Such a controversial Edinburgh. Find a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh Major administrative centers of Scotland

Since childhood I dreamed of going to Scotland. And now, finally, the dream has come true. It was not easy to get there, I wanted to arrive early, so as not to lose days, I had to get there with a transfer in Dusseldorf. And here is Edinburgh.
For the first time I liked the road from the airport to the city; Edinburgh is beautiful not only in the historical center, it is all the historical center. At first, I had a constant feeling that this country had chosen a different path of development, and as a result they had arrived at a completely different civilization. All the houses are in Victorian style, there is almost no advertising, the people are unusually friendly. If it weren’t for the crowds of tourists, one might assume that I was in the past.
I stayed in a nice guesthouse with an incredibly friendly hostess. The only thing is that getting to the guesthouse with a suitcase is incredibly difficult, the road is always uphill. If I had known this earlier, I would have taken a taxi. By the way, the bus fare costs £1.40 and is paid in cash only; change is not given.
On the first day, I just had time to walk around the city and visit the whiskey museum. The Whiskey Museum is located at the very end of the Royal Mile, close to the castle entrance and is definitely worth a visit. At the end of the excursion there is a symbolic tasting. By the way, I personally liked ale more in Scotland, which also seems to be the national drink.
In addition, I took the CityBus twice, I highly recommend it. Costs £10, you can see the main attractions, and the guides have a typically British sense of humor, making the tour quite interesting.
Since it was Saturday, in the evening I began to notice young people gathering in groups, gradually the companies turned into crowds that were heading to the bars. To be honest, this has always surprised and delighted me about foreigners. On the one hand, how do they not get tired of spending every Saturday like this? On the other hand, I can hardly imagine that such a crowd in Russia would be so non-aggressive and good-natured.

The next day I went straight to the castle. I paid for the audio guide, which I didn’t regret at all! This is the best audio guide in the world! It seems to me that even a person who is completely uninterested in history, Scotland, or excursions would still be interested in listening to these stories.
By the way, despite the fact that I was alone, you don’t feel lonely in Edinburgh, you always feel someone’s presence, as if you were walking with a group. It is impossible to convey the splendor of the castle in words. Let me just say that I looked at the treasures of the Scottish crown, and then I was knighted, so to speak. It's called Lady for the Day. I tried to act like a lady all day, I don’t know if it worked or not.
It took me half a day to explore the castle, after which I headed to the National Gallery and Museum of Scotland. Both are free.
The gallery didn’t really impress me, but after New York and Amsterdam, as well as Florence and what’s more, Moscow, the only thing that can impress me is Paris. But overall nothing. But I liked the Museum of Scotland, especially the part dedicated to the Celts and witch hunts, two of my favorite topics, perhaps.
After which I headed to the Elephant House cafe, where Harry Potter was written. The place is quite democratic and pleasant; the ladies' room is especially interesting, painted from floor to ceiling with declarations of love for Harry.
I also managed to visit the Museum of the Central Bank of Scotland, also free entry. It was funny for me to see how much everything had changed and at the same time how much it remained the same. I was especially amused by team building and socializing at the beginning of the century. In addition, I visited the Writers' Museum; surprisingly, almost all of my favorite writers were born or lived in Edinburgh. Once here you understand where they got their inspiration from.
I didn't have time to do much. Before I had time to visit the Royal Residence, I climbed Calton Hill to the observatory. But it doesn’t matter, I will still have the opportunity to return. Although, I admit, I made a mistake and it was that I went to Glasgow.
Never go to Glasgow! I have never seen a more unpleasant and ugly city in my life!
I bought a train ticket in Moscow on the Internet, it cost 10 pounds. The journey took an hour and a half.
In Glasgow, I stayed in another nice guesthouse, which was even more difficult to drag my suitcase to. By the way, I promised myself that from now on, unless I am traveling by car, I will always travel only with a small suitcase. I'd rather buy something for myself while traveling than work on pumping up my biceps; after all, I'm not a bodybuilder.
In Glasgow, I also took a CityTour and quickly looked at the city, which shocked me. Gray from the rain, dirty, and obviously unsafe, I didn't like Glasgow. The only thing is that the western part, where the tourist attractions are concentrated, turned out to be quite pleasant.
I visited the Glasgow Gallery and walked around the university grounds in search of the museum. Caring Scots constantly came up with the words: Are you a new student? Let us show you everything!
Which incredibly lifted my spirits, if I can still be mistaken for a student, it’s not so bad!
The museum turned out to be closed and I had no choice but to head to the Botanical Garden. What’s also nice is that it’s free.
For some reason, this always happens - if you don’t want to go somewhere, you end up enjoying the trip. I was completely alone in the botanical gardens, except for a charming squirrel that climbed up my leg as if it were a tree and sniffed my hand. I tried to give her a piece of bread, but she was not inspired by it. It was incredibly calm there and, it seems, I was able to comprehend everything that I saw in Edinburgh.
On the way back, I stopped at a cafe and ordered Black Pudding, the national dish of the Scots. I was sure it was something sweet and was deeply shocked when it turned out that it was something meaty. I haven’t eaten meat for many years, I tried to force myself to try it. In principle, the pudding had nothing to do with meat, but vegetarians, keep in mind - you have nothing to eat in Scotland! I ate mostly sweets there, because they don’t understand the phrase “meat-free dish” in principle. By the way, the Scots, oddly enough, did not understand me well. I am good at them, and they are bad at me, although, in theory, it should have been the other way around. I don't have any difficulties with the British, so here it was surprising.
The next day I had a trip to Ayr planned. And this is where the greatest disappointment awaited. I really wanted to go to the village of Robert Burns, I grew up reading his poems. And since he wrote My heart in the Highlands, I was completely sure that he lived in the mountains and I would see the real Scotland. Why! So, everyone who wants to see real Scotland needs to go north, to the Loch Ness area, or even further north.
Ayr is a lovely city, an hour's drive from Glasgow. There are many Gothic buildings, churches, and also access to the Atlantic, which is beautiful in itself! In general, it’s a typical European resort city, like Brighton in miniature.
But I wanted to go to Alloway, the village where Burns was born. For some reason, I imagined a God-forsaken place, to which it was unclear how to get, where they would look at me in amazement, why did you come? Everything turned out completely wrong. In fact, you buy a ticket at the local bus station and ten minutes later you find yourself in some kind of Yasnaya Polyana.
When I bought the ticket, it started pouring rain, the cashier expressed surprise and we started talking.
— Do you know anything about Robert Burns? - he asked.
“Of course,” I answered, “That’s why I came.”
- Where are you from?
- From Russia.
The next question surprised me a lot.
— Have you read Robert Burns in Marshak’s translation?
I nodded.
“You know,” he continued, “Sometimes it seems to me that Marshak’s translation is much better than Burns himself.”
“I was just thinking about this on the bus.” Do you know Russian?
It turned out that he studied Russian at school, like many Scots. They generally love Russia and admire our country. They are also sweet, modest, and have managed to maintain amazing pride; for example, they categorically refuse to tip.
I liked the Robert Burns Museum; you can see the cottage where he was born, the museum itself, the ruins of a church and bridges across the river. Everything is beautiful, interesting, but the only thing missing is what I came for - a Scottish village.
But I still found the village and an accident helped me. On the way back, I discovered that I no longer had cash. The village ATM turned out to be quite a village and was unable to issue money on my cards. Bus drivers only accepted cash.
I started preparing mentally to ask someone for money. This is probably what I dislike most in life.
And then a happy idea came to my mind - to stomp on foot, through the fields, as Robert Burns himself once walked, and perhaps find a village! Bring water with you, have a backpack, and comfortable shoes! And even the umbrella is in place.
So, I set off on the road and I finally found a barley field, and horses, and some village houses. By evening, tired, I got to Ayr, walked to the ocean, and headed back to the station.
The next day I had to return to Edinburgh again, as I had a plane from there.
I regretted that I had not planned the trip differently; instead of Glasgow, I could have easily gone to Loch Ness, but that’s okay, there will be a reason to return.
Another interesting event happened on the train. I am writing about it because it best characterizes the national character of the Scots.
When I arrived at the station, it turned out that the train to Edinburgh leaves not at 9, as was on the ticket, but at 9.05. I didn't pay attention. Then my ticket that allowed me onto the platform didn’t work. I didn't pay attention to that either. The last sign by which a normal person should have guessed that something wrong was happening was when I discovered that my ticket indicated carriage F, and there were only 2 carriages, i.e. A and B. But this is a normal person, and I calmly sat down and drove off. In the middle of the journey, the ticket inspector approached me and asked for a ticket. And that’s when it turned out that I had boarded the wrong train, because my train turned out to be called differently and simply passed through Edinburgh. I didn’t have a flight number, how was I supposed to know that?
“Well, you say crosscountry,” she told me.
And I tried to explain to me what is crosscountry and what is not crosscountry. In the end, the girl said that I needed to pay an extra 12 pounds for the ticket. I didn’t object, but noticed that I only had a card, and she went to get the card reader.
A few minutes later she returned without the card reader.
“Well, that’s it, they’ll take me off the train,” I thought, and my brain began to figure out what to do next so as not to miss the plane. By the time she approached, I already had at least three ideas.
“You know,” she said, “I thought that it was my fault.” (what, you ask? Is she to blame for my stupidity?), I could have approached you before the train departed, but I didn’t. So it's ok, you can ride for free.
I was pleasantly surprised and even touched. They are the Scots, proud and selfless, just as Robert Burns wrote about them.
The British, no offense, are different. The imperial habits are still alive in them, of course, there are different ones, but you often come across the fact that they show their superiority, like Britain is a great empire, and Russia is a developing third world country. Usually, in such situations, I suggest playing a game - how many times can someone manage to place Britain on Russian territory. Helps. This is not necessary with the Scots, they are friendly, hospitable, and besides, they managed to preserve the most beautiful city on earth. This is not an exaggeration, Edinburgh is a fairy tale!

Edinburgh is the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow, and the second most attractive for tourists in the UK after London. All impressions are purely subjective, so do not take them too seriously, as well as some of the stories written below.

It is striking that Scotland is poorer than England - this can be seen in the range of shops / restaurants and the appearance of the local residents. Myth: “Scottish is not English” is not a myth. True, at a basic level, “Where is the library?” you will be able to explain yourself completely. However, if it suddenly occurs to you to talk about history, politics, economics, or simply about life with a true Scot (and they can turn out to be very friendly and talkative), be prepared to talk between a dumb person and a deaf person. If you understood most of this dialogue without much effort, don’t be particularly proud of yourself, you just weren’t talking to a Scot.