A weekend in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Sep 27

Sep 27 A weekend in Glasgow and Edinburgh

After enjoying Edinburgh Fringe so much last year, we decided to make another trip there this year.We didn’t plan this trip very far in advance as we knew we were going to need to move flat by the end of August. Thankfully, we found somewhere quickly, which meant we could go to Fringe after all! We have some friends living in Glasgow who we were going to Fringe with, so we decided to stay with them and get the train into Edinburgh, saving the effort and high cost of finding somewhere only two weeks ahead during Fringe.

I hadn’t previously realised how easy it was to get between Glasgow and Edinburgh - it only took about one hour from the train station near their house. We didn’t bother planning too much with Fringe this year. Instead, we opted to more or less wing it by sifting through the Fringe app on the train and seeing what we found when we arrived. This strategy seemed to work and all three shows were great!

First, we saw Mickey Sharma - Pervert, a small, free show in what looked to be a karaoke room packed out with at least 20 people. It was cosy but the comedy was great - and could you get more Fringe? We then saw a slightly bigger show, Olga Koch - If/Then, which was based on the experience of being one of the few women studying computer science and dating in your twenties. This was technically a paid show but we queued for the last 10% of tickets that were reserved for pay-as-you-like attendees. It was a lucky find! We purchased the final show from a Fringe ticket booth based on the recommendation of an Australian comedian manager who wandered up to us while we were pondering which show to see. Garry Starr Conquers Troy was hilarious and unexpected. This show was based on the character of a failed actor trying to teach method acting through a list of ‘chapters’. It was definitely the quirkiest of the three shows and also the biggest, with a lot of audience interaction.

We spent Sunday wandering around Glasgow, which we hadn’t visited previously. We started the day with a big Scottish brunch at Cafezique. I had the full breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, black pudding, neeps and tatties scone, mushroom, tomato and toast. It was filling but totally worth it! We then made our way over to Kelvingrove in the classically Scottish rainy weather to walk through the University of Glasgow and see the park. This university is so old and beautiful - definitely worth a quick visit if you’re ever in Glasgow. The surrounding Kelvingrove park is also very pretty and a great spot for some photos. We also popped into Kelvingrove Museum hoping to hear the organ recital but unfortunately, we had the time wrong, so we missed out.

The next stop was Pollok House, an old stately home. This house isn’t as large and overwhelming as some other stately homes, which makes it nice in its own way. It is set within a beautiful semi-rural area complete with Highland cows and pretty gardens. The hedge garden is especially pretty to wander around. We finished the day with lunch at Paesano Pizza, which we’re told is in the top ten pizza restaurants in the UK. Paesano didn’t disappoint with delicious sourdough pizzas topped with just the right amount of flavour. We also had some sneaky ice cream to finish off on a high.