Scotland2005: Hello from Glasgow

Last night, the clerk at the Internet cafe in Edinburgh recommended a nice little Italian place for dinner, just up the street from the cafe, so we walked up the ancient streets and found the place tucked away on the side of a building. It was quite good, but you know Tony is terribly allergic to alcohol, and we had bruschetta for an appetizer and they had drizzled some wine on it -- one bite, and Tony had instant rash on his, as the British say, "arse". Not a bad reaction, but one none the less.

We got up this morning and had a few hours to kill before our train to Glasgow, so we wandered up the hill to the Castle and took in the view one last time and said goodbye to that beautiful city. Edinburgh is a wonderful, very ancient city that to this day retains both its Medieval and Victorian charms, and one we could see ourselves living in.

We decided to take a cross-country GNER train rather than a local First ScotRail train -- no stops and it flies down the tracks and got us to Glasgow in a bit over an hour. What I wouldn't give for the rail system they have here back home in Seattle. Can you imagine a train every hour to Portland, and 6-7 times a day to Spokane or Vancouver BC, making the journey in a few hours?

Glasgow is a very very different city than Edinburgh. They say that Edinburgh may be the Capital, but Glasgow HAS the Capital. It is very much an industrial and financial city, and at one time was the second largest city in the UK -- at the turn of the last century, it had 1.6 million people, but now has 600,000. The decline of the industrial age hit this city very hard. It used to be THE ship building and heavy engineering center of Europe, and now boasts the most call-centers in the UK. There's the new economy for you.

This was quite evident on the inbound train -- we passed a lot of red brick factories, many abandoned or boarded up, but quite a few still operating. They look like "model" factories too -- red brick, pointed roofs with glass skylights, smokestacks, etc. I wondered what they made or still make -- and as if to answer, one factory came into view with a sign that said "JAXCO Industrial -- More Than You Imagine". Big help.

Glasgow on the outskirts reminded me of any big decaying east coast US city -- and while Edinburgh retains it smaller charm and elegant Victorian style with a streak of midieval thrown in, Glasgow has miles of shipyards and pollution stained red-sandstone buildings. But once one gets into the center of the city, it becomes very much a comsmopolitan European city, much like any big city -- lots of nightlife and shopping, and some modern architecture sprinkled among 150 year old brownstones. Edinburgh is kind of like Washington DC in that sense, while Glasgow is like, oh, lets say --Buffalo -- sort of bleak.

None the less, we are excited to be here, as we didn't make it here on our last trip, and we are staying at nice hotel accross the square from the city hall and attached to the train station. The first thing we did was hop on to one of those "hop-on/hop-off" tourist bus tours. It's on a double-decker bus that has been peeled back by a can opener so it's partly open-topped. You get a local guide who yacks your ear off with a wonderful Scottish brouge, and tells you all the local lore and sights. Tacky as it may seem, it is really the BEST way to get the lay of the land and general feel of a city, and it helps you decide what you want to see more of. In our case, we (or at least I) want to see the Transport museum -- a great big huge place with lots of trains, planes and automobiles. Tony didn't say much -- and he's kind enough to go along as a good sport.

We'll also do a couple of day trips -- and yes, probably rent motorcycles on Saturday, as we made a quick trip to the Harley dealership and talked about renting bikes that day. Riding season is kind of over here, as it is a tad cool, and he says there should be no problem getting bikes, weather permitting, for us to rent. I can sense it now, my mother is brewing up one of her storm spells as we speak, but I can only hope her powers can't reach accross the Atlantic, and are localized in Utah only.

We already decided to extend our stay by one day, and will now be here until Monday morning, and are looking forward to exploring Glasgow and getting to know this part of Scotland.

From the "Yee-ha Internet Cafe" (how's that for a name?) in Glasgow --

Gary and Tony