Years ago I was traveling through the UK with my friend Matt. We were both teaching in France at the time and in the fall decided to take advantage of the generous Toussaints holiday to explore life on the other side of the channel.  We started off in London and took an overnight bus to Edinburgh; after a few days exploring the highlands, we arrived in Glasgow on a crowded blue and yellow bus on October 30th. We had booked an early morning flight to Dublin on November 1^st, so that gave us only a day and a half in the city.

I never really thought I would make it all the way to Glasgow, but we embarked on this trip with no real plans, expectations, research or reservations—so I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised that we would be spending Halloween in Glasgow. The weather had been rather gray since we arrived and it had begun to drizzle as we descended from the bus and onto the damp Glasgow street. We had found a hostel (generically called the Euro Hostel) about two blocks from the train station, on the corner of Jamaica and Clyde Streets.  Compared to the hostel where we stayed in Edinburgh (which still ranks as my worst hostelling experience ever—rampant theft, filth and fleas), the Euro Hostel was a breath of fresh air with a clean, modern design and maple wood bunk beds. After settling in, we started walking. With no map in hand and no real idea about the layout of the city, we wandered. I had caught a nasty cold in Edinburgh (probably from that nasty hostel) so I quickly found a drug store and bought cold medicine and cough drops.  We were still trying to accustom ourselves to British business hours. Popping a cherry-flavored drop in my mouth and relishing the immediate effect, we continued walking, this time away from the busy shopping district. Continue reading →