Glasgow, Again

We hadn’t been on holiday for almost two weeks, so we flew up to Glasgow. The flight was depressingly uneventful (from a journalistic point of view) and mercifully short. We left Horsham on the 7AM train and got to our hotel at lunchtime. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check in until 3PM, so we went walkabout.

My bus ride to work took longer than this flight.

Glasgow is a clean, friendly, accessible city, though the locals told us there are places we shouldn’t go after dark, but you can say that about Horsham, as well. We took a stroll up Buchanan Street, along Sauchiehall (pronounced sucky-hall) Street and back. Seeing as we were heading up north (this Glasgow interlude is merely the appetizer before our trip to Shetland and Orkney; posts to follow) and it wasn’t exactly warm in Horsham, we packed waterproofs, jumpers (US: Sweaters), heavy shirts and jackets, but—and no complaint here, trust me—the sky was blue, the sun warm and the wind just a bit chilly.

Buchanan Street, very likely not named after my wife’s family.

And when we got to our room, it was HOT!!!! The windows faced west, and the curtains were open, and it was like an oven. And the bed had only a thick duvet on it. Fortunately, I had thought to book a Premier Inn Plus room, which comes with additional perks, one of them being air conditioning. So, by bedtime, it was pleasantly cool in our room.

In addition to cool air and a warm duvet, there was a much-welcome coffee/tea station, complementary water (it was €3 in Portugal), a policy of “no housekeeping” as a default (if you want your room cleaned, your towels changed, and the bins emptied, you tell the front desk in the morning, which is a good idea on many levels), and a great breakfast buffet. We stayed in three other hotels on this trip, but the Premier Inn on George Street in Glasgow was, by far, the best of the lot.

For some reason, all the statues in George Square have white hair.

That evening, we had dinner at a Mowgli restaurant. If you get the chance, go to one; they are very, very good, but make a reservation as they are also very popular. Unfortunately, we didn’t, but they managed to squeeze us in. Fortunately, we weren’t in any rush, because the poor lad who was in charge of our section had a large party and several tables to deal with, so we had a long, leisurely dinner, with ample time for conversation between courses. It was a lovely evening, and I left him an appropriate tip.

The next morning, we took the Underground to the Botanical Gardens. It was surprisingly large, with an astounding variety of plants. They also had a café. No surprise there, but when we stopped to get a cup of tea, it was one of those Please-Wait-to-Be-Seated type places. Very posh.

The Botanical Gardens

Lots and lots of plants, look at all the plants. No, really, there are plants there, look at them.

After that, we toured the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and, again, I was astonished, this time by the many world-class paintings, exhibits and massive pipe organ. It was so large it took up one end of a cavernous central hall, and at 1:00 a guy sat down and began playing. The sound was amazing.

Meanwhile, outside the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Him: “Ouch, that’s sharp” Her: “Then stop touching it, you moron!”

Inside the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

The guy playing the organ.

We had lunch at the café there, and that too was Wait-to-Be-Seated posh.

After our experience the previous night, we decided to book a table at the restaurant we chose. It seemed to work, but I never got a confirmation. We went anyway and explained to the guy at the door and he said he’d see if he could squeeze us in. He did, but when we got to the table, we realized the place was practically empty. At times, I think we were the only ones there. Everyone must have been at Mowgli’s.

On Friday, we wandered over to Glasgow Green and visited the People’s Palace. It was a nice morning, with weather bordering on hot and a breeze with a warm tinge to it, encouraging the Glaswegians to sit in their droves on the sidewalk cafés to enjoy the summer-like sunshine.

The People’s Palace on Glasgow Green.

A nice view of the River Clyde and some rowers.

That evening, we went out to dinner with my wife’s cousin. We went through two bottles of wine at dinner, then went back to the hotel bar. The end of the night was a bit fuzzy, so we were looking and feeling our best when we went to visit my wife’s aunt—and assorted cousins—the following day.

Our final day in the city was a quiet one. We spent the morning wandering around the Glasgow Cathedral and adjoining cemetery (The Glasgow Necropolis). It was surprisingly interesting, and the views were great.

View of Glasgow from the top of the cemetery.

One of the many interesting gravestones.

The past was the worst: Six children from the same family all died within two weeks of one another.

After another family visit, we had a relaxing evening and thought about our plans for the following day, which was to include a bus journey from Glasgow, to Edinburgh, to Aberdeen, and an overnight ferry to Lerwick in Shetland.

A farewell photo from the Glasgow area. By this time, it was positively hot.

Stay tuned.