For some reason, last night’s festivities meant that getting moving this morning was a tad more difficult than usual 😉 but we managed to get a fairly decent start. Breakfast was the first of the “we need to eat this food before we go” meals but I don’t think sausage rolls and toast is as odd as things will get tomorrow!
We headed into Glasgow with Tom, Una, Ross and Amy for a wander around the newly transplanted Transportation Museum which was quite nice. There’s lots of Glasgow history built into the museum (like the shipyard work-in in the 1970’s) with which I was unfamiliar. There’s a neat display where they have a replica of a street from the late 1900 century including the shops and transport that would have been there at the time. Lots of interactive displays for the children with us (read: Ross and Gillian!) who played a game about delivering telegrams throughout Glasgow. They really included something for everyone from Colin McRae’s winning rally car to a display about motoring fashion at the turn of the century. Outside the museum, docked on the Clyde was the tall ship Glenlee, the longest surviving Clyde-built ship still afloat. Impressive to look at but we opted to skip the 5 pound entry fee this time.
Then we headed to the center of town to do some shopping….. at a mall…. sigh…. The St Enoch center is fine as far as malls go (except for the odd placement of escalators – why put the up and down escalators in different places?) and we were able to grab a bite to eat before heading out into the growing sunshine and a wander around town. Since we visiting Cannon’s don’t have the ability to shop on “the high street” as the resident Cannon’s do, it’s a treat to be able to wander around the shops of Argyle and Buchanan Streets with their street entertainers and interesting people watching. We saw everything from bagpipes to hip hop dancers to an 8 year old playing the electric guitar and singing “Wild Thing” and “You shook me all night long” – something not quite right about that!
We took a wee break in George square with the sunshine and the seagulls before heading out of town past Celtic park (we have loads of Celtic fans in the family). I have to say the new stadium is lovely and makes Ibrox look a bit pokey as we drove past that on the way in.
Then off to tea. The four visiting Cannon’s chose to dine at the Sherrifmuir Inn and we were not disappointed! The scenery would have been stunning if the heavens hadn’t opened right as we got in. The food was delicious and their ability to accommodate my diet was outstanding. I even got toasted GF bread with my soup starter. (Then lamb shank and pavlova to round things out!) It was a lovely way to end a lovely day.
But of course it wasn’t the end! Off to collect Gran and then back to Tom and Una’s for a few hours of blether. The kids (and I mean all of them, even Nikki the university student!) played Wii to raucous laughter – apparently Gillian is quite the champion although Ross the 7 year old insists he did win a medal for Scotland. The grown ups sat and chatted and got the oldyins hooked on new technologies – it won’t be long before Jean is out buying an iPad! Gillian played guitar and sang before a round of photos were snapped and we managed to crawl into bed in the wee hours.
Three things we noticed today:
- There is still a frightening number of men of varying ages, especially in Glasgow, who think that track suits are the height of fashion. Big chains are optional.
- Red hair on women is all the rage but apparently it is not required to look remotely natural. I can’t remember ever seeing so many women with fuchsia hair!
- Glasgow takes some time to appreciate. We’re trying but haven’t spent enough time there to see past the rough edges. My niece Lisa used to work there and loves the place; I would hope we would be able to do the same in time.
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