Glasgow

I spent most of my last day in Edinburgh in a museum. I walked by the Elephant House Cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. I took a picture, but did not go inside. It was too crowded, and I read reviews that the food wasn’t worth the price. I took a train to Glasgow, and got settled in. As I mentioned before, I was meeting my friend Rose. She was in Glasgow because a friend of her’s from Ireland now lives there. After dinner, I took the subway to the West Side of town and met up with Rose and her friend Laura. It was raining of course, but that is Scotland. We socialized for the night. Went to a few different bars, and even hung out with a few other locals.  Some locals I could understand, others I couldn’t. It was similar to Ireland. Depends on how fast they speak. The next morning I had decided to visit the People’s Palace, which is a garden and a small museum, and the Glasgow Cathedral. I met Rose and her friends at the Cathedral, and then we got some lunch. When we were out the night before, a local told me how Scotland needed a “last call,” but you could stay out all night in London. I asked why the difference since they were both part of the UK. His response was The Scottish, especially the Glaswegians, were alcohlics. They need to be sent home to prevent bad things from happening. This came to light during my time at the People’s Palace. They had an entire section designated to responsible drinking. I saw pictures of drunk guys passed out in the gardens during the middle of the day, and they had a wooden charriot type wagon thing on display. This was used to haul the drunk people off to jail during the 1800s.  Another interesting piece in the museum was “determine their punishment.” The Glaswegians had been given a survey. It was different scenarios, all resulting in murder, and they picked jail time or death as a sentence.  Mind you some deaths were on accident or negligence, and some were quite gruesome. The Glaswegians are brutal. They said everyone should be sentanced to death. The Scottish see no mercy.  My time in Glasgow was rather lazy. I did see the city. I walked around it a lot both during the day and at night.  I checked out the Necropolis  which is a creepy cemetery. Some tombstones stand over 15 feet tall, and even have rooms. The dates weren’t as old as  I thought, and some date of deaths were in the 1930s. Not sure why you need a 15 foot tomb room, but to each’s own. It was wonderful spending time with Rose and her friends, and I met some girls at my accommodation that I befriended as well. Glasgow was a different city for me compared to Edinburgh. I really enjoyed my time in Scotland. The stories were interesting. The country has been at war with either each other or someone else (primarily England) since the beginning of time. It is a beautiful country. The Highlands are breathtaking, and the cities have there own unique beauty. Glasgow is a little more modern, and boosts the second largest shopping area in GB outside of London. Edinburgh has some modernization to it, but the old city is something to brag about. I loved the old case stairwells, the cobblestone, the castle. The food was fine. The UK isn’t known for their food. I did try some Haggis. It was fine. And I had an Arran burger. Arran is my father’s first name, and they had quite a bit of food and beverage items with his name on it. The weather was less than ideal, but I came in February so I wasn’t expecting much. The Scottish are hilarious. They are very proud of their heritage. I told my tour guide I had some Haggis in England, but was looking to try some in Scotland. When I said that, the tour driver spit. Keep up the feisty spirit you guys. Cheers Scotland.