Glasgow

We woke up surprisingly sober and began our first day of sightseeing.  Bruce was taking the morning to visit some retail establishments for work.  Glasgow is actually the second largest retail market in the UK, and the downtown shopping area was pretty big.  They have a giant mall as well as pedestrian shopping streets (Buchanan Street).  Glasgow is ranked as the 57th most livable city in the world.  We found it quite agreeable with amiable Scots who were friendly and very interested in our man-cation.  They were always willing to give directions or make suggestions.  Interesting fact... people from Glasgow are called Glaswegians.

St. George Square was a the center of everything.  We learned that David Livingstone, the famed African missionary, was a famous Glaswegian.... in addition to my favorite late night comedian, Craig Ferguson.

One of the highlights of our day was a visit to the Glasgow Cathedral.  Being Presbyterians, Bruce and I felt obligated to visit one of the motherships, so to speak, as our Protestant faith evolved out of the Scottish Reformation.

Glasgow Cathedral kept the title of  "Cathedral" even though it became Protestant after the Reformation, so it is more of an honorary reference.  The church served as the seat for the Bishop of Glasgow during the Roman Catholic era.  It is one of the few medieval cathedrals to survive the Reformation.  I guess those passionate protestants were keen with demolishing a lot of the catholic buildings.  While still ornate, a lot of the icons and catholic imagery were plundered during this era.

We had a nice guide, decked out in a kilt, named Cameron who gave us a little tour of the church.  He explained that we lucked out because there was supposed to be a large group of Dutch school kids, but they never showed, so it was relatively quiet.  We enjoyed talking with him and hearing how the government of the Presbyterian Church (referred to as the Church of Scotland in the UK) functions and the differences and similarities between UK and American branches.

We were going to visit the cemetery, which looked old and distinguished, until we saw how steep the hill was.  It also wasn't as old as we thought.... with the oldest grave going back a to the 1800's.  Brucie's leg was giving him some trouble (side note: Bruce was seriously injured at a USF football game several years ago and shattered his ankle and came within an inch of losing his lower foot.... subsequently, he has to take it "slow" when walking as his ankle mobility is limited... but it's a good excuse to rest and enjoy a drink at a pub).  We were going to make our way back to the city center when it started raining, so we ran into a museum and enjoyed some leek soup which was quite tasty and wasted a pound on a visit to the museum, which was rather cheesy, but still provided a nice view of the steep cemetery we declined to hike.

After the rain abated, we headed back into town, which was a rather surprisingly steep downhill walk.  We walked thru the University of Glasgow thinking we would encounter a pub to rest at.... I mean, what college isn't surrounded by bars?.... apparently the University of Glasgow, because we couldn't find anything until we got back to St. George Square.  It was so steep I had visions of Bruce losing his footing and rolling down the street.  But he was a trooper and we finally encountered a bar with cheap beer and free wi-fi, and settled down for what turned into a couple of hours of drinking (and I have a vague memory of us drinking and dialing our friend Jonathan).  We met a friendly Scottish bloke who I could not really understand as he was also filled to the brim with drink, but he engaged us in conversation.  I think he told us he worked in construction.  I of course was very comfortable with the locals being the blue color laborer that I am.  I think Bruce was a bit on edge since he is more upper class elite (remember, he has Hilton Diamond Status, like he would let you forget!).

We ventured across the square to Jamie's Italian Kitchen for dinner.  It was a new place that was opened by the famous chef Jamie Oliver.  The drink selection was somewhat poor so we ended up drinking girl drinks (we had Belinis).  But the food of was good, and the portions were huge!

Finally full, we took the underground back to our hotel.  We would have an early departure the next day for our sightseeing in the countryside.

The Man-Cation Begins

Very behind on my blogging, so hoping to catch up without sacrificing content.  After getting back from my London layover with my friend Bruce, I turned right around and headed back to the UK as a passenger.  I snagged a comfortable coach seat (not) on our late late service to Heathrow and then connected up to Glasgow on British Midland.  It was the beginning of what we dubbed, "The Man-cation", where we would sightsee and drink our way across Scotland.

Bruce told me he was staying at the Hilton, so I found a great bus service from the airport that stops right by the Hilton and it only cost 4 pounds.  What I neglected to realize was that there are two hotels under the Hilton Brand and I had taken the bus to the other property.  After waiting for a half hour, and wondering where Bruce was, I inquired at the front desk and learned he was at the Grosvenor Hilton, on the other side of town.

I caught a cab and made my way to the correct hotel and had my happy reunion with Bruce.  His mega diamond status was all for naught as his upgraded suite featured only one bed, so he opted for a standard room (which ironically had two double beds pushed right up to each other.... thankfully there were separate sheets to keep him from randomly rolling onto my side (no planes, trains and automobiles scenes for us)).  It was OK, but Bruce has gotten used to the finer things in life so he was bit disappointed in the quality of the room.... (it actually was kind of a pit).

I had met a gentleman on the plane the month before while flying home from London who was the Sound Technician for the rock band UB40.  He had given me a list of bars that he thought we would want to visit.  What a coincidence that the one he thought was the best was actually just down from our hotel.  The establishment was named Oran More, and it features over 100 different labels of Single Malt Scotch!  Equally as neat was the fact that the bar is housed inside an old church.

Of course it was a month ago so I cannot remember the different brands that we tried, but after a several samplings, we were sufficiently "warm" and began our search for vittles!  We happened to find a great little Italian place down Byres Rd and enjoyed some hearty food and beer.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a convenience store and I got some water and Irn-Bru for hangover recovery.  Irn-Bru is a tasty little Scottish soda.  It's flavor is almost cotton candy-like.  It's great for rebounding after a night of drinking!

Back to Back to Back to Back

So I am way behind on my blogging, but October was a busy month.  I literally flew back to back trips, more or less the entire first part of the month in order to have a week off towards the end of the month to go on what I have dubbed, "the Man-Cation" with my friend Bruce.  He had a business trip to the UK set up for late October and we decided it would be fun if I tagged along at the end of it and we did a little scotch tasting and sightseeing in Scotland.

After the last minute Frankfurt trip that I picked up, I had a scheduled trip to Tokyo.  Aside from the earthquake we had while I was at the 100 Yen store at the mall, the layover was kind of dull, primarily because it rained, or more appropriately, POURED, the entire time I was there.  I did get to fly with my friend Julie.  She and I were in the same training class back in 1998..... 98-10.  We've changed a little since then.  I'll do a now and then photo to give you an example.... we are on either end of the first picture in case you could not tell.  I actually still have that shirt, by the way...

And here we are today!

So after  having a few days off from my Japan trip, I was scheduled to do my last trip before heading to Scotland to catch up with Bruce in Glasgow.  I was scheduled to go to Honolulu, but as luck would have it, I was able to trade onto a London trip so I would be arriving the same day that Bruce arrived from the states.  We planned to meet up that late afternoon and and hang out and have dinner.  I would then work back the next day and turn right around at the end of the weekend and meet up with him in the north.  He would go to Manchester before meeting me in Glasgow.

We arranged to meet at Harrod's.  I volunteer with the Lewisville Lake Symphony (I don't play any instruments, I work the Box Office with Ladyfriend), and they are having their annual Gala and Silent Auction fundraiser, so I decided this year to do a basket of gift items for people to bid on.  Originally, I was going to do a Hawaiian Coffee Basket, but since I traded to London, I decided to do a Harrod's Tea Basket.  Bruce met me at Harrod's and I got a tin of teas, some shortbread cookies, a mug, some chocolates and some mints.... all with the Harrod's logo on it.

After making my purchase, we proceeded to the Tattersill, an English pub around the corner from the department store.  We were in need of liquid libations (beer).

I'll pause for a moment to say that Bruce and I have a strange relationship, and aside from the fact that we have known each other since high school, the only things we really have in common is our love of the adult beverage and being Presbyterian.  Whereas he is a libertarian conservative, I am a rabid socialist.  We pretty much disagree on everything except religion and alcohol.  In fact, it wasn't until we started drinking that we actually became friends.  Hey, whatever works....


Anyway, so back to the pub... we made our way to the Tattersill for some beers and a traditional pub dinner. We kind of peaked right off the bat and ordered Stella Artois, a real premium beer, and then sort of downgraded to Kronenberg 1664 and Fosters, before realizing the error of our ways and going back to Stella.  Dinner consisted of a beef post roast type dish in a delicious brown gravy.... real comfort food.

At this point, we were feeling no pain, which is good for Bruce because he has some issues with his left foot (more on that later).  We somehow got the idea that we should head back to his hotel and call our friend Jonathan (I believe it is called Drinking and Dialing).  Plus, given his elevated lofty Diamond status, he got a free bottle of wine when he checked in and being the good friend that I am, I offered to help him drink it.

We took the tube to Euston Station.  Whereas our layover hotel is in a fashionable part of town (although I cannot divulge the location for security reasons), Bruce opted to stay at the Hilton Euston, which was kind of surrounded by strip joints.  His room was about the size of a small prison cell, but it was still ok by European standards.

The wine wasn't all that great (but it was free).  After sharing the status of our evening with our mutual Facebook friends (I vaguely remember chatting with our friend Katherine) and calling our friend Jonathan (who knows what he was thinking when we talked with him), we got the idea that we should wash the bad wine taste out of our mouths with a couple of gin and tonics, so down to the hotel bar we went for one last night cap before bidding our farewells.

Miraculously, I made it back to the tube station, and managed to change lines to Picadilly, but then I fell asleep on the tube and when I woke up I was three stops past my station, so I had to back track. Oh well, it happens!  Even though it felt like we were out all night, I was still back at the hotel, showered and in bed by 11pm.  It get's dark so early it felt like it was later than it was I guess.

I had a little "headache" when I woke up the next morning, but after chugging some water and eating a greasy croissant, I was as good as new and my usually stunning self on the way home.