Day 1 in Exeter: A New Outlook After Lockdown

It feel almost so surreal that many months have passed since the beginning of the pandemic. As lockdown begins to ease all over the country, I finally picked up the courage to go travelling again after months of staying firmly indoor. As much as I am excited to be out of London again, I am also telling myself to be extra cautious along the journey. Anyway, it was still exciting to be out on an adventure again! ❤️

Arrival at Exeter St Davids station 🚂

After a 3 and a half hours train journey (face mask on throughout 😷), I arrived at Exeter just around lunchtime. My hotel is very conveniently just right opposite the train station, so I was able to drop my luggage off in the room and then headed out to the city centre.

Lunch at Eat the Bird Exeter
Yummy!! 🤤😋

I chose to have my lunch at Eat the Bird Exeter after seeing it being recommended online. (Plus, I was oddly craving for a fried chicken burger! 😂) I like the idea of ticking off the orders on the menu (reminds me of how we always used to do that in Chinese dim sum places haha.) It was nice to see how many restaurants are taking very nice approaches in dealing with the Covid-19 situation (such as staff wearing masks/visors and asking customers to leaving names and phone numbers to allow contact trace in the event of an outbreak), which really assures me and made me feel at ease about being outside. The food certainly didn’t disappoint! 😋 I ordered their Double Dip fried chicken burger which was drenched in a rich gravy – absolutely love the crispness of the chicken! ❤️ But, for me, the highlight was that delicious mac and cheese (especially when drizzled with that spicy hot buffalo sauce! Yum! 😍🤤)

After a very filling lunch, it was time for me to explore the city. 🏃‍♂️ But the first bump hit quick when I discovered the iconic Underground Passages (the place I was most looking forward to visiting) was indefinitely closed due to the pandemic. 😢

☹️☹️☹️

Nevertheless, my exploration of the city continued… 😅

Exeter Cathedral – the place is only opened to service today so will be back here again tomorrow
Perfect dessert after my lunch 💛 – until a seagull flew straight into it when I was about halfway through… 💔💔
City bank
There are a lot of ruins dotted around the city – it’s so fascinating
Beautiful rainbow 🌈🌈🌈
Love the street art ❤️
Northernhay Gardens – FYI the seagull sitting at the top is not part of the memorial 😂

After a brief nap back in the hotel, I visited the beautiful Exeter Quayside in the evening to finish the day. ❤️

Exeter Quayside
Walking into the sunset 🌅 with another ice cream in hand

Day 2 in Glasgow: Back in Time

After what seemed like a very short night of sleep, we continued our second day in Glasgow after checking out the hotel at 10am (yes, that was the official final check out time… 😛) We headed to Bill’s for a conventional full Scottish breakfast (how I missed black puddings lol!), then decided to stop by the Riverside Museum and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum today before heading back in the late afternoon.

Full Scottish Breakfast in Bill’s

We decided to go by the route via the Glasgow Subway. Unlike the London Underground, it felt much cosier and I actually found their small carriages quite cute lol. 😂

Subway entrance
Inside the subway
Wall painting outside the subway station
Hurry up so we can avoid the rain!! 😨🌧
Riverside Museum from a distance
Here we are at the Riverside Museum

The museum itself is a transport museum where many of the displays are interactive for visitors, so many of the transports can be climbed inside.

Inside the museum
I do like trains! 🚂
This reminds me of the mini vans in Hong Kong.
Inside the van. A nostalgic feeling for my mum.
Don’t miss it! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Or, even better, walk in the old streets of Glasgow and taking the old subway. It’s like being transported back in time. 😮

Back in time…
I can see the subway! 🚊😉
Anyone wants a pint? 🍺
Guess I can come here if I need some cash…?
😂 😂
Inside the old subway (it actually smells a bit… 😅)

The museum is also well known for the Tall shop from Govan parked outside by the harbour. The ship was built back in 1896 as a cargo ship and visitors were able to also go on board to take a look around. (Totally felt like I was in the Pirates of the Caribbean lol 🌊🌊)

The Tall Ship
Does this remind you of the Titanic?
Make sure you scrub it clean! 💪💪
View from the deck
Tea or coffee, anyone? ☕️
Now, I feel like the captain! 👨‍✈️
Could actually imagine me bathing here lol 🛀
The children’s bedroom. Aww kitty… 🐱
Exploring to the depth of the ship… 🤭🤭 (actually only a café and a souvenir shop down there 😂😂)
The bottom of the shop (there is a children playground right next to this! 😆)

Before my mum started feeling too seasick (lol), we then decided to move on to the Kevingrove Art Gallery and Museum not too far of a walk away.

Kevingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Greeted by an organ performance upon entering (thought we accidentally stepped into a church service lol)
A bit freaky lol… 😅
Beautiful paintings 👏👏
Probably my favourite painting of the ones I saw ❤️❤️

Tired from all the walking and sightseeing, we finally decided to head for lunch at the Hard Rock Café. The portions were absolutely massive! 😨😅 (Still delicious though haha!)

Inside Hard Rock Café
Nachos, Spicy Prawns and Buffalo Sliders

We loved the nachos (No joke, it was probably the biggest plate of nachos I had ever come across in my life!) with its overload of cheeses and spices. The spicy prawns were okay but slightly too much mayo in the coleslaw. I liked the sliders but just couldn’t really taste the blue cheese. The portions were so big that we had to take a huge doggy bag with us on the bus back home! 😂😂 (P.S. we were still having it for lunch today… 😅)