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Europe Netherlands West Africa Trip 2019

Layover in Amsterdam

I landed in Amsterdam en route from Vancouver to Accra. I had only a 7 hour layover (it should have been 8, but snow in Minnesota delayed us). A layover in Amsterdam is always a great idea. Immigration is a breeze and the train whisks you directly from the airport to the Centraal area in 15 minutes.

It was early when I arrived. Still dark, but it was a perfect time to walk along the canals as the sun came up. It was December 1st. The streets were misty and the Christmas lights were out. Not much was open and the streets were mostly empty and quiet. Even the windows in the red light district were empty.

I happily walked along bundled up in outerwear i would discard before going back to the airport (no need of a jacket, gloves, and toque in Ghana) and took pictures.

I hadn’t been to Amsterdam in 12 years so its sights ere familiar and welcome. Amsterdam was the first place I ever went to in Europe, outside of the UK, 24 years ago, so it has a special place in my memory.

By 9am i was at the Rijksmuseum, just as it opened. There was a special exhibit on Rembrandt and Velázquez I decided to see. It was wonderful.

I took a quick turn through another few rooms and stopped by the library.

At 11am I walked back to the Centraal area, the streets now lively, and had a coffee and sandwich at a cute, tiny cafe before heading back to the airport. I was in the city for about 5 of my 7 hours. It was perfect.

On my way back into the train station, i stripped off my winter wear, and left it near a couple of homeless guys sleeping in the station. Next stop would be Accra.

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Rila Monastery, Bulgaria

Having seen the sites of Sofia on my first day, I decided to go to see what is one of Bulgaria’s most famous sites – the Rila Monastery – on my second day. It is a couple hours outside of the city. It is possible t get there by public transit, but there didn’t seem to be any seamless options and there was an infrequency of public buses so I decided to book one of the many tour mini-buses that takes people from Sofia to the Boyana Church, to Rila Monastery and back again. Hassle free.

It was good in most respects. I saw two wonderful sites I could not have easily seen on my own, I saw a bit of the countryside, and relaxed on the ride. The way in which it was not so good was the incessant talking of the guide. She talked the whole way to the monastery. She told us the population of every town we passed, which region was settled when, the elevation of mountains, how many types of wild goats there were.
…It was so boring. I wanted to shoot myself. There was a lot of historical information being shared, but it was the most dull of trivia amounting to what happened when. I eventually opted for podcasts on my headphones. (And I like historical trivia.) Oh, and at the start of the trip she made each of us introduce ourselves to the rest of the group. (I wish I had a picture of my face at that moment.) Not really my cup of tea, but everything else was good.

We stopped at Boyana Church, a UNESCO blessed medieval church filled with colourful murals. It was lovely and I did enjoy the brief explanation about the various saints and painting styles. No photos were allowed inside, but it is worth a google.

We finally arrived at Rila Monastery, surrounded by glorious fall foliage. It was raining, but that did nothing to detract from the beauty of the buildings.

Such an interesting combination of colours, geometric patterns, and religious murals. I took A Lot of pictures. Inside the church it was guilded ornamentation, though no photos were allowed.

*Man selling souvenirs at Rila Monastery*

After wandering around for a while, I went and had lunch as a cosy stone restaurant just outside the monastery with a roaring fire. I had a shopska salad and yogurt with honey and walnuts. (They are very proud of their yogurt in Bulgaria. Apparently it has some kind of magical enzymes unique to Bulgaria. It is very good. I wish I could do a taste test with the King of Curds yogurt in Bhaktapur.)

Then we drove back to the city. Pleasantly listening to Bulgarian traditional music en route.

Back at the city I decided to walk in search of another cigar lounge. It turned out to be a very posh neighbourhood. The kind with embassies and restaurants that serve only caviar. I did eventually find the cigar lounge but was told that I could not smoke inside as I would have to register and that would take months. I feel like my appearance may not have been to their liking. (To be fair, I hadn’t showered.) I was a little grumpy about being turned away, but it was so beautiful out, walking in the dark through crispy leaves past cute little bistros. I walked back to Vitoska Boulevard where I enjoyed a glass of Bulgarian red wine, a vegan pizza, and two cigars.

And that was Sofia. The next morning I took the metro back to the airport and three flights later I was back at home.

I really liked what I saw of Bulgaria. It was just a small taste, but it was good and I left feeling satisfied. I know that I will return to some naysayers who will go on about how a weekend is not enough time to see a country (of course it isn’t but it is enough to see something), but I had an amazing time and will probably do it again.

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Sofia, Bulgaria

Ever since I did my first international long weekend trip (Mexico City, last year) I have been experimenting with these micro trips. Where is possible in four days? I’ve also done four-day to El Salvador, Havana, and Panama City, but when I saw a low cost flight to London the night before the Remembrance Day long weekend, I thought, why not Europe?

To clarify, I live in Vancouver, so Europe is pretty far, but if I can fly when I would otherwise be sleeping, I could manage at least 2 days and 3 nights in my destination. Not bad.

I’ll spare you the process by which I picked Sofia, Bulgaria (let’s just say it involved a spreadsheet), but I did pick Sofia, and that is how I came to spend my long weekend in Bulgaria. At present I am flying home and feeling pretty pleased with myself.

I landed in Sofia at 10:50pm on Friday, having flown from Vancouver to London to Sofia. No hassles at the airport, I exchanged some Euros into Bulgarian Levs and was at the metro station by 11:15. The metro is right at Terminal 2 and will take you right to the historical centre (starting from Serdica station) which is where you should be going if you’re traveling for pleasure. The train ends at the airport, so it is impossible to get on the wrong train, leaving the airport. What it is possible to do is foolishly pay for your 1.60 Lev ticket in the machine with a 20 Lev note, as I did, and get ALL your change in 10 cent coins, as I did. It was like a slot machine. I spent the rest of the next day paying for things with my sack of coins. (As I turned around from the machine, I saw a lady at a window from whom I could have bought a ticket.)

I arrived at Serdica station and walked to Hostel Mostel. I booked a private room, which was $30 cdn a night, in a great location,and included free breakfast and free dinner, and other added bonuses like free walking tours and pub crawls daily. The dorms are an even better bargain. It is kind of a legendary hostel and I can say it deserves its reputation.

Anyway, I went to bed, which was tough because walking from the metro, then almost midnight, the streets, bars, and restaurants were lively. But I had sightseeing planned for the next day.

Sofia is perfect for a weekend city break. It is beautiful, cheap, and all of its wonderful sites are clustered close together in the historic centre. I set out after breakfast a about 8 am and by 3 pm I had pretty much seen what I wanted to see and spent the rest of the day wandering a bit more aimlessly and leisurely.

*Krystal Garden monument to Stefan Stambolov*

Sofia has some truly stunning churches and they are all free to visit as they are not relics; they are active places of worship. I think all of the churches I visited were in the midst of a service, with prayer and singing swirling with the candle and incense smoke. I tried to pretend I was entering as a worshiper, crossing myself in the orthodox way, but I don’t think anyone was buying it.

Of course, the highlight was Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which I walked circles around, taking pictures – lots of pictures – trying to find just the right angles and taking several wholly unsuccessful selfies.

Some churches did not allow photos inside, but I was happy to be able to capture a few of the warm interiors, with their beautiful paintings. (The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral charges I think 7 Lev for a photo permit, but the kiosk to buy the permit was closed when I was there so I just snapped a few shots surreptitiously.)

And it wasn’t just churches; mosques and synagogues represented with equally compelling architecture.

The streets of central Sofia are lined with imposing and impressive buildings, which made just wandering around a delight.

Even the main street that passed through all these architectural riches was delightful. An actual yellow brick road.

I browsed at a small flea market, which had many icons and antiques. I found a few cigarette boxes that looked interesting at first, only to discover that they had swastikas on them. There was a lot of Nazi trinkets for sale there along side old trumpets, cameras, and opera glasses. I walked away empty handed.

The weather was perfect. In the mid high teens (Celsius) and sunny. I had to take my jacket off whilst sitting on a patio.

I hit a couple of eateries. A cafe and a proper restaurant. I tried a banista, the traditional cold yogurt soup (tarator), and berkova livtivka, a spread made mostly of local white cheese and super hot peppers. All pretty good. There are loads of inviting bakeries, cafes, food kiosks, and restaurants, but with only two days there is only so much eating I can do.

Everyone I encountered was friendly. Many people spoke no English, but usually there would be someone around who could assist where my phrasebook failed me. I did practice some Bulgarian phrases, which the security guard at the crypt museum was happy to help me with. Oh, yes, I went to the crypt museum at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was pleasant but in my opinion one could skip it, unless you have a bottomless appetite for 17th and 18th century icons. There are so many on display in the churches anyway.

I walked up to the “ladies market”, which is just an outdoor market selling fruits and vegetables, honey, nuts, and an assortment of household goods, like brooms and blankets. The market was thoroughly skippable, but I had some extra time, though the walk there was more interesting than the market itself.

I did see a little bit of street art en route.

Finally i strolled Vitoshka Boulevard, a pedestrian street link with busy restaurants and mediocre shops. As night it is a swell place to go for a bite and despite smoking being banned inside, smoking outside is fine, so I was happy to grab a table and people watch the next night

*Statue of Aleko Konstantinov, lawyer, writer, founder of tourism in Bulgaria*

On my first evening however, I opted to grab a cheap slice of pizza and head over to La Casa del Habano for a couple of cigars, including a regional Bulgarian edition Bolivar. If you smoke cigars, it’s pretty cool. Trust me.

And that was day one. The only thing I would have done differently knowing what I know now, is I would have skipped the market and the walk to the cultural centre and the stroll down Vitoshka (because I’d end up there anyway), and instead taken transit to the museum of communist art. But that is a small quibble. It was a perfect day; I saw the highlights of Sofia and was ready to venture outside of the city the next day.

Azerbaijan trip 2019 England Europe United Kingdom

London Layover

I decided to go to Azerbaijan because I had about 10 days of holiday to use and I had loved a previous trip to neighbouring Georgia so much that I thought it was time I returned to the Caucasus.

There really is no quick way to Azerbaijan, so I flew from Vancouver to London, from London to Moscow, and Moscow to Baku. Mercifully, I had a nine hour layover in London. Any shorter and I would have been at the airport. So I went into London for the afternoon. I wanted to walk a different area from the past few times I was there, so I decided to walk the South Bank of the Thames.

I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then the tube to Westminster.

Big Ben’s tower was covered in scaffolding but I caught an over the shoulder look at the parliament buildings as I crossed the bridge. Turning onto the boardwalk, I suddenly thought I had made a terrible mistake. It was so crowded. Like shoulder-to-shoulder, shuffling along crowded. But I didn’t have a bunch of time, so I didn’t want to waste time changing gears and map consulting, so I pressed through. Fortunately it got better.

The worst of the crowds were at the beginning the walk, around the London Eye, Dungeon and Aquarium, then they thinned out. I can’t think of many things i would like to do less than go on the London Eye. Packed i to sealed glass pods with a bunch of sweaty strangers as you move slowly in a circle. My biggest gripe is the slow speed, followed by being sealed up in glass (in the heat), followed by the sweaty strangers. It occurred to me though that I would enjoy a ferris wheel if it was open at the top so you could have a breeze, and there were tables with seating for two in each, then you could order cocktails from your phone and pick then up at the bottom as you circled by. Cigar friendly, of course. This is a great idea. Get on it, someone.

Anyway, once the crowds lessened, it was a perfect walk. There were buskers, a skate park, a book market, street art, and wonderful views.

I got a burrito from a food truck and just strolled along.

I didn’t have time to visit any of the attractions, but just the fact that on one short walk I walked past all the stuff on the street that I did, but could have just popped in to see world class art at the Tate or visited Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, is amazing.

I waled to the London Bridge, catching glimpses of St. Paul’s, the Shard, the millennium bridge, and the Tower of London on the way.

I walked to A nearby Tube station and went to Green Park, where I popped in to the excellent tobacconist James J. Fox and enjoyed a Montecristo Linea 1935 in their upstairs lounge.

Leaving there, I strolled a bit more before returning to the airport, with plenty of time.

It was a perfectly pleasant afternoon and nicely broke up the long flights to Baku.

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Glasgow & Paisley

On our final day in Scotland we decided to take a day trip from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Neither of us had an overwhelming desire to go, but it was right there, of course we had to check it out. My mother does not share my love of aimless walking, so I decided we would do a self-guided walking tour around Glasgow to see their street art. That way we would have a purpose but also get to check out the city. It really was a perfect idea, in theory.

There is a website that lists all of the major murals around the city, so we decided to follow that route from the train station, where we arrived from Edinburgh. It started off well enough; there were a few murals in close proximity just in the alleys off of a main pedestrian street. There was a race on, bagpipe buskers, people out…it felt festive.

The 2^nd or 3^rd mural we saw ended up being my favourite, which was a cool one of a black British taxicab hoisted by colourful heilum balloons.

From there it was all downhill. That is not to say that anything bad happened – we just didn’t like Glasgow. We found the city just dull. It wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t interesting, it wasn’t intriguingly seedy, it was just mediocre.

I feel bad saying that and I’m sure that there are many people who live in Glasgow or spent more than a few hours there who love it and know about all sorts of hidden gems, but all I am saying is that for a city to spend a day strolling around in, it did nothing for us.

I am aware that there are excellent galleries and museums in Glasgow, but my mum doesn’t relish museums or galleries and I also wanted to be out and about.

Sadly, not only did we not enjoy what we saw of Glasgow the city, we also didn’t like the murals. They were well executed, but we didn’t find them terribly interesting or edgy.

We could have stuck with the plan, but neither or us were really digging it, so we decided to get a coffee and reconsider. As it turned out, finding a good independent café in downtown Glasgow was also a bit of a struggle (so many chains) but we finally found one: Laboratorio Espresso. It was a tiny place with excellent coffee and cakes. We pondered over a few espressos and macchiatos and decided that flexibility was the best course of action. We walked to the train station and hopped a train to Paisley.

Why Paisley? It was close by and had some historical significance. Paisley was a textile town at one time and it apparently the place that invented the paisley pattern, which is named after the town. Also, I realized when I was there, it is the home of the famous “Paisley Snail” case that every common-law law student learns in first year. (A woman bought a bottle of ginger beer and it had a snail in it. She sued. It’s about negligence. If you are a lawyer/law student you know it and if you aren’t you probably don’t care.) The law dork part of me was pretty excited about that.

Paisley is a nice little town and was pleasant for a stroll, though apart from a lovely church, it doesn’t have much in the way of sights.

We walked around a bit, had a coffee, and returned to Edinburgh, as we had to get up at 2am for a flight home.

The last day of our trip didn’t turn out as planned, but was enjoyable, largely due to our willingness to admit we weren’t enjoying ourselves and change plans. And what’s better than being able to just hop a train at the last minute to another city? Coming from a country with almost no train travel, it is pretty great.

And so ended our mother/daughter trip to Scotland. Thankful for a chance to spend time together and explore Scotland a bit, which was actually pretty great.

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Dean Village

From Sterling, we returned to Edinburgh. As we had already seen the main sights of the city, we decided to stay in Dean Village, an area just outside the centre, tucked away along the Water of Leith, which looks like something out of a fairy tale.

We got off the train at Haymarket Station and from there Dean Village was not a far walk, down Palmerston Place, past Mary’s Cathedral, then down hill. For the first time in my entire life I found Google maps to be of more assistance than my paper maps, which only marked Dean Village in a general sort of way.

We descended until we hit the river (the Water of Leith) and saw the view that had convinced me to stay in Dean Village in the first place…

Seriously, it is stunning. Quaint. Picturesque. I know it is Scotland and not France, but I felt like walking down the cobblestone streets, singing the opening number from Beauty and the Beast.

Dean Village, previously known as Water of Leith Village, was at one time its own village before it became part of Edinburgh in the mid 1800s. It was established in the 1100s and for about 800 years was the site of multiple mills, powered by the river. Now it is a largely residential enclave of historic charm.

Our accommodations were easy to find, as it was the historically significant Well Court, dating back to the 1800s and built as housing for mill workers. In the pictures it is the large, brick, castle-y looking building.

We had an Air bnb booked and it exceeded my expectations. It was so cozy and in this tiny two bedroom apartment, it somehow had at least six different wallpapers.

Staying in Dean Village was great. Peaceful and nice for walks. The part with the cute buildings is very small but there is also a lovely walk on a path along the river under a tree canopy. There are no shops and only one eatery in the immediate vicinity, but it isn’t a long walk to the high street, which we did for dinner.

I also took a pleasant walk to Dean Cemetery, which was very pretty, especially the areas where the trees had dropped pink blossoms amongst the headstones. It was a teeny bit spooky as I saw only one other person and the cemetery was about to close. I started imagining that I would be locked in and forced to spend the night. That did not happen, however, as I walked out the back gate onto the lawn of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It had just closed and I never did get back there (which is a shame – next time), but I enjoyed walking the lawns of the two large buildings where sculptures and installations were on display.

In the distance, I saw a man with a large ring of keys walking towards the gate. Realizing I was about to be locked in to the grounds, I ran up to him and exited just as he locked the gate. In my mind, I did this Indian Jones style, barely sliding through and then reaching back for my hat. Truthfully, I kind of wish I had been locked in, because then I would have a cool story of having to climb the walls to escape the gallery grounds, but instead I just had a pleasant walk back into Dean Village to our Air bnb.

The next day would be our last in Scotland and we would do a day trip to Glasgow and Paisley.

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Stirling, Scotland

From Wigtown, Scotland we took a series of buses and trains to Stirling, via Glasgow. We picked Stirling because the pictures looked pretty, it has a grand castle, and it is the jumping off point for lots of picturesque walks. The train ride there took us past lovely scenery.

Stirling is small and lovely. One doesn’t need a lot of time there to see the castle and town, but with more time, the outlying areas are certainly worth exploring.

We walked from the train station to our Air bnb, which was right at the base of the walk along the castle walls to the castle itself. A perfect location.

And so we walked. We walked around the hilly old town, stopping for coffee and cakes along the way. (Cakes are a reoccurring theme in these Scotland posts, but the cafes here all had the best flourless vegan and gluten free cafes, like orange & almond or pistachio & lemon.)

Stirling was very picturesque – particularly the Church of the Holy Rude (the present structure dating to the 1400s).

And my favourite was the wonderful cemetery around the church, which was beautiful and afforded views of the surrounding fields.

The castle itself, sort of the highlight, was certainly worth visiting but I didn’t love some of the revitalization that they have done, painting the walls or ceilings with bright crests and patterns that, even if they replicate the originals, seemed too new and Disney-esque. But walking the ramparts and looking around was very good.

I also took a walk out of Stirling across a river to Cambuskenneth and the remaining Abbey.

We liked Stirling, but a day + two nights was sufficient to see the sights and wander around a bit. We ended up not doing any big hikes, but I should mention that if one does want to do any good long walks or hikes, this website, Walk Highlands, has incredibly detailed walking routes, pictures, GPS coordinates, etc. I used it to do my walk to Cambuskenneth.

From Stirling we would return to Edinburgh, visit Dean Village, Glasgow, and Paisley.

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Wigtown, Scotland

Wigtown, Scotland is the book capital of Scotland due to an abundance of bookshops set in a small, quaint town. Each fall it has a book festival. It is on the south coast of Scotland and is home to just under 1000 people, most of whom seemed surprised to see us there as travelers.

My mum, Luba, picked Wigtown because we both love books and bookstores and she had read a book by the owner of one of the bookstores, which was all about the town and his bookshop. A small town full of bookstores and characters sounded good for me, so we made the trip south from Edinburgh. (For a detailed account of the trains and buses required to reach Wigtown, see this post here.)

We stayed at Hillcrest House, a charming bed & breakfast in an old house a short walk from both the town and the sea and run by a lovely couple from England.

The town was delightful. It is tiny. You could see everything twice in an afternoon and still get to bed early. We spent two nights and 1.5 days, which was perfect. We got to go to all of the bookstores that were open (some of them randomly close on certain weekdays), have leisurely teas and strolls. Very pleasant.

The most famous of the bookstores is The Bookshop, known for being the book store of the aforementioned book, for being Scotland’s largest secondhand bookstore, and for its cluttered and creative interior.

We browsed there for quite a while and first edition Alfred Dunhill pipe book. (I collect cigar, pipe, and tobacco books.) Sadly, the owner was away for on a buying trip at the time.

We twice went for shopping and tea at Beltie Books, which we loved due to the proprietor, who had a demeanor that was to our liking and made excellent cakes.

We loved all of the bookstores and walking to visit all of them. There is a website for Wigtown’s booksellers, but it does not include all of them. There are good maps and brochures that have better listings available at most of the shops (but certainly found at Beltie’s). The shops do keep some odd hours, so if visiting all of them is your goal, do some planning ahead of time. We were winging it, and missed some.

There are a number of cafes and eateries, including one that is all vegan and vegetarian.

I have no idea how the town functions outside of the book festival, business-wise. It is utterly charming, but everyone we spoke to seemed so surprised that we were visiting on holiday. It is quiet and certainly not overrun with tourists. We loved it though. All the locals were so friendly and…colorful. It felt somewhat like being in a BBC show set in a small town. Who knows, maybe a show set in the town is forthcoming.

We also took walks on some of the trails around the town. One led to the sea, past fields of sheep.

Another led to a martyrs execution site where the ‘Wigtown Martyrs” were tied to stakes and drowned in the 17^th C for, effectively, being staunch Catholics and refusing to take an oath to denounce a guy who had denounced the King.

That’s basically it for Wigtown. Books, tea, strolls, and martyrs. It was a lovely and relaxing stop and we both liked seeing a bit of small town Scotland, as well as the journey there and back.

With our books (Luba bought quite a few) we made the journey back north, this time to Stirling.

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To Wigtown, Scotland by Train and Bus

In southern Scotland is a town called Wigtown. If you are reading this, you likely know why Wigtown is a destination, but if not, people go to Wigtown because it is the ‘book capital of Scotland’, boasting maybe a dozen bookstores in a quaint town of about 900 people. Each fall they have a book festival. My mother had read a book about the town written by one of the bookstore owners and we are both keen readers and book hoarders so we decided to go. The issue was how to get to Wigtown by train and bus.

Scotland is not very big so the most sensible way to get to Wigtown is to drive, but I never learned how and my mother did not want the stress of driving in a foreign country so transit it had to be. There are no direct routes from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Wigtown and there was no useful information I could find to tell me which trains and buses to take, so I figured it out, which took a bit of effort, so here you are: how to get to Wigtown from Edinburgh or Glasgow without driving.

We started in Edinburgh but the first leg of the journey necessitated going to Glasgow, so this works for departures from either city.

We left Edinburgh (Waverley Station) on a morning train for Glasgow. All trains can be booked ahead of time on the ScotRail website https://www.scotrail.co.uk. As far as I could tell there is no need to book in advance, but I did anyway and then picked up the tickets at the train station in Edinburgh from a machine.

The train from Edinburgh to Glasgow takes anywhere from 44 minutes to about an hour and 15 depending on the train. They cost the same. We took the shorter one and arrived at Glasgow Queen Street Station.

From there we had to change not only trains, but train stations – from Glasgow Queen Street to Glasgow Central. The stations are a five-minute walk apart, but leave yourself a bit longer to get there and find your next train. 15 minutes was fine for us.

From Glasgow Central we took a train to the town of Barrhill. This leg of the journey takes around two hours, depending on the train.

This is where things got interesting. Barrhill is a town of maybe 400 people. You may see none of them. The station is unmanned, so you basically get off the train next to a building that will be closed, surrounded by fields of sheep. You cannot pick up or buy tickets there. There is no phone and are no taxis.

The sheep that will greet you in Barrhill

From Barrhill Station there is a road to Barrhill town, which is walk able. It took us 20 minutes. It is an odd walk because it really is just a country road with little or no traffic.

You leave the station on the only road and soon will hit a fork. Turn left heading downhill slightly.

Follow that road through fields and past a cemetery on your left.

Barrhill Cemetery – maybe more populous than the town

At some point you will see a sign welcoming you to Barrhill.

You will then reach a part of the road with houses and signs and your second fork in the road.

Turn right towards the town. The town is a couple blocks of mostly houses, but there is a hotel (closed when we were there) and a general store where you can buy snacks and water and whatnot.

So, you’ve turned right and about one block down on the left hand side of the street is an unassuming bus stop just before a little bridge.

Wait there for the #359 bus to Newtown Stewart. Don’t worry, it will come.

You can check the timetables for buses here www.stagecoachbus.com.

There are a couple of buses in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. We caught the 1:20pm bus, which was on time. This is like a regular city bus. The website suggests that you may be able to buy tickets in advance close to the date, but there is no reason for that. Just buy the tickets on the bus, but check the fares ahead of time, and bring exact change or at last small bills. You cannot pay with credit cards and I did not see an ATM in Barrhill (and you don’t want to get stuck there). If you did get stuck in Barrhill you could call a taxi from Newton Stewart, about 40 minutes away, from www.mcleanstaxis.com but I have no idea what that would cost. Barrhill does not have taxis.

The bus from Barrhill to Newtown Stewart takes about 40 minutes.

Tell the driver you want to get off at Dashwood Square. Newtown Stewart is a metropolis of about 3,500 people and has more than one bus stop. Dashwood Square is the main bus loop, just in front of city hall (where you can totally pop in and use the washroom).

City Hall at Dashwood Square, Newton Stewart

From Dashwood Square catch the #415 bus from Stance 1 to Wigtown. It will take only about 15 minutes and that bus leave frequently (every 15-30 minutes throughout the day).

On arrival in Wigtown, you will be dropped off in the town centre, with a square in the middle and book stores all around, walking distance to everything.

I loved Wigtown, but I loved the journey there just as much as being there. It was like a fun mini adventure and was a great way to see some small towns and countryside in southern Scotland.

A final note, to return to Edinburgh or Glasgow (to to go to Stirling, as we did) you just reverse the direction of this trip, however be sure to buy your train tickets out of Barrhill in advance, as there is no place to buy them in Barrhill.

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Edinburgh, Scotland

Any misgivings I had about going to Scotland were dissipated upon arrival in Edinburgh. Luba and I took the train from the airport, past green fields and hopping bunnies, and arrived at the Princes Street station just in time to see a fabulous sunset and catch a glimpse of the city before total darkness descended. We both just said “wow.”

It really is a beautiful city. The hills give it a wonderful tiered quality so you can see the castle, rows of pretty stone buildings, statues, and parks all at once. But it was late and we still had to find our way to our Air bnb. We walked from the tram stop up and then down again to reach Grassmarket. Once the fav spot for public executions, then a neighbourhood for poor people, now a cool area with pubs and cafes and our lodgings. (Note to self for future non-fiction history book: “From Murder to Micro Brews: The Gentrification of Grassmarket”.) On reflection, this area was the perfect place to stay. Central and with lots of food and amenities nearby, a hilly walk to both the train station and tram stops.

We checked out our flat and I went for a quick stroll before bed. After all, there was a lot of sight seeing to come.

We woke up (to an alarm – yes I set alarms on holiday, much to my mother’s consternation) and had a coffee on Grassmarket before walking up and down picture perfect Victoria Street. It’s easy to see why it is in pretty much every Google search I did about travel in Edinburgh.

Victoria Street, Edinburgh (from the other end)

We went for breakfast on a patio overlooking Victoria Street. The sun was shining and would continue to do so. I had not been looking forward to the food in Scotland. I expected few vegetarian options other than falafel stands and salads. As it turned out, everywhere we went in Scotland there was an abundance of vegetarian and vegan options. Organic, gluten free, et cetera. I ordered a vegan Scottish breakfast, which came with vegan haggis, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, and toast. It was pretty good and now I can say I’ve had haggis (sort of).

From there we walked down part of the ‘Royal Mile’ to Edinburgh Castle, one of the two main sights in the city.

This is not the castle; it is just a fine, pointy black church

We opted not to take a guided tour, so I didn’t learn much, but we enjoyed wandering. The oldest of the existing buildings are late 16^th C but there has been a fortress of some sort on the site since at least the 12^th C. As with most of the sites in Edinburgh, it was quite busy with tourists, but there were no queues to speak of and I didn’t find the crowds bothersome, but I didn’t have the patience for a historical tour.

From there we walked more of the Royal Mile just to see what there was. As it turns out: loads and loads of touristy tartan shops. After a few days in the country even I started to get sucked in, thinking, “Perhaps I do need a tartan tam and shawl.” Thankfully, I had the sense to know that there would be no way I would wear or want such things once I was back home. Instead I bought a cigar at one of the many tobacconists in the city.

Another picture of Victoria Street.
They do have more streets here but this one is just so colourful.

We then walked back to near the Princes Street tram stop, where we parted ways. Luba went to do her own thing, and I continued to wander around. I had visions of finding a sunny patio and having a cigar, but I never did find quite the right spot. (Smoking is 100% banned inside in Edinburgh, but smoking outside, including on patios is fine; in fact, it seems to be encouraged.) I did enjoy my walk, aimlessly checking out the side streets and squares of the City Centre.

Looking back to the Old City, Edinburgh. This is not the weather I was expecting.

view of Edinburgh Castle from the City Centre

On my way back to Grassmarket, I decided to take the long way round and ended up pleasantly strolling in a cemetery and around the University of Edinburgh.

I reconnected with Luba and we went for dinner at Maison Bleue, a French restaurant on Victoria. It was a bit fancier than we were used to but it had a nice bohemian vibe.

“food first, then morals”
Maison Bleue on Victoria Street

If that has been our only day in Edinburgh, that would have been pretty satisfying, but the next day we had more planned. We walked to the Palace of Holyroodhouse: the home of the Queen of England when in Scotland and royal residence dating back to the 16^th C.

It was quite impressive. The rooms were fairly lavish and it was pretty neat to see where the Queen still has her dinners and get together when she is in town. I’m no monarchist, but I am Canadian and there is a certain interest or awareness of the Queen that is ingrained.

It was especially interesting to see Mary Queen of Scots’ bed chamber where the pregnant queen was forced to watch as her husband killed her secretary/secret lover. Historical drama! Tiny Beds!

We visited the remains of the abbey.

The grounds of the palace were especially lovely.

From there we went for a much slower stroll, stopping to check out lanes and views, and finally, to stop for a proper tea.

Fueled with caffeine and scones, we walked up Calton Hill for views over the city. The views were somewhat marred by the unfortunate angle of the sun at that time of day (morning would have been better), but the walk up was great and we chatted with a local man in his 70s who walks up the hill daily and had choice words for both Donald Trump and Theresa May.

We spent a while on the hill just enjoying the breeze and shade with a cigar and a couple of books.

After that we just ambled slowly and in a round about way back to our home, stopping to visit the Greyfriars Kirkyard and Kirk that I saw the day before and the café where J.K. Rowling apparently wrote much of Harry Potter. (Harry Potter has become a real claim to fame for Scotland. Take that, Robert Burns!)

There is so much more to do in Edinburgh, but we just wanted to be a bit more relaxed in our pace and decided we could skip museums and galleries.

What we couldn’t skip was browsing around Armstrong & Son’s vintage clothing shop, which itself has been in business since about 1840. It was a delight, though we both walked away empty handed.

We packed in it early that night as the next day we had an early train to catch heading south. I loved Edinburgh, could easily see myself living there, and looked forward to returning at the end of our jaunt.

Wandering North

Category: Europe

Layover in Amsterdam

Rila Monastery, Bulgaria

Sofia, Bulgaria

London Layover

Glasgow & Paisley

Dean Village

Stirling, Scotland

Wigtown, Scotland

To Wigtown, Scotland by Train and Bus

Edinburgh, Scotland