cafe hunting in glasgow

When I arrived at the Buchanan bus station at 6am after a 7 hour stop-start journey from Liverpool, coffee was the last thing in my mind. I needed sleep. Night buses aren't necessarily the most comfortable way to spend your sleepy time. I’m pretty sure I learnt that the last time. Ah the life of a traveller.

I walked about 2km to the Glasgow youth hostel up in west end (quite a swanky area for a hostel really!) and despite my lack of sleep, I was excited about the blue skies over head and the day that was to unfold. Of course, I started off with a wee nap in the hostel lounge.  Waking up an hour later, refreshed and sporting a solid bed head (or couch head) I set about my day. The idea of hanging out inside grew on me as grey clouds grew over the blue sky.so I went on a mission to find some funky cafes.

 I was surprised to pass several cafes that would class as funky-independent, artisan, third-wave (whatever hipster name you want to use) by Australian standards. In a mere half an hour I found more places in Glasgow than I did in 4 months in London! I had a fair way to go along great western road before making it to byres road so I decided to pick and choose. The first stop was Papercup. A very simple coffee house that had an open plan bench and fantastic coffee. I browsed through some of the coffee table books, which were ironically about coffee making.  I felt I came out a better educated barista. Cold War Kids were playing in the background and although the barista seemed a little lost without a bench to stand behind, he managed to punch out a few random notes every now and then. 

I walked further to byres road where I was told where the gold mine was. In terms of cafes though, I think the other road had it all. Byres road seemed a little touristy for me and had a lot of the chain shopping stores. Like Glasgow's version of oxford street. I did however stumble across Ashton Lane, a cute cobbled street with bars, a small cinema and fairy lights hanging overhead, which I'm sure would have looked the part at night.

I then found a cool little place near the university on Gibson st with the best cafe decor or I've seen in a long time, Artesian Roast . I had a lovely 3 pound leek and potato soup and sat and watched as the uni students poured in for their caffeine hit. This place bordered on perfection, except it didn't have wi-fi. It had a nice lounge area at the back and more seating upstairs so you really wouldn't notice if half the people sat on one coffee for 3 hours to tap into a little technology.

You could probably spend a good while at places like these, I only went to two. These streets have a few good vintage and second hand shops as well and there a lots of pubs nearby.  I opted out for second coffee coz I needed another nap.

beatlemania in liverpool

Mania: Described in the English Dictionary as

1. Mental derangement marked by excitement, hallucination

2. Excessive enthusiasm

The concocted word Beatlemania entered the English language on 5th November 1963.

Liverpool is a must for any Beatles fan. Mai had already gone back to Japan at this stage so it was my first trip as a true solo traveller, and probably a good thing because I imagine the in depth Beatles experience would have bored her!  I heard the nightlife was pretty good in Liverpool too, with lots of small independent bars, which is right up my alley. 

I set about my evening on an Elise style bar/café crawl (inspired by bar chick of course and random wandering). At the hostel, I got talking to two Mexican guys fresh out of high school and only 2 days into their trip. Somehow they managed to latch onto my night of exploring. I was a bit harsh and found a way to ditch them after an hour but I wasn't really looking for a career in babysitting. I wasn’t after a big night, just a night alone, enjoying a few drinks while taking in the surrounding bar settings. It’s something I really enjoy, and I find when you’re with new people, they feel obliged to create meaningless small talk whereas I’d rather sit and be part of the furniture. It really depends on the night obviously. This night was a furniture night. 

The first beer was at Salt Dog Slims, a hip little hang out with interesting décor. After wandering over to El Bandito, which had a unique and relatively cheap cocktail list, I stumbled across a place called Mellow Mellow. Very cool, very mellow. What seemed to be an independent community based bar/café; this place really does have it all. From poetry nights to open jam sessions, locals obviously come here to hang out for a good few hours, if not days. Great coffees, beer on tap and live music, plus they run their own little weekend festival. It’s a welcoming creative space with lots of charisma. 

I got up early the next day and set about feeding my brain with Beatles facts and paraphernalia.  Visiting museums alone is the best, you don’t feel like you have to rush through because the other person is bored, you can just peruse at your own pace. So I planned to spend a good part of the day immersed in The Beatles Story. I have to admit; if you’re a Beatles fan (even if only a little) I would recommend it one hundred percent. Having read May Years from Now (Paul McCartney’s story) and one of the many Lennon biographies, I already knew a fair bit but it was still fantastic to have it all laid out in an interactive, visual timeline. You felt like you were a part of it almost. Some areas had the café or bar they used to hang out at, the audio tour was really informative. An interesting fact; the boys used to hang out at The Grapes (a bar that still stands on Matthew Street today) and they sat at the same table every time without fail. Purely because it had a great view of the ladies bathroom where all the girls would get changed after work for a night out. Cheeky sods.

The tour ticket also included free entry into a temporary photo gallery and since my bus for Glasgow wasn’t until 11pm, I had a bit of time to waste. Afterwards, I had to check out the legendary Cavern Club.  It really is as sweaty and as dingy as it sounds. These walls have seen some things! The Cavern has live music every day from 4pm, mostly Beatles cover musicians. I learnt that the next night they had their full cover band playing, which was a shame, but that afternoon they had an older solo guitarist. Instead of playing a set list, he shouted out to the audience to request songs. It was amazing how many he knew and how well he played them. I pulled up a seat near the front and stayed there for about 3 hours, by the end I felt like I had had a guitar lesson. The only song he didn’t know was one I requested, Wait.

Later that night, I ended up at Mellow Mellow again. I fell in love with the menu the previous night and had to eat there. I had a yummy haloumi burger with these delicious hand cut potato chips with fresh rosemary. I sat here for as long as I could, just chilling out, drinking coffee and scanning the internet, preparing myself for the long night bus ahead.


If you’re ever visiting the UK, Liverpool is a great little city to check out.

weekend in wales, part II

I've said this previously, but I love combining exercise with another purpose; whether its getting to work, sightseeing around town or something a little bit more extreme like hiking a mountain. There’s no way I’d get Mai to hike up 3000 feet, so I'm glad Joel is as crazy as I am (or at least willing to be dragged along).

Admittedly, we may have underestimated how cold it was in a tent. A storm front rolled in across the south-west coast of Wales that night and we were hit with a cold snap and strong winds. It was a harsh winter in the UK and it was hanging around like a bad smell.  I was so sick of it! But we soldiered on and woke early to drive to the Llyn Gwynant campsite in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park. I'd totally recommend camping here!

 

We were hoping to hike up Snowdon Mountain that afternoon but it was “blowin’ a gale” (haha) so we decided to hike the next day. Joel and I (mainly Joel) awkwardly assembled our little tent that was flapping around like nobody’s business. We went for a pub lunch and some more Guinness at a town called Beddgelert and got talking to a crazy old man who was a Mountain Guide. He had to be like 80 years old, impressive! We managed to get a fire going that night and huddled around our camp watching the kids of the campsite play a game of football.

We woke up early again the next day and set off on the hike up to the peak of Snowdon, a 3560 foot mountain and the highest point in the UK outside of Scotland.  We followed (or attempted to follow) the Watkin path. (By the way, the http://www.visitsnowdonia.info website is great!)

Distance: 8 miles (13Km) (there & back).
Ascent: 3,330ft (1,015 metres).
Time: About 6 hours (there & back).
Grade: Hard Mountain Walk
Start/Finish: Pont Bethania Car park, Nant Gwynant, off the A498.
Grid Reference: SH 627 507.

When we left it was cloudy, the visibility was poor and we were following instructions that seemed a little vague. Now that I’ve got those valid points down I can admit that we got lost. Quite lost. For at least an hour.  After realising we were more rock scrambling in almost freezing conditions rather than hiking we turned around to find the landmark where we thought we took a wrong turn. And wrong turn we did! The clouds blew over and the sun shined down on a more-than-obvious stone path as if we were being led by a higher power.  It was there where we caught our first glimpse of the mountain we were meant to be hiking. It was waiting for us.  The relieving feeling of finally knowing where to go was soon replaced with the dread of having to continue! We were buggered at this stage, but we are both stubborn so we pushed through.

The last 20 minutes was the most difficult, the gradient was steep and the surface was very loose underfoot. The view from the top was totally worth it. The view was unreal! The sun came out and as we looked down through the valley, we had this overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  The hike back was more enjoyable. The sun was shining and we knew where we were going!

Despite our shakey, fatigued legs, we drove north up to Angelsea that afternoon through the stunning mountainous region of Wales. Helen (a ‘whale’ friend) was waiting for us and took us to a pub to get a nice big feed. It was great to talk to her about some of the research she is doing on cleaner fish and just catching up with a familiar face, reminiscing about the field work we did in Noosa.  Joel and I took a few back roads to avoid a massive traffic jam and my lead foot and I roared down the highway back to London late that night.

Although a little rushed, it was a nice weekend getaway; challenging moments and all!

Plus, it’s not travelling without getting a little lost in the clouds...

weekend in wales, part I

I was determined not to too caught up in London scene (like a lot of people do) and I wanted to see as much of the UK as possible. Wales appealed to me as a little outdoor exploring getaway. Also, an old friend of mine, Chris (who was my old Boss from the restaurant scene in Perth) moved over there a few years ago with his Welsh wife, Nadine. They opened a little pub in Pembrokshire and I had to go visit! Another ‘whale’ friend lived up in Anglesea in the North too so Joel and I did a little coastal road trip through Wales over a long weekend stopping at  Cardiff, Little Haven, Snowdonia National Park and Anglesea.

We hopped on a late train to Cardiff on Friday night after work and stayed in a cheap hotel.  There was an extremely overactive EXIT sign that sounded like a swarm of killer wasps boarding a jet rocket about to take off to the moon. We ended up moving rooms. One of our better choices.



The next day we picked up a hire car and drove straight to Little Haven, which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a gorgeous little coastal town situated in a small bay in the south-west of Wales with a population of about 50 people serviced by no less than two pubs. 

Chris and Nadine were exactly as I remember. It was probably a good six years since I’d seen them but they hadn’t changed, both are warm and welcoming and could talk your ear off about anything. The Castle Inn is situated overlooking the bay of Little Haven. It is an old heritage pub with an excellent selection of beers, hearty seasonal food and a great outdoor patio. Chris and Nadine live upstairs with their two young daughters and are loving it. We had a beautiful pub lunch and a few Guinness and chatted about travelling and things going on (or not going on) in Perth.

The great thing about this area of Wales is that they now have hiking trail along the coast called the Wales Coast Path. You don’t even need to be an experienced hiker as there are short stretches for quick walks as well as longer challenging hikes.  Joel and I went for a walk along a section of this path. It was cold and windy but crisp; the trail took us through lush green fields atop of coastal cliffs overlooking the blue ocean, dotted with shrubs boasting vibrant yellow flowers. It was absolutely stunning.

We hopped in the car and made our way towards Snowdon Mountain, but ended up stopping at a town called Fishguard to set up camp for the night.