An American and an Englishman Walk into a Glaswegian Bar…

January 18, 2012 by Keith Savage
Glaswegians Watching a Football Game at the Horseshoe Bar

It came together quickly, on the spur of the moment. In hindsight, most nights centered on the act of binge drinking usually do. You wake up the next morning smelling like flat Irn-BrĂ¼ and kebab sauce, trying to piece together the previous night but generally just thankful that you did, in fact, wake up.

Such were my reluctant expectations as I sped from Scotland’s Isle of Mull south to Glasgow where I would meet fellow travel blogger and man of mishap, Mike Sowden, for a night on the town. His blog’s subtitle is “The Art of Unfortunate Travel,” and it’ll all make sense when you read posts like the time he challenged himself to hike the North York Moors and nearly died. Read more...

Remembering the Alamo (Guest House)

January 16, 2012 by Keith Savage
The Alamo Guest House in Glasgow's West End

San Antonio is great. But this post isn’t about that Alamo or Texas, it’s about Scotland – Glasgow, specifically – and my guest house de rigueur whenever I’m in town.

Stays at the Alamo Guest House bookended the three-week trip around Scotland that Sarah and I took in 2006, and I remembered my stay with such fondness that I decided to return for three nights on my last jaunt to Glasgow. As you can imagine, Glasgow is loaded with accommodation choices that are all priced competitively at levels you would expect of a large city. The Alamo shines in a few key areas that puts it on my shortlist of places to stay in Glasgow. Read more...

Picture This: The Bon Accord’s Bounty

January 13, 2012 by Keith Savage
The Bon Accord's Wall of Whisky, Glasgow

The Bon Accord peers over the M8 motorway through a spartan row of trees in that colorblind space between Glasgow’s red-stone downtown and green West End. Behind the shining Bon Accord sign and planters overflowing with flowers, Paul McDonagh curates a collection of single malt Scotch whisky. The bottles glitter like a chest full of gold pieces kissed by torch light. The back bar is a trophy case of elixirs handpicked from the reaches of Scotland, from the wind-blasted Orkney Isles to rain-soaked Islay to sunny, lush Speyside and all the moorland in between. There are tarry potions and amber syrups, clear bottles of liquid sunlight and stumpy green flasks of dreaming tinctures.
Read more...

The Lowdown on Glasgow

January 11, 2012 by Keith Savage
Glasgow's Merchant City

Even though I’ve visited Glasgow on four separate occasions, I hesitate to write this post. Edinburgh gets all the love, even from me. I spent three weeks in the city to the east last year. Glasgow got just three days. I flew into and out of Glasgow on my trip last April/May, but effectively spent no time in the city (apart from a night at an airport hotel Sarah and I spent on our way home). I capped my last trip to Scotland with a three-day stint in town and used it as a good excuse to get together with Yorkie and travel jester Mike Sowden of Fevered Mutterings.

Three days and an airport hotel night? It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s downright ignorant.

I agree on all accounts… Read more...

Mull Rewind: A Look Back and a Week of Bests

January 9, 2012 by Keith Savage
Tobermory Bay

The Isle of Mull off Scotland’s west coast is a sanctuary, a peaceful, wild island teeming with wildlife and resonating with powerful good vibes. As I’m gearing up to move on to posts about Glasgow and to fill in the gaps of my previous trips, I thought it’d be nice to collect my writings on Mull first. I wrote a similar post to wrap up my writing about Islay and many found it helpful. This isn’t the end of Mull on Traveling Savage – there are plenty of tidbits left to convey and it’s likely I will return – but consider this the bow on a nicely wrapped-up package.

I experimented with writing vignettes during my trip, and my first Mull vignette relayed how welcoming the island felt – I certainly felt like no stranger. Read more...