Tour Guides for the Week

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This week, Pedro and I got to play tour guide for my grandparents (Papa & Joan to me).  After an extensive tour of the UK, they decided to spend their last week with us in Glasgow.  When family has visited us in the past, we've tried to show them as much as we could (though without a car).  That meant most of the time we were 'go, go, go' on trains and tours busses.  But my grandparents had the advantage of seeing it already!  And now that Pedro has a car, we had more options to explore places not far from us. 

We managed to see bits of City Centre and West End, with them being able to explore more while I was at work. But the first drive we took was to Pollock Park.  I have wanted to visit this park ever since I found out that's where the council's cows stay year-round. Joan wanted to see some highland cattle up close (instead of driving past real quick in a tour bus) so I figured it was a good place to find them.  Even better, it was only a few months ago that a bunch of calves were born. 

The park is just south of the River Clyde, and Glasgow's largest park at 146 hectares (361 acres). The place is pretty big- full of trails, gardens, and two main museum houses. Luckily there were two car parks, one by each house at the center of the park.  We chose the one closest to the hairy coos, walking through the Pollock house gardens first. 

The Highland Cattle Park was just west of the Pollock House, and stretches all the way to the Burrell Collection Museum.  We walked and walked until we finally found the cows huddled together under some trees near the Scottish Police Dog Memorial.  Just as we found them, it started to rain, so we also huddled under some trees and just watched the cows and their calves for a bit. 

After getting our fill of the shaggy (now wet) ginger grass puppies, we headed to the Burrell Collection Museum to get out of the rain for a bit. There were three floors of paintings, sculptures, artifacts, etc including some interesting interactive exhibits. 

I didn't get a video of the other, but it was two portraits animated on a touch screen where you could dress them in various hats (and then they'd tell you if your choice was appropriate). 


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The following day, we drove down to Maybole to see Culzean (pronounced Cul-lane) Castle.  It seemed like the perfect day because it was a cloudy rainy day in Glasgow, but as soon as halfway down the coast, we had sunshine. This is a place I had been to before with my mom during her visit, though it was very brief since we were there as part of a larger tour. 

These grounds are even bigger than the park (260 hectares or 642 acres), but there were car parks at every attraction point on the map.  Even better, there was a buggy taking people from the main entrance to the castle.  There's definitely enough to spend a whole day here, with plenty of trails and with ruins, stone archways, and a path to the beach. But today we just wanted to hit the highlights and take our time enjoying the day with Papa and Joan.


We went through the castle, along with a bunch of kids on a Lego figurine treasure hunt.  They were on top of picture frames, in china cabinets, and on desks.  Each one was representing a historical figure of the castle, like Queen Charlotte, Thomas & John Kennedy, and Robert Adams. We started looking for them in every room too, it was added fun!

photo credit: A Day Out At Culzean Castle — Our Departure Board

After the castle tour and some lunch, we headed to the Deer Park - which unbeknownst to me also had llamas! We could see the deer from afar, resting just on the crest of the hill. We realized we could walk along the fence up to a split in the fields separating the animals. On one side, there were llamas and a single white fallow buck. (the buck was really close!) He was absolutely calm and chewing cud, just behind the fence. 


On the other side, there were a bunch of fallow does and a couple of red bucks. Papa was able to spot the bucks with his binoculars, and we finally saw them get up just as we were leaving. 


The next stop on the map was probably my favorite after the deer, the Walled Garden. Half of the garden was for produce and the other half simply for pleasure. 


Everything was in bloom and happily buzzing with bees! 


There were also a couple of willow statues throughout the garden, including a giant onion to pose in!


The last stop was the Swan Pond, with another surprise willow sculpture.  Finally, a Scottish trip complete with Nessie!


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We had a great time during the week, having adventures whenever we could.  Along with exploring the city with us, my grandparents traveled via public transport - which I think deserves an honorary Glaswegian badge!  The botanic gardens, Glasgow cathedral, and a few pubs along the way...I think they got the full city experience!

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