Traveloteacher

The highlight of the trip for my boys was the match Scotland vs. Croatia. They were thrilled to be there and although the players didn't play as they hoped they would, it was spectacular. Sanja, Iva and I discussed possible ways of spending the evening without our football fans. Restaurants and pubs were out of question, since they don't let kids in, which came as a huge surprise to my older son, who's used to going to pubs and having a pint of beer occasionally, in spite of the fact that he's under age. It didn't take us long to decide what to do: shopping without haste in Ikea and the nearby shopping mall, the only place open till ten. It was not busy at all and we indulged ourselves with little somethings. After it closed, we waited for a bus to take us to the center, but almost missed it because we were on the (il)logical side of the road. Luckily, we got on the right bus that was to take us to the corner of Hope and Sauchiehall, where our guys were supposed to ...

Scotland

The lady at the Travelodge spoke Glaswegian. We could hardly make out what she was saying. She was nice enough, though, as to repeat three times until it dawned on us that in order to get to the centre, we should turn left at the third traffic lights. Or something along those lines. Anyway, we got to the center quickly and easily. During our stay it was drizzling lightly but incessantly. But we were fine with it, since Glasgow is such an appealing city, one of those cities you take a shine to instantly. I found out I wasn't the only one who struggled with the pronunciation of its streets, such as Sauchiehall or Buccleauh. (Come to think of it, many Scottish names give me a hard time, take Milngavie or Culzean for example.) We shopped on Sauchiehall Street, walked all round the city and saw many sights, such as the Cathedral, Provand's Lordship, which is the oldest house in Glasgow, the Hunterian Art Gallery, Kelvingrove, the Tenement House, George Square, the Armadillo, all of ...

And finally we reached the destination of our trip. Glasgow awaited us with a light drizzle and heavy traffic on busy motorways - or is it dual carriageways? How should I tell the difference? Anyway, whatever it is, it's full of ramps and entrances and exits on both sides, - and what's more - all the time you're above the ground, driving over bridges and viaducts, or at least it seemed so to me. It was evening when we finally got to our hotel. It was a Travelodge on Paisley Road, an unprepossessing little hotel, but who am I to complain for 29 pounds a night for the four of us. We never spend a lot of time in hotels when we travel anyway. Luxury is not an issue, what we need is just a clean place to sleep. And this was clean, although the sheets didn't have that fresh smell of being washed with a familiar soap powder. But as I said, the room was all right for the two nights in this modern city.

It was a short drive from the Forth Bridges to the Falkirk Wheel. That's a boat lift, the one that revolves, and it's really awesome. It connects the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal near the town of Falkirk. The level difference between the two canals is 35 meters, which suggests the hugeness of this rotating boat lift. Built in 2002, as part of the Millennium Link, it created an uninterrupted link between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. I'm sure this would be a pleasant cruise. Mislav had a déjà vu experience on the spot. He was sure he'd already been there. He knew where the lift was, how it worked, everything. It was amazing. Back home, however, he was able to trace the sensation back to a power point presentation in a physics lesson. Perched high on a rocky crag, Stirling Castle is an excellent example of Renaissance architecture in Scotland. In the esplanade, there is the statue of Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, who defeated the English army ...

If you google cheap eats in Edinburgh, you'll get a huge list of pubs, greasy spoons and restaurants. So it was there I found the Whetherspoon pubs. Our first Whetherspoon meal was in Edinburgh, fish and chips for 2.99, coffee or tea included. It was good, even my kids, who despise fish, liked it. It was also in one of the Whetherspoons that we had our first English breakfast. I tried black pudding for the first time, and must say it's delicious. Although blood sausage is a Croatian specialty as well, these two have nothing in common, but color, of course. Anyway, it was after this fish and chips lunch that we left Edinburgh. Our first stop on the way to Glasgow was a little town of South Queensferry, famous for two beautiful bridges that cross the River Forth. One is the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964, and the other, more beautiful, is the Forth Rail Bridge, built in 1890. The latter is one of the most remarkable engineering wonders of the Victorian era, with its 2.5 km i...

Here I go with some things that you can find in any travel book, but it's the teacher in me, and I can't help it. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, lies on the east coast of Scotland. With a population of about half a million, it is the second most visited tourist attraction in Great Britain (after London). It's famous for the arts, especially in the summer when it hosts the renowned three-week Edinburgh International Festival, which was first started in 1947. It'd be great to come to Edinburgh at this time of year, since there are performances all around the town, not only in its theatres, but also on its streets. The Fringe is an alternative festival, started in the same year, when eight theatrical groups gate crashed the Edinburgh International Festival. What they wanted was to express their belief in freedom of expression in innovative and experimental performances. Today there are more than 40 Fringes around the world. Princes Street, the main thoroughfare and a ...

Entering Scotland wasn't as glamorous as we expected and hoped it to be. There was no visitor center, no lay-by, no nothing. So we just stopped on the shoulder to take a quick photo of the signpost welcoming you to Scotland. The road to Edinburgh took us by surprise, since it was just an ordinary country road. Somehow we missed the turn to Roslin, where we wanted to see Rosslyn Chapel, which we first heard of in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. However, we weren't too disappointed since: a) it was already dark; b) the chapel was closed; c) the admission was too high. Soon we saw the lights of this city that I would find one of the most arresting I have ever been to. Our hotel, the Express Holiday Inn, was located in a beautiful old building in the very centre. Parking was dear, but it was worth it. Zoran and I couldn't resist and see the city by night despite the freezing cold. It was stunning and we couldn't wait till morning to see Edinburgh in all its glory and beauty.