Getting about in Glasgow

From Belfast, we caught the 45-minute flight to Glasgow, flying budget EasyJet. As we went through security Jason got hauled aside to go through additional security measures. He obviously looked like a dodgy sod. They made him do a river dance inside a foot scanner. You put your left leg in, your left leg out, and shake it all about. We had no sooner taken off and we heard the pilot say: “cabin crew, prepare for landing”. We’ve taken longer bus journeys across Brisbane.

Initially, we were going to catch the express airport bus from Glasgow Airport, but realised that an Uber was going to about the same price. Well, that is if the end price was the same as the original quoted price. With traffic, it ended up a little bit more than expected. We did get the lowdown on Glasgow from the Uber driver. Even though he's a native, he wasn't too keen on the place. Before we even got out of the airport, we got to experience the fiery Scottish temper. A man in a car at the airport carpark boom gate was obviously taking too long for the driver behind him, who got out of the car and started yelling at him. Don't cross a Scotsman! The Uber driver said the nation was at an all time high during the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but within four months, the people were ready to kill each other.

It felt like groundhog day when we arrived at our apartment to see the tiniest bed, amongst a studio cluttered with knick knacks. The owner had left a manifesto on the apartment with an itemised list of objects in the apartment. No shoes in the apartment, no this or that, turn off this, don't turn on that. I'm not sure exactly what they're trying to protect; it certainly isn't the Hilton.

But I’m sure the Hilton doesn’t have a pop-up drug den in the stair well of their hotel. Well, in our apartment complex, someone had set up a bottle with alfoil around the top and left their silver spoon next to it. Discarded alfoil with a brown substance was strewn around the staircase. Next to the drug den, there was a sign saying that drugs were not tolerated in the building. The pop-up den remained there for our entire stay. It doesn’t look like the complex is cleaned on a regular basis!

This same policy seemed to apply to the apartment that we were staying in. It seemed the cleaner was a little eager to finish up her work and forget to take away the bloodied and soiled towels. In the apartment manifesto, there was explicit mention of blood stains on towels and a payment required for cleaning. So, Jason advised the owner, who became very apologetic and even offered a partial refund on the accommodation. She obviously didn't want to get a bad review. Oh and the provided clean towels would have fit a six-month old child.

Once we settled in, we wandered around Glasgow City Centre, admiring the architecture. There’s definitely not as much dog shit as Ireland or Northern Ireland but still the streets are a little bit littered with garbage. The result of Council cost cutting and the removal of bins ... no doubt. Jason also made the observation that there weren’t as many oompa loompas in Glasgow, although I did see one woman who had matched her skin tone with her red hair.

As we walked taking in the scenery, the rain began to sprinkle enough to be annoying but not really significant enough to go to the effort of pulling out the umbrella. With an average of 170 days of rainfall a year, it was inevitable that we would experience some of the pleasure and pain (rain). The Eurythmics song “Here comes the rain again” became our anthem. We got out of the rain for a bit to visit the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum. Although we had already clocked up a lot of steps, we punished ourselves more with a walking tour through the West End of Glasgow.

The following morning, before heading to our next destination, we took a hike up to the Glasgow Necropolis. It was interesting to see the differences between the social (and religious) classes in how they honoured their dead. There were some extravagant temples built for some, while others were simple headstones, which were no longer legible.

Oh, and by the way, the filming of Lost World has gone on hiatus, but I’m sure the season will resume soon.

Next stop: Edinburgh.Read more