Day 4 - Good Bye England, Hello Scotland!

Monday was a well-needed relaxing travel day.  I took the 9:30am train from London Euston station to Glasgow Central.  It was about 4.5 hours, which flew by because of a brief nap and a movie on the iPad. 

I tried to capture photos of the beautiful English country side, but when you're on a fast-moving train in the rain all you really end up with is blurry green blobs as seen through rain-splattered windows.  None the less, here's what I got. 

Virgin Trains first-class lounge - first-class tickets were only an extra $10-15.

My cross-country chariot.

The first-class quiet zone cabin = good nap time.

The English countryside had lots of green pastures filled with cows and sheep, but you'll have to take my word for it because you definitely can't see any cows or sheep in this photo.

There were also photoesque country cottages along the way.

Cottages were few and far between, but the ones we did see were exactly how'd you imagine a traditional English-style country cottage to look.

This is supposed to be a small river or creek with rich green grass on either side.

I was welcomed to Glasgow in traditional fashion...with rain!  As expected, Glasgow is gray and rainy, but it's not too cold.  I checked into the Best Western in the City Center, which feels like a luxury establishment compared to my London digs.  My room is twice the size so I'm not pinballing off the walls when I put on my shoes and pants anymore.  I walked around town to get the site seeing started.  There is lots of history in this city so I wanted to get started early. 

Even the Best Western is located in a historic-looking building.

The City Chambers building is the dominating structure of George Square, Glasgow's center plaza.

 

Argyle Street is Glasgow's premiere shopping destination with boutique stores as well as big chains such as Hugo Boss, Chanel, H&M, Nike, Aldo and more. 

 

18th Century buildings line just about every street of downtown Glasgow.

More city views of Glasgow.

After I had my fill of 17th and 18th century architecture and statues, I decided to grab a bite to eat and I stumbled upon The Butterfly and The Pig.  What a great find.  It describes itself as a welcoming, shabby chic, vintage country kitchen that focuses on making basic foods, delicious and well presented.  The menu is changed daily based on the available ingredients.  I ordered the carrot and lentil soup, roasted sweet potato salad tossed with goat cheese (served warm) and an entree of traditional bangers and mash...when in Rome, right?!  Everything was fresh, tasty and filling, a perfect meal for a cool rainy day in Glasgow.

The modest entry to The Butterfly and The Pig.

 

Roasted sweet potato salad tossed in goat cheese (served warm) and the Carrot and lentil soup.

 

 Three bangers on a mound of rich mashed potatoes and smothered in delicious gravy.

Tuesday will be spent exploring Glasgow, which means I'll be seeing more historic sites as well as some of the fun revamped parts of town.