Loch Lomond. It’s literally an hours drive away from my house in Glasgow yet I’ve never really made an effort to explore it to its capacity. Probably because it’s so accessible, I know it will always be there for me. But this winter, when looking for a quick little weekend away, we found a great little place that would allows us to wander Loch Lomond for a few days.
After visiting Golspie last winter, I knew that I wanted to spend more time visiting new places in Scotland. And with the idea that we weren’t doing a big trip this year in order to save for a big one in 2017, we decided a few days up in Loch Lomond would quench my thirst for more natural Scottish goodness.
2016 was officially my first full year of blogging. Officially I started in December 2015 so to keep a project going this long is just amazing. 2016 is also the year that I got to tick a few more things off my bucket list, including road tripping up to Glencoe, visiting Auschwitz in Poland and getting to see the Berlin Wall in person.
The Glasgow Christmas market is almost always overlooked for their friendly neighbours on the east coast – Edinburgh. With not only one market but two, Glasgow has a lot to offer for locals and visitors. The two markets are located in St Enoch Square and George Square, and offer an array of European hot foods, sweets, handmade trinkets and alcohol (think hot ciders and mulled wine!).
Living in a big city can feel claustrophobic sometimes, and most of the time you don’t notice it until you get out away from it and smell the fresh air. Whether you live in Glasgow or Edinburgh, there are plenty of alternative destinations to the two big cities within only an hour or two drive, train or bus.
When I first booked up to visit Krakow, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. But I’m glad I did. Walking from the Glowny train station and through into the cobbled streets of the old town, it was easy to see that the streets were thriving with entertainment. Rows upon rows of shops lined the streets, as well as restaurants, bars and food vendors. I have no doubt that there is something to do here for everyone. Here a few of the main highlights that I recommend for first time and returning visitors to Krakow.
I just want to clear one thing up before I start, I don’t want to use this post as a means to teach you everything about Auschwitz and the Holocaust because I don’t claim to be an expert. I want to use it is a way to portray my thoughts and feelings walking through a place of such suffering, violence and emancipation; and also explain why it is so important that you visit in person yourself. After all, this is the point of this blog: to spread the word.
I travelled over to Poland as part of my birthday week. I had always wanted to visit Auschwitz but was quite unaware of Krakow and its surrounding landscape. After a little research, I found a hotel overlooking the Vistula river but when I went to book it was full. But fear not, we found Hotel Jan and it was an absolute gem. More people need to know about it.
One of the main reasons why I was so excited about visiting Poland was the food. I love Polish food, and I’m forever searching up and down the foreign food isle in my local supermarket for Polish food. Yum! One thing did worry me though, I’m quite a fussy eater, well not fussy, plain. I’m a plain eater. Despite this, I wasn’t difficult at all to find delicious food, whether from restaurants, cafes or street vendors. Here’s my personal food tour of Krakow.
Glasgow is often advertised as a vibrant city that is steeped in history, offering up great bars, restaurants and shopping opportunities. But everyone seems to forget about the good ol’ greenery that Glasgow has to offer. As I mentioned in my post about London, one of my favourite things to do when visiting a city is to people watch in the park. So if you’re visiting Glasgow, or live here and are looking for somewhere else to go on those (often sparse) super hot days, here’s a breakdown of Glasgow’s best parks.