We’re having a blast this week – the weather has held for us and we’ve been to several places I haven’t seen before. Monday was Glasgow, and while I’ve done the Hop On Hop Off before – each time I do that tour, the guide touches on a different aspect of the city. This time it was Byers Road, and lunch at The Ubiquitous Chip. Delicious food and an absolutely stunning indoor raised grotto-like dining room.
The next day was the Firth of Forth (a firth is an estuary, the Forth is the river), starting with the Kelpies then the Falkirk Wheel. The latter is the only rotating boat lift lock in the world, linking the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. Our timing was impeccable: we arrived in time to see two tour boats enter the lock, rotate, and exit the lock into the alternate canal. The top photo shows the lock sitting with the Forth & Clyde Canal pool at the bottom, and the Union aquaduct feeding into the upper lock. The orange boat has just arrived from the Union aquaduct, and in the 2nd photo the pink boat is pulling into the lower berth. The 3rd shot is the lock halfway around its rotation, with the orange boat being lowered to the Forth & Clyde. Once the rotation was finished, each boat sailed away.
Then an amazing lunch on the waterfront, and a 90 minute cruise under the Forth Bridges. If we don’t count a few missed turns on the drive home (and I don’t care how angry that cyclist was, I know I didn’t do anything wrong), it was a perfect day.
