet@Sea".

The mirrored ceiling

While eating I noticed that the entire ceiling of the area we were sitting in was mirrored, and just had to take a picture of us. After eating, we decided to explore a bit in this ferry, and here were some of the things we found.

Cinema

We thought, OK, a cinema, this is a pretty great ferry, and really interesting. We kept asking ourselves why can't ferrys be this nice in Canada? and our entire journey only cost £27. We then continued around to search for more of the luxuries available on the ferry.

Casino

Next amazing addition to the ferry we found was a casino. Our wits kept us from spending all the money in our bank account on these machines, and we just continued on through the ferry.

Jacuzzi 

We decided to head upstairs to the 10th deck (we only had access to decks 7 - 10), and we found out that, was where the most luxurious things were. We passed by the suites you could get for an additional £15, then we came to the end of a hallway to find... a Jacuzzi tub. We were completely blown away at the luxury of the ferry... unfortunately we were only allowed to stay on it for the 2 hours we were travelling across the Irish sea.

First glimpse of Scotland

So we left the port in Scotland and this was the first sight we were greeted with (not rain). From there we caught a bus that would take us about 45 miles in an hour to Ayr, because of curving roads and around a giant bay. From Ayr we caught the Scotrail train that would take us straight the Glasgow.

Fast train ride

The public trains in Scotland was absolutely great. We went from Ayr to Glasgow Central Station in just about 52 minutes, going at a crazy fast speed. We arrived in Glasgow central station, a bit tired after our long journey, but ready to explore a new city.

Glasgow Central Station

This is the great view from inside Glasgow Central, which has the biggest glass roof in the world. There was an enormous clock, and it was amazing to see all the of the trains depart one after another in perfect time. As soon as the second would turn on the digital clocks that were around the train would leave.

First glimpse of Glasgow

Leaving the station our first view was this impressive building. Me and Daniel both really enjoyed looking at the architecture here, and were amazed by it as well. One thing that was absolutely drove me crazy were the hills. Our entire walk to our hostel was up hill. Daniel assured me that I would have to get used to it, and all of Scotland was hilly, as well as Rome, but boy, did it suck to be walking up for most of the time while carrying my backpack.

Steak and Haggis Dinner

 We went to our hostel, checked in and were very lucky to be assigned a 4 bed private room, where it was only the two of us. We spread out, got comfortable, and enjoyed the privacy and comfort for a little while. We then got up, and since we liked Glasgow, we decided we would stay another night there. After booking our extra night, in our awesome room, we decided to go out and get a good dinner at the local Wetherspoons. I decided to get steak and haggis, and Daniel opted for only steak, as he wanted to try haggis in a smaller town, where it would be more authentic.

Trying haggis took a bit of guts at first, because essentially it was all of a sheep's vital internal organs boiled, then minced, then mixed with spices, herbes and oats. Then that concoction is boiled in the stomach of the sheep, cut out and served... It did not sound particularly appetizing, but it was absolutely delicious.

A TARDIS!

After dinner, Daniel and I decided to walk around the city and explore a bit. We got to go down and around two of the pedestrian only streets in Glasgow, and we were amazed to find something that only existed in Doctor Who for us. For those who don't watch Doctor Who, show a friend who watches it this picture for sure.

After completing a walk around the city, we came back to our hostel, and slept like kings in our 4 person room.

- Kamaljot