Anderspluscindy

Woke up pretty early today due to jet-lag. But on a positive note, we get to have an awesome long day ahead! 

11th May 2017

08:00 | Mini-photoshoot at our Airbnb
Since we were up early, we thought we might as well use the opportunity to have some fun around our lovely apartment. The large windows allowed ample sunlight into the living room and kitchen and made it perfect for taking pictures!

09:00 | Breakfast at Singl-end cafe & bakehouse
Look out for the black board with “Singl-end” on Renfrew street and take the stairs down. This place is cosy with many fascinating decorations such as old photos, postcards and Scottish themed prints all around. Being the first customers that morning, we saw the staff dishing out varieties of breads, cakes and savoury bites to display on the large table near the entrance. It was so tempting!

Had a hard time choosing from the extensive breakfast menu. Eventually decided on Singl-end Cooked Breakfast with Marshmallow Hot Chocolate for him; and Meaty Baked Eggs with tea for me.

11:00 | Failed to collect rental car from Hertz
Our initial plan was to collect the car and drive back to our Airbnb for check-out. Unfortunately, we had problems locating the Hertz temporary office, followed by the need to switch the car due to suitability and it caused a delay in the collection of car.

13:00 | Late check-out at Airbnb
Due to the hiccups at Hertz, we were late to return to our apartment for check-out. Thankfully, the host who was there cleaning up the place kindly waited for us.

13:30 | Break time at Waterstones bookstore cafe
Having two big luggages wasn’t the easiest to roam the street with. So we went ahead to park ourselves in a cafe inside Waterstones bookstore near our Airbnb. It’s a great place to chill with a book and drink! 

14:30 | Collected the car and visited Glasgow Cathedral
Finally! We have a car to move on to visit Glasgow Cathedral. Parking is opposite the cathedral, and we had a hard time looking for it initially. The cathedral interior is remarkable with the medieval stonework, open-timber roof and stained glass windows! An interesting attraction of the cathedral is the dark vaulted chambers of the lower church. There are guides walking around to share the history and little-known knowledge of the cathedral which we really appreciated.

16:30 | Explored Stirling city centre
As our B&B host was not around when we reached Stirling, we decided to walk towards the Stirling city centre. The first store that caught our attention was Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe, a traditional-looking sweet shop with a huge selection of sugary goodies. Next, we popped into Europa Music store to browse through the vinyls. Gradually, all the stores started to close when nearing 5.30pm. Bought a cup of hot chocolate from The Burgh Coffeehouse for our walk back to the B&B. 

18:00 | Checked into 19 Snowdon Stirling Guest House
Our B&B in Stirling is a large Victorian guest house situated in a quiet residential area. We got a large double bed room with a private bathroom adjacent to our room. The view outside our window is the backyard, where the owner’s two dogs ran around and played!

19:00 | Drink and dine at The Birds and Bees
As we had no reservation made, we were informed that we may need to wait up to an hour before getting dinner service. But we still went in and was seated at a nice booth seat with a romantic ambience. It felt like a date night!

Inside the restaurant, there’s a pub where we ordered their beer on tap. Do try their Birds and Bees Golden Summer Ale which I liked! The manager also kindly served us olives while waiting for dinner service. Beer and olives made the waiting much more bearable.

Sooner than expected, food was served! We ordered the Beer Battered Haddock Fillet and Creamy Brandy Char-grilled Chicken Breast. Strongly recommend this place for its tasty food and top-notch service! Try making a reservation if possible to save waiting time. 

Not the smoothest day of our trip due to all the hiccups, but travel almost always bring along some issues. The key to easing past these issues is to simply stay positive and create an experience out of it! For us, it was finding a nice bookstore and simply relaxed. The day concluded with a nice purple sunset. Looking forward to the next day!

You can read up on the rest of our 17 days’ adventure in Scotland and England here