Glasgow is where I traced my Scotish ancestry to on my mother’s side. The last Fraser to be born in Scotland on her side of the family was born in Glasgow. Besides that, my all time favourite comedian, Billy Connolly is from Glasgow so those two reasons were enough for me to choose Glasgow as a destination for our road trip.
So Glasgow was a pretty simple day, drive there, find a car park on Glasgow Green which was also to be our camp spot for the night, walk into the city, find our tattoo studio (booked and art sorted some months ago), find some Billy Connolly murals (because you know the Big Yin lives in Florida these days, so that was as close as I was going to get), find the restaurant where my pin landed for my ancestors birth place and call it at day! Easy!
It was more or less easy like that, but the surprises of Glasgow as a city was nice to discover. The architecture was just as grand, the people were friendly, the accents were thicker and the whisky tasted better!
We found the tattoo studio, plotted the course back and set out to find Glasgow’s ode to Billy. Unfortunately one of the mutuals which was formed from metal work is now covered by an adjacent building being built. Disgraceful and disrespectful if you ask me. Luckily I had tagged another not too far away which still stood proud on the banks of the Clyde. A special piece of art work paying tribute to one of the most famous Scotman and it was a delight to see. All hail Sir Billy! A few snaps and it was time to make our way back to Rock n Roll Tattoo studio for some new art work of our own.
Tanya and I got matching thistle tattoos, Jason a Scotish dirk and Wayne an extract from his his Scotish ancestry, the Robertson dog which is featured on the Robertson clan crest.
After our art was complete, a few drinks in the ‘bullshit’ corner of the Tolbooth Tavern before heading to a recommended Whisky Bar called the Pot Still. Now this bar could only be described as a library of whisky which included the sliding ladder to get to the top shelf bottles. Very cool place and for us, there was standing room only.
By this time lunch had well and truly been and gone and we (I) decided that it was time to find that pin relating to the many great Grandfather Fraser. The google maps pin landed on Ardnamurchan Scottish Restaurant & Bar – how could we not eat here? We got ourselves a table and settled in for a 3 course lunch/dinner which was just OMG yum!
Half hour walk back to the carpark which by now had filled up with cars of the sportspeoples playing various sports around the park. Have to say, not the quietest camp spot for the night, but again, exploring had tired us out and before long the zzzzzzzzz was all that could be heard!
Tip #9 Glasgow, a working class city, doesn’t get much attention when you are researching Scotland, but don’t skip it, totally worth a visit and besides taking home some inked art work of our own, we had a great day and there was much more to explore if we had time!
My Happy Travels 