New Year's and New Adventures

Touchdown. The adventure continues…in Glasgow. Turns out Glasgow is much like Gloucester and Edinburgh is much like Cheltenham. Gloucester is down the road from me, near work, and Cheltenham is where I live. Gloucester is a dock town, more industrial, as is Glasgow, and Cheltenham is a bit like a small Arlington, as is Edinburgh. But don’t let that fool you, both towns were great, and I wouldn’t have chosen to spend New Year’s Eve any other place than Glasgow, for Edinburgh was much too crowded, like London on a Friday night.

Boy, was it cold, though, and me without my P-Coat. No worries, a quick trip to the Gap and I was kitted out with a lovely wool sweater (which is no more) and a wonderful scarf. Halfway around the world and I still shop at the Gap. What a world.

We met up with Derek and Kelly at the Glasgow Cathedral, which was beautiful, one of my favorites I would think. And right next door was the hospital, in this old building. But, a little worrisome was the fact that next to the hospital was the Glasgow Necropolis. A huge cemetery. Not the message I’d like to be sending my patients. It was great though, and next to that, was the Tennet’s brewery. Maybe that’s how they keep the hospital patients from worrying. Not a bad beer.

After touring the cathedral and Necropolis it was time for some grub. We went to this place called Frankenstein 1818, apparently “World famous.” But when any place makes that claim themselves I’m less inclined to believe it. Fact is, though, that the food was good, even the Haggis and Teets. Every so often Frankenstein would be lowered from the ceiling and “brought to life.” They even had a card magician come around. His card tricks were bar none pretty fucking amazing. Even when I was looking for the sleight of hand I couldn’t catch it; had he asked for a tip he’d have gotten it. Not bad for a chain restaurant.

After dinner it was off for our first pub crawl together, and what a time we had. When it’s cold outside, what better way to keep warm than by stopping in every bar on your way home? No better way, that’s what I say. And no better time could have been had on our first night in Glasgow. In the morning we’d be off to Edinburgh by train so it was time for some sleep. Bourbon But Smoother? Is that like beer goggles?


Waking up to rain when you’re planning to be walking around a city all day is never a good thing, but we pushed past that and hopped the train to Edinburgh. Once there the girls picked up a second set of umbrellas, Kristen, of course, getting a plaid one.

A quick walk past the ferris wheel by the church and we were at the museum. A museum which doesn’t allow photography is never a good thing for a person that often uses photography to keep the A.D.D. in check, but I made it through, only mildly annoying everyone.

As we climbed the hill towards Edinburgh Castle the rain began to let up, and finally start. How nice. The castle was gorgeous. Outside these ominous clouds were hanging over the hills in the distance, but inside was a bustling “little city of tourists.” The only downside was getting drawn into seeing the “Crown Jewels” which turned out to be a tiny room at the end of a long line of people winding through like fifty other rooms of mannequins in period dress. Boring.


I’d been filling up my 1GB memory card and burning it to CDs all week, and after the castle it was time to do it again, so Kristen and I left Derek and Kelly and went to Camera Obscura to get the job done. On the way we listened a bit to a bagpiper, which is my favorite instrument alongside the harpsichord. How on Earth I can find something that sounds like someone strangling a wet cat so beautiful is beyond me, but I do.

And then the Hare Krishna caught us. Call it my one good deed of the day, paying a guy 16 pounds for a CD I didn’t want (thanks to Kristen) and some books I’d never read. But all was put well in the world again (sort of) when burning the CDs took so long that they gave them to me for free, plus a bottle of water for Kristen, and a key chain for Derek and Kelly.

Guess what happened after that? That’s right, another pub crawl. This one was chock full of beer, little shots of Bailey’s in chocolate shot glasses, televisions presenting the World Championship of Darts (yes, darts), and the name game. But, alas, it could not last, and it was time to return to Glasgow on the train and catch some Z’s.

Saturday morning (New Year’s Eve) the sickness struck. Poor Kristen hadn’t been feeling well for a few days, but that day it was worse. But, like the trooper she is, she gutted it out. Gutted it out, that is, until she emptied those same guts upon arrival at the Science Museum. Science museums are great because they make you feel like a kid again. At least, they do if you spent most of your childhood, and your adulthood for that matter, being a geek. We watched a program on electricity, and one on the weather, and even got to build a contraption to try and drop an egg 30 feet without breaking it. And, of course, ours was the last to go, and the last not to break. I’m so proud of our team. Others weren't so lucky.

Finding some place to eat on New Year’s Eve was a bit of a task, but we finally found a tiny little Italian joint. The food was good. After sitting down Derek and I started to wonder if the bottle of Vodka we picked up earlier was going to be enough. Well, the worry got the best of us and we skipped out to buy some more. Good thing we did, too, because turns out we needed it. Anyway, dinner was delicious, as was the wine. Time to prepare for the celebration, back at the hotel.

After quite a few screwdrivers and some vodka tonics one finds it difficult to pry away from watching the Simpsons and actually attend the event for which one came to Glasgow in the first place, but I’m glad we did. It was just the right amount of people and the band, Athlete, was fantastic. Kissing Kristen at midnight in Scotland was definitely a highlight of my journeys here in England. Even kissing her after she was sick (I hope she brushed her teeth). But speaking of sickness, it wiped her out, so we cut out early and went back to the hotel, where some drunk girls in the elevator gave me their Scottish flag. Nice! I don’t even think we heard Derek and Kelly come in.

The next morning we walked around a bit with Derek and Kelly, and ate lunch at the only place open that day, a department store (yes, really), before seeing them off. Then it was time for much needed rest and relaxation at the hotel. We spent the better part of the day there reading. But later that night we skipped out across the street for a bit of folk music at the local pub we’d visited before. We were only going to stay a little while but this couple (him English, and her Scottish) recognized us from the hotel and invited us to join them. It was well worth it, though for the life of me I had the damndest time understanding her, and I pride myself on deciphering accents. Either way it was a good way to end our last night in Scotland.

The next morning we were supposed to go falconing, but were both too tired, so we spent yet another day relaxing at the hotel (with a brief jaunt to the pub on the high street for some lunch), before grabbing a taxi with a talkative, but well-traveled driver, back to the airport. Our time in Glasgow had finally come to an end.