Nice n' Sleazy in Glasgow

The London snow didn't make it here the way I wanted it to, but we did get a couple days of light flurries. There was even enough "proper snow" to blanket the courtyard outside my apartment one morning, and someone constructed a little snowman. Maybe after someone pulled the fire alarm at 1:45 am Sunday? grrrrr - waiting outside in the cold for the fire brigade to arrive in the wee hours of the morning is not so fun. 

There are some less than romantic qualities about snow, though, that I've never experienced living in the warm climates of Louisiana and Southern California. For one, snow - and the ice it turns into - makes walking on the street very difficult. I should've brought shoes with better traction. I've made a fool of myself a number of times so far walking to and from class at a snail's pace and stepping cautiously. Even so, I've slipped a bunch. 

Last week was void of field trips except for scheduled meetings with our Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs). I was assigned to Mary Scanlon, who is shadow cabinet secretary for health for the Conservative Party. I went in twice last week to meet with Mary and get my security pass for the building; I start work Monday. I'm going to wait to say much about what I'll be doing in my job until I learn about the confidentiality policy (I've heard it's strict), but I'm excited to work on the projects they've mentioned to me. If anyone wants a VIP tour of the Scottish Parliament building, I can be your guide.

Last weekend three other girls and I went to Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. We left Friday afternoon and stayed through Saturday evening. Glasgow's only a fifty minute train ride from Edinburgh, but I felt as though I were a world away. It's a bustling, noisy city that's considerably more modern than quaint, romantic Edinburgh but still with ancient charm. I really enjoyed seeing the integration of old and new. 

After we dropped our bags at our hostel, McLay's guest house, we walked to the East end of the city and to the Glasgow Cathedral. It was closed for the day by the time we arrived, but it was a beautiful building. It was cold (even colder than Edinburgh) and we were hungry by that point, so we hit up a pub for dinner. The deal was two meals for 5 pounds (serious cheapness), and of course I took them up it, ordering a full Scottish breakfast from the deal menu. I enjoyed 2 fried eggs, 2 sausages, bacon, baked beans, half a roasted tomato, and mushrooms. Along with a pint of cider, it was a satisfying meal.  Mmmmm. 

[caption id="attachment_187" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Glasgow Cathedral."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_188" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Random lions at St. George Square in the center of Glasgow."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_189" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Cool building on St. George Square."][/caption]

That night we did a pub/club crawl of sorts, and the four of us stuck out as Americans pretty much everywhere we went. We had some interesting run-ins with Scottish lads (one of whom was eating fried black pudding - aka blood - ewww) and went  to a place called Nice n' Sleazy, highly recommended by the guidebook but sleazy in actuality. 

[caption id="attachment_191" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Mid-pub crawl Friday night."][/caption]

Saturday morning we awoke early to take advantage of the hostel's included breakfast (another full Scottish breakfast for me!) and ventured to the West end of the city and the botanical gardens. What should have been a 20-minute walk turned into an hour of getting lost repeatedly, but I didn't mind because it was nice to see a good bit of the city. 

The botanical gardens would have been beautiful in full bloom, I'm sure, but Scotland's weather isn't conducive to flowering plants in the winter. There was a neat glass house on the property, though, that housed a room just for "killer plants" - pitcher plants and venus fly traps, mostly.

[caption id="attachment_192" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Getting lost on the way to the botanical gardens."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_193" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="I'm bummed I didn't know about this place when I was applying to college."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_194" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The glass house, home to "killer plants.""][/caption]

We made our way back toward the hostel and had lunch at the Willow Tea Room. I had a great brie sandwich (surprise) and a pot of honey & almond tea. Very good, and an essential Scottish experience, I think. I'm so classy now.

We made our way back toward the train station, stopping to gaze at the eccentric exhibits at the Gallery of Modern Art and to do a little bit of shopping. I was wearing my backbacking backpack and thus wasn't really in the mood to shop, but I'm definitely going back to just do that. Glasgow is said to have the best shopping in the UK after London. 

Close to the train station, we caught a train in about fifteen minutes (trains run between Edinburgh and Glasgow very frequently) and made our way back to the home city. 

Thanks to the deep pocketbooks of USC (aka I'm still paying USC tuition to work for free here), I got to go to a rugby match at no cost on Sunday afternoon. It was a big one: Scotland v. Wales. They're playing the 6 Nations tournament right now and Wales is the favorite to win, so it was a good game to see. 

We were supposed to meet at Edinburgh Haymarket station, so I caught a train there with tons of other rugby fans. Exiting at the station was a nightmare; I was a small fish in a sea of blue and white being pushed around by people much burlier than myself. They blocked off the streets on the way to the stadium, and I followed men in kilts and people with painted faces (blue for Scotland and red for Wales) to "The Famous Grouse" stadium. (Grouse is a kind of whisky; I asked). 

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Kilted men on the way to the stadium."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_197" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The rugby men in action."][/caption]

I decided I like rugby better than American football because it's much more fast-paced. The ball is basically never dead. The fans are awesome, too. They all sing songs together when their team scores and wave flags around and cheer their country's name. Scotland lost by a pretty big margin, but not being so attached to the team I didn't enjoy the experience any less. 

Note of interest: I tried my first Scottish hot dog. It was OK but reminded me strangely of haggis, so it was hard to eat. I'm gonna stay away if I can from now on.

Yesterday the interns toured the Writer's Museum of Edinburgh, an ode to Burns, Scott, and Stevenson. It was lame-o, but I did learn that Walter Scott was born on the site of the building I'm living in now. Neat, huh? 

After tomorrow I'll be done with class for good this semester! But I still have two finals and a paper to write, so the doneness isn't quite official yet.

I'm off to Stockholm this weeked solo. I wonder if I can get Swedish fish there?