Last Day In Scotland - Let's Go Home

Looking out from the hotel window to the street in the morning is something that I loved doing everyday. It's a thanksgiving moment too. Remembering the grace of God, blessing me with yet another wonderful day.

The Walls Of Freedom - Glasgow City Centre Mural Trail

This is one thing which I enjoyed being in the town. The colours from the street arts added more life to the place around. So exploring the art became one of the weekend activities.

Why I like the idea of colouring the walls in the neighbourhood? First of all it is beautiful. Rather than keeping the walls neutral, something creative of this sort can be done. Recently there was a news about the graffiti artists painting around the places in Bangalore. Why they have to do this under cover? Why don't they have the freedom of creativity is not appreciated? I have no idea.

What is special about these anyway? It looked special for me, as I have not seen street wall drawings of this size before. I am not an art lover and cannot vouch for those scoring evaluation points anyway. From a common mans perspective, I could simply stand and watch the beauty of the talent behind this.

What else? Looks like the person had a story to tell. I don't know what the exact story is, but the cage, birds in it and the cat watching it's prey - he had something in his mind. Is it the freedom he is looking for? So when I assumed that the drawing is a perspective of freedom, the person still had a cage inside him? No idea.

The size The cars parked next to these walls looked so small. First I though those vehicles were a disruption to my photos. But when I look at them for a long time, someway everything becomes a perfect combination to the frame.

The town is all square blocks. To find the wall paintings I had to take a walk around several square blocks. You know when a traveller wants to find something, then no one can stop them :)

Isn't those looking amazing? Those were the animal related paintings near to the Glasgow green streets.

However the below one was on a pub wall. Sorry, I have no idea who those people on the paintings are. But again looked so creative and beautiful. This time, it was a blend of black and white paintings. Quite different feel.

Below are the murals from the university perimeters. More like student and knowledge centric.

Look to your left, there is something amazing on the wall :)

I hope they are all very popular personalities.



Look out. You got a hash tag right there to use. #STRATHWONDERWALL. Try this on Social Media.

This complete side of the building is covered with the murals. That's an effort.

#TEAMWORK? That's what I would like to call it anyway. It is like Christopher Nolan movie. Everyone thinks they got the idea, but all had different versions when discussed.

The above one had a connected mural paintings running for few meters on the wall. Like a jungle and very intense on the nature. Never seen those animals that big before. So perfect in the details.

Those red cherries were huge. Intense red, and 3D effect. 

Are you taking my photo? Some people are so disturbed with the photography. See that squirrel looking at me.

This one is my favourite. A complicated mural because of its richness in detail and colour. I might have stood and watched this for at-least 20 minutes for sure.

Again, the nature and animals. This entire stretch of murals on the wall was a treat.

The below one is near to the suspension bridge. But this mural changes more often than compared to the above ones. And the wall looked like a perfect canvas. Artists will be so tempted to put their creativity out there on it.

I might have walked miles searching for these paintings. But the exploration was fun. Checking out with the locals and getting to know the places is always fun. They know things better than Google sometimes.

The video below shows the other wall paintings around Glasgow. The last one which is shown as in progress is the one which is right behind my office, the university campus.

The Tall Ship At Riverside

Went to this place, as the photos of the Tall Ship was so calling for a visit. Never been to a big ship like this one before. And it was an exploration time.

Took the City Sightseeing bus from my place to the museum and the ship was visible from a very far distance. It stood mighty compared to any other structures close by.

Came to know that it was pretty old, but wasn’t quite seeking the history then. The only intention was to visit each and every part of the ship, enjoy its beauty and photograph if possible.

The below cleaning utilities were functional. Kids were really serious about cleaning the ship with these. 

The ship's interior is refurbished to include a big hall for functions and a nice coffee shop. 

While exploring the ship's inner areas, I was thinking about the life of people in the ship while they were in the middle of the sea. It is always a frightening fact for me.

The engines were still visible from this deck and that area looked like a pirate ship. It was so dark and not much light in there, but can see the huge motor which once powered this merchant ship.

View was awesome from the front deck. There were couples trying out the Titanic posture. That was funny to watch.

Too much of strings and ropes all over the deck. Am sure that each got its own function. It should be pretty complicated to control the ship with the rope technology. 

Walking in and out of the ship is through the souvenir shop. That's a good idea. And they had this calligraphic greeting which was something of my interest. 

The view from the front side of the ship was towards a boating deck. People were getting into the boats for a short ride through the Clyde river.

Helpful Resources:

Ship's Deck Diagrams

The Best Hog Roast In The Town - Oink, Edinburgh

This little shop is on the Royal Mile. The sweet smell of the roast literally filled the nearby atmosphere. When spotted the shop, the very first sight that welcomed me was a full hog roasted and displayed near to the glass window. Just couldn't resist. 

Wanted to taste the roast anyway. Only question was the size. Finally picked up their Classic Hog Roast. He picked up a bun, tore it open and filled the pulled hog roast into it.

So what was in there? Yummly hog roast, served in a white roll with apple sauce and haggis.

Wanted to eat it slowly, enjoying each and every bite. But that wasn't the way it happened. Am a fast eater. When the food get tastier, it accelerates by 50%. The roll got over in no-time. 

Pretty sure that this shop is ultra famous around the place.

Walking And Exploring Like Never Before

From my experience, the places which the automobiles can’t take you, will have the most hidden surprises for a traveler. It will me more close to nature, serene and intact from the modern world. 

That’s one reason why we decided to explore Edinburgh on foot from the afternoon. The main areas where the vehicles could take us were covered in the morning on the sightseeing bus. No brainer, no surprises – we had a map the day before about the places and we knew what was expected out of the trip.

However the walk in the afternoon was a completely different treat. We took the ways as it went without much thinking involved. That was the beauty in itself. There was a person in the group who had an ultimate direction sense, which helped us to reach back to the station without getting lost. 

New city became old, concrete roads became cobblestoned pathways, tall structures turned into lush green tall trees and walkways became the waterfall sidewalks – a moment when mind announced a ‘Wow’ factor. 

I didn't get tired from the long walk. The heart took the control enjoy the beauty of the place and suppressed the body tiredness. 

That was a huge arch shaped bridge. I looked so tiny standing next to it.

This was a view from the bridge in the old town. Looked like the remains of an old fort gate or a watch tower, covered with lush green trees all around. I expected a river flowing down the bridge, but instead saw this beautiful structure and road.

Kind of an intersection. We took sometime to decide the directions to take further ahead of the road.

Fairs and events are very common in Edinburgh. Noticed this art fair going on in the old town.

Took a jogging path next, which took us alongside a waterfall. This I would say, was the interesting part of the walk.

It was a calm and ambient surrounding. Except the waterfall sound coming from a far distance, there was no other voice from the outer world penetrating this place.

Took a stop and enjoyed this waterfall for sometime. Beautiful!!!

This overhead bridge gave a wonderful view of the channel and the waterfall.