shylustig

Dunoon – Part 2, the High Street, etc

Following on from the boat trip from Gourock, the High Street is short, sweet and with the sun almost idyllic. And thought, as the screen shot below from Google Maps shows, that there is a preponderance of Churches! With the above, Cowal Kirk – High Church, being the most impressive.

After this, we meandered down the High Street, or should say correctly, Argyll Street, where there was everything one would want on a short day trip; cafe’s, restaurants, sights (the Churches, Promenade), etc.

Argyll Street (the High Street)

And we found some “cute” things, such as mini-kilts for your wine or whiskey bottles, and some “designer” tea pots!

Equally, we also entered a “modern” type of tourist shop, which had an affinity for both Tunnock Tea Cakes and the Scottish artist JoLoMo.

Worth a visit.

And even though it’s April, found a Christmas shop, presumably open year round?!

Worth it.

This Week – Germany, Cafes, Dunoon, various – How do you buy a German train ticket?

Here’s one of them, and that’s right, they’re in German!

Ticket to Nurnberg

First of all, even if German is not your strength, the ticket machines for the mainline German trains (though still a little confusing) can be set to English:

The above is for tickets for Deutsche Bahn, NOT for the U-Bahn or city trains.

The ticket was for a single, and the distance travelled was about 20km; all for about £4.50. Not cheap, but certainly not expensive. IMO, about the same price as for an equivalent distance here in the UK. The distance would be like going from Glasgow to Johnstone in Renfrewshire (As a Scottish example!).

If the machines are not for you, most of the major cities will also have a Travel Centre (Reise Zentrum) for you to buy them using English. I’ve also found most Germans are both helpful and speak very good English as well.

Dunoon trip and other things this week

What a day it was this last Saturday, so decided to take a trip to the lovely city(?) of Dunoon on the West Coast of Scotland.

We decided not to drive, due to the distance, but instead to take the passenger only ferry from Gourock, on the West Coast also.

At Gourock port

From here we had a lovely walk at the pier, that appears to be in a state of renovation, though am not too sure. If it is, then in the sun, this would be a sensational place to have a high tea or meal.

Old Pier in Dunoon

From here, around the pier, there was many things to take a shot at, like the panorama, the church nearby and the coast.

Looking south and east

Shots near the pier

More later on this lovely place (in the sun!)

More from Germany (Bavaria) trip last month

More from a recent trip to Germany, and what I instantly noticed (ED; again!), is the number of different bike stands / bike racks / etc, in addition to the sheer volume of bikes – everywhere.

My favourite was this one:

Though with the amount of rain we get in Glasgow, Scotland, they would all fill up with water quite quickly.

You can take you pick from the others:

This week? I actually went to a Golf Show in Glasgow & had a nice walk to get there

And it, Bunkered Live 2022 – SEC, Glasgow, was not only fascinating with the amount of people, almost ALL men, who were there but also with the different stands that were there. But first, I had a nice walk there through the Sandyford area of Glasgow – Very pleasant. This area has undergone a transformation recently, with gentrification, more students and an incredible amount of class restaurants / cafes popping up.

The first part passed by the old Kelvin Hall, which has been purchased by Glasgow University a few years ago, as the yooni is undertaking a large refurbishment / new builds project in the area. And then passed by the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and several other highlights such as the cherry blossom trees and a mosque from the Ahmadiyya part of Islam.

The next continued through some tenements of Sandyford, before we went through the 80s looking overpass / tunnel, to finally arrive at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC).

It was the number of “contests” at the exhibition, that seemed to me where all the “real men” who were there, were interested in. These ranged from “Golf Darts”, to sand trap skills, to a chipping contest to get closest to the pin.

Equally, a number of stalls had nothing to do with golf. These ranged from, believe or not, someone from the WWF and / or the Scottish Wildlife Trust, to an organic cat food stall, who I believe were from the Republic of Cats? Who would’ve thought! Who knows, they must have done some research as to just who would attend.

A welcome sign to help Bicyclists – An air station in Glasgow

Coming from a recent trip to the cycling mad country of Germany, it was a pleasant surprise, to see the below “Wee Repair Station” outside of Gartnaval Hospital, in the west side of Glasgow.

Wee Repair Station

I’ve yet to see these elsewhere, though of course they no doubt are, but find these to be both needed and an encouraging sign that help is on the way for any struggling cyclists, in need of air.

Even instructions!

But what is strange, is that these are not by the Glasgow authorities, but, I believe, installed by Sustrans?

If so, more please.

Tchai Ovna, Tea House / Café, West End, Glasgow, Scotland

Have been here simply NOT enough times over the years, but when in attendance, I always think – why not? They have an incredible selection of rare teas, in a gigantic pot!

Tchai Ovna, down an alleyway in Glasgow’s West End, on the banks of the Clyde river

It’s down an alley that if you didn’t know, you would never expect a café to be. Though there are signs around the corner that do state there is a café here.

Signs directing you to Tchai Ovna.

I decided, been here before but didn’t partake, finally to have a sharing, Middle East platter with a friend, and it was beautiful.

Middle East platter to share

It did what it said it would do, and with a pot of Darjeeling, a huge pot to share, it was more than sufficient to pass away a couple of hours, amongst an eclectic mix of people; vegans, students, artisans, etc.

It is also available for dinner reservations.

Have already planned my next visit.

5/5

Eusebi Deli, West End, Glasgow, Scotland – Best Pizza dough on Earth

One of my main beefs with pizza and specifically with “thin and crispy” or even non-thin pizzas, is that the dough, even after baking, is ALWAYS soggy and wet in the middle! Always!

Bianco Pizza (Béchamel base, potato, parmesan, rosemary & gremolata and Salad – Interesting

So when I was here at Eusebis yesterday, in the West End of Glasgow, and was told that the particular type of dough / pizza was the best in the world(?), I thought let’s try it. Boy, it is!

Firstly, the pizza itself, Potato Pizza?, was excellent; who would’ve thought? The accompanying side salad was different as well, with some form of attention paid in its creation – even with apple slices.

Service perfect and personal, even when it was actually quite busy both inside and outside in the late Sunday afternoon.

5/5 – Will go again, though have been here before, but this is the first time since pre-Covid

This Week – Reminiscing from Bavaria / Germany and More!

One of the things that I see on my many trips to Europe, is the quantity of cheaper, as in MUCH cheaper, alcohol.

Not wanting to get into any debate or arguments here about the nanny state in the UK, but to state facts – the alcohol has much less tax on it in Germany than here in the UK; and it seems to work out just fine.

The excise rates can be seen here. And above in the graph, with it not taking a genius to see that this merely confirms what I said above.

And this is what I saw again the past month. Please look at these two photos that I took in a hyper market in Bavaria.

And your eyes are not deceiving you here! That’s correct, bottles of wine from €1.49, or to state in pounds, about £1.15!

Jawohl!

Bavaria and some of the Food – So much better than the reputation

Interesting, I was watching Saturday Kitchen yesterday on the BBC, and was fascinated by a Rick Stein interview of a Duke there in Andalucía, who thought British food was very underrated.

The same I feel for German food, and specifically, Bavarian cuisine that is available at many breweries and guest houses / restaurants.

It’s just something that they do very well with basic food. Note that the potato salad has very little mayo in it – it’s not a heavy, sticky food; though of course I know it’s not completely healthy as well.

Topped off with a culture of beer gardens, it’s a treasure to take part in.

Somehow it all just fits.