My Dream Destination: Scotland

I became a huge fan of the Scottish romantic-comedy movie Gregory's Girl (1981) when I was only 7 years old. Asides from Gregory’s Girl and my love for British culture being the main sources of travel inspiration, I have other reasons why I wish to visit Scotland one day; I have Scottish ancestry and my grandmother is Scottish. I enjoyed spending time in England so much that I eventually discovered other possible vacation destinations in the United Kingdom like Scotland.

Enjoy watching this trailer for Gregory's Girl if you're interested in watching it and exploring what Scottish culture is really like!

Since Scottish culture is no different than British culture, I won't have such a challenge adapting to it. I'll easily find and enjoy eating Scottish delicacies at local eateries, the people won't be as hard to get along with and I'm sure there will be plenty of things and tourist attractions for me to do, see, explore and take photographs of. I enjoy visiting shopping centres, cafes, restaurants, museums, parks, gardens, book stores, souvenir shops and I don't mind spending a couple to a few hours in my hotel room just having some quiet moments to myself. I enjoy taking pictures of cathedrals, statues, plants, animals and food. Taking photographs of buildings and other fantastic things will be easy to enjoy in Scotland, because they have heaps of awesome things to see and do!

I would most likely travel to Scotland in the summer time, because that is when I like to travel the most. I'm open to spending a couple nights in the countryside however, I'll be staying in the capital city of Glasgow for the remainder of my trip. I believe that the countryside would be a good opportunity for me to take some time away from the city and enjoy the quietude. The cities can be quite chaotic and loud, especially for someone like me who has Autism and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I wouldn't want to expose myself to too much stimulation on such a trip, because I believe that it would become too disruptive for me.

Depending on the weather, I would spend my days walking, going to cafes, hiking, relaxing at various parks, taking photographs, shopping for books and other souvenirs and having silent moments in my hotel room. I'm not really a nightlife kind of individual, so I'll mainly be out during the day and then relax at the hotel at night. Unless I'm shopping or doing anything else that I wouldn't be able to find in other areas like going to the cinema or playing at the arcade, I would be mostly spending the days in either the suburbs or different towns near Glasgow. Then, I would return to Glasgow for dinner and quiet time at the hotel.

I won't be able to do everything I wish to do during my first stay in Scotland due to financial reasons and timing, so I'll need to pick and choose which things I'll want to do the most. I'll only be staying for one week, so I'd want to pick wisely to ensure pure enjoyment. Here is a list of the top 5 things I want to do in Scotland.

1. Walk around and recharge several parks in North Lanarkshire, Cumbernauld

Cumbernauld is a large town in the North Lanarkshire vicinity of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the ninth most-inhabited neighbourhood and is situated in the centre of Scotland's Central Belt. In fact, it's the setting of the classic Scottish film Gregory's Girl which is one of the reasons why I wish to visit Cumbernauld. The town was established in the 1950's and was regenerated in the 1990's. It is home to Britain's first shopping centre and the world's first multi-level covered town facility. The town also has tons of places for both tourists and locals to dine in.

There are plenty of outdoor facilities and activities for people of all ages to take advantage of. The town of Cumbernauld is packed with a variety of charming green spaces and outdoor sites. The Palacerigg Country Park in the south includes nature trails for walking and strolling, plus a zoo which will be perfect for a family outing! Both Cumbernauld House Park and Cumbernauld Glen in the centre of the town are natural sanctuaries for wildlife. Cumbernauld Outdoor Activity Centre offers a number of recreational activities such as archery, paintball and 4x4 driving.

Depending on how much time I'll want to spend as well as the types of activities I'll want to do outdoors, the specific type of park I'll want to visit will remain undecided. I'm open to going to whatever park I desire at the time and will spend the majority of the afternoon there. I'll pack snacks, my phone, a book, water bottles and my wallet to bring with me to the park. After my time at the park, it will be close to dinner so I'll grab some dinner at a local cafe and then head back to Glasgow for the night.

2. Shop and hang out at a local bookstore in Glasgow

Just like Indigo and Chapters in Canada, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million in the United States, Waterstones is a modern bookstore that sells different books, toys and games, art supplies, educational resources and other accessories for various purposes. The bookstore also has a hangout for shoppers to relax in, a meeting room to run programs and events, a Harry Potter common room, a great children's department and a cafe for people to purchase food and beverages.

When I go to Waterstones, I'll need to bring a sufficient amount of funds because I'll go nuts! There are several Waterstones locations in the city of Glasgow, so I'll visit whatever location is available to me. It will also depend on what I have planned for the day in Glasgow, so transportation won't be a challenge for me. Besides buying a few books, I'll possibly purchase a notebook, a couple of souvenirs, a snack and a beverage to tide me over before supper. Once I'm done shopping and hanging out at Waterstones, I'll either go for a stroll around the area or go back to the hotel if it's yucky weather.

3. Enjoy some ice cream at a local cafe in Glasgow

Queen's Cafe, now known as Genesi's Artisan Gelato is an Italian cafe and ice cream shoppe located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the high-profile ice cream shoppes and cafes in Glasgow and offers multiple housemade gelato flavours like Wild Strawberry, Turkish Delight, Vegan Salted Caramel, Oreo Cookie, Bubblegum, Vegan Biscoff, Vegan Real Raspberry Ripple, Purple Yam, Nutella Brownie and many more delicious and novel flavours to get patrons excited about coming! They don't do delivery or have dine-in services, because this is a takeout ice cream shoppe. It is not such a chaotic place, so it will be perfect for me!

I'll want to come to this unique ice cream shoppe an hour after I've eaten dinner and walked around in the city. I'll most likely grab a light dinner at a local cafe or purchase something small for me to eat in my hotel room, so I can save enough room for gelato! The kinds of flavours that I'll get will depend if I'm in a chocolate, fruit or candy mood. My top 5 ideas for flavours are Purple Yam, Nutella Brownie, Bubblegum, Oreo Cookie and Vegan Salted Caramel however, that could all change when I physically visit the ice cream parlour and look at the menu.

4. Dine at various restaurants in Glasgow

Regarding food and beverage, I'm glad that Scotland is no different than Canada! Both tourists and locals can discover a variety of cuisines from around the world such as Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian and many more cuisines to choose from! It doesn't matter if you're an omnivore, a vegetarian or a vegan, there is something for everything to find, eat and enjoy in Scotland, especially in the cities.

I can't predict what cuisine I'll be craving until I actually travel to Scotland. Although I'll totally be doing research on either vegetarian/vegan restaurants or restaurants that offer both vegetarian and vegan options, I'll want to walk around a few plazas and see what's around. I'll be dining out a lot when I'm in Scotland, so I'll want to pick wisely and not be hasty!

5. Explore the Clyde Valley Orchard in Greater Glasgow

According to previous research, the Clyde Valley Orchard continues to be Scotland's largest orchard area, with over 5000 plum, apple and damson trees. A survey was conducted between August 2016 and February 2017, and took place as part of the National Orchard Inventory for Scotland (NOIS). Field survey assignments were completed for 215 facilities. 124 sites within the Clyde Valley adding up to over 70 hectares were discovered to have an orchard present- the meaning of an orchard being a set of 5 or more fruit trees in closeness.

There are a wide range of events that I'll want to attend while I explore the Clyde Valley Orchard. Depending on what they offer in the summer time, I'll just be open to exploring some of the events on the website and hopefully there will be some fruit picking events that I could attend during my stay in Scotland. I'm a huge apple fan, so hopefully they have some events for "apple lovers".

Thank you so much for reading my twelfth My Dream Destination Vocal story! My hope was to not only talk about my dream of visiting Scotland in the future, but also to provide some post-pandemic travel ideas and inspiration for all my friends and fans! If you enjoyed reading this story, give it a heart, share it with others and don't hesitate to send me a tip! For more exciting My Dream Destination stories, please stay tuned and visit my public profile to read previous ones! To connect with me outside of Vocal, please follow my Instagram account @naturalbibliophile22! Have a great week and cheers to all my friends and fans around the world and in Canada!

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