After a day in Glasgow, it was time to head out again in undiscovered country! Today, that was Falkirk. Wonders of engineering and artful evocations of ancient myths awaited me: the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies.
So I planned to have breakfast at Piece: the description of the Chicken Olé sandwich sounded delicious—and it turned out to be so—but somehow I missed the fact that it was takeaway only… Luckily they had a tiny terrace, and it had stopped raining, but it was the first time in years I had a coffee from a disposable cup.
I actually didn’t have time to search for a waste-free alternative this time, because I didn’t want to miss my planned train to Falkirk High. That station was nowhere near my destinations for today, and for this area, I had to use a bus operator I hadn’t used yet: Midland Bluebird. I would be using them all day, so I got a day ticket in their app.
The bus took me to the Falkirk Wheel, where I had booked a 50 minute boat ride, including two turns on The Wheel. I must say, it’s quite a feat of engineering!
Back in Falkirk centre, I had a Fiery Mango Chicken Sourdough Melt at Behind the Wall and a pit, before hopping on a bus again to my next destination.
I could actually see The Kelpies already when I was taken up in the Falkirk Wheel, but to get there, it was still a ten minute walk from the nearest bus stop. That walk started all nice and sunny, but by the time I arrived, it was pouring down. Luckily there was a bridge providing cover to wait out the worst. So The Kelpies are a pair of monumental—really huge, I did not expect that—steel horse-heads by sculptor Andy Scott, representing both mythical, shape-shifting water horses, and the heavy horses once so important for the Scottish industry and economy.
Back in Glasgow, I remedied a huge oversight: until today, I had never seen the statue of Charles Rennie Mackintosh! And just a couple of minutes from there was The Ben Nevis, where I apparently hadn’t been for ten years already! I had a couple of drams to make up for it.
At The Islay Inn it was Tattie Scone Taco Tuesday. Yes, you read that right, they use potato based tacos, and that works remarkably well! But the real stars were the fillings: sticky chilli and irn bru chicken with sweet drop peppers and ranch, Stornoway black pudding, Ramsey’s haggis, caramelised onion and pepper sauce, and the—quite spicy—special was fajita chicken, spiced veg, chipotle mayo and chili.
The plan was to spend the rest of the evening in the Grunting Growler, working my way through the tap list and fridges, but it being primarily a beer shop, last call was already as early as nine thirty.
An excellent excuse to pay a visit to the Scotia Bar, supposedly the oldest bar in Glasgow. I originally planned to go there on my first night, because it was conveniently close to my hotel anyway, but I was just too exhausted. Shit beers on keg, but some beauties on cask. And an awesome atmosphere, definitely worth the visit.
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