Day 0 -- Wednesday, the 22 June
The plan was to leave tomorrow, but rail strikes have forced adc, JS and me out of the city one day early.
It was a busy day at work, and we are worried about the promised summer of rail-travel disruptions.
An easy 16:30 bus ride sees us reach Euston forty minutes early. But the train is announced, and it leaves on time, almost empty. It is the quietest train journey we have ever had, in fact. A pleasant ride into G-town.
From the station, it is a short stroll to our emergency accommodation, SafeStay, which is basic, functional, and adequate, if not comfortable. adc's worst memory of the trip will be that the towels in the bathroom (which are not included in the price), are obvious leftovers from previous guests, make-up stains and all. I am relieved enough that we made it thus far.
Anyway, it is too late for food. Off to bed.
Day 1 -- Thursday, the 23rd June
Stuck for an additional day in Glesga without plans. I can think of worse situations to be in!
We get up in time to grab breakfast at Crazy Chef's Café, the city's self-proclaimed finest greasy spoon.
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| JS goes for their speciality breakfast roll #3 |
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| adc has the little Scottish |
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| I have the veggie brekkie |
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| Funny artwork |
Once replenished, we head towards our new accommodation to drop off the bags, then take the path on the banks of the Clyde. It takes us past the Finnieston crane, the SECC, and the distillery, which we take pictures of, but do not enter.
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| The graffiti is great, in this city |
We continue to the Riverside Museum, which we do visit, on the other hand. A great place that partly traces back the history of this fascinating city, with a lot of focus on transportation. Behind the museum is a tall ship, also worth a visit.
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| A period tramway |
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| A restored tube carriage from the 1950s |
JS takes us to Tantrum Doughnuts by the Kelvingrove Museum.
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| I have the Double Blueberry & White Chocolate |
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| JS goes for Forest Fruits Jam filled |
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| adc has Lemon Poppyseeds 'Old Fashioned' |
Then we go to Kelvingrove Hall -- and it is another cracking museum.
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| The baroque interior reminds me of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna |
It is striking that I have now stopped in Glasgow in the region of twenty times, and I had never been to this outstanding museum! Sadly, as soon as we discover that it houses Dalí's Christ of Saint John of the Cross, we also discover it is currently on loan.
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| Bah. |
From there, we walk back to our accommodation for a shower, then have supper at Dim Sum Restaurant. I have wanted to dine here for years, and it has never worked out, from a timing perspective, so it is satisfying to tick that off the list. To be honest, I am disappointed with the haggis dumplings (we all are), but everything else is ace. The best are the black pudding wontons.
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| Steamed Vegetable Dumplings with Chilli & Lime |
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| Steamed Vegetable Dumplings with Saffron (top) Smoked Haddock & Leek Dumplings (bottom) |
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| Haggis Dumplings |
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| Stornoway Black Pudding Wontons with Scallops & King Prawn |
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| Crispy Golden Prawns with Spicy Thai Sauce |
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| Crispy Rolls with Duck |
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| Char Sui Buns |
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| Steamed Black Sesame Buns (JS) |
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| Steamed Egg Custard Buns (adc) |
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| Steamed Ma Lai Gao & Ice Cream (me) |
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| It is not people, who make Glasgow |
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| The original headquarters of the Glasgow Underground Now a Starbucks |
Day 2 -- Friday, the 24th June
Slow start. JS goes for a run on the towpath, adc reads up on Glasgow, I work on my blog. We pick up a box of doughnuts from Tantrum for breakfast: almond ring, vanilla glaze, , vegan blueberries, salted honey glaze and millionaire chocolate. Finger-licking good.
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| From top-left to bottom-right: Chocolate Millionaire Almond Glazed Buttermilk 'Old Fashioned' Crème Brûlée Vegan Blueberry Jam Glaze Madagascar Vanilla Bean Glaze Salted Honey Ring |
We still have a bit of time before take-off, so we take a stroll into the city. We try to see the City Chambers: only the ground floor is accessible, at this time, yet it is worth a visit for that alone.
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| The various staircases are particularly exuberant |
Anyhoo, time to collect our luggage and head for the car.
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| Bye, popular characters of the 1980s who have no connection to Glasgow |
The car rental agency (Arnold Clarke) offers a free shuttle service, yay! Just as well, because the agency is in the sticks. Probably around ten kilometres from the city centre, and they tell us it is a challenge to get a taxi to and from there. I believe it!
It takes a while to collect the car (henceforth know as White Stag) and we end up driving off thirty minutes later than anticipated. Despite having (outdated) satnav with us, and JS having studied the map prior, we still get lost on our way out of Glasgow, but we eventually reach Mactears's to collect recent successes. Little do we know then that the car comes with its own satnav -- up to date, this one.
By the time we come out with our arms full of goodies, we know that the ferry that will take us to our next destination is cancelled, due to an oil leak. It is slightly less time pressure on our drive, I suppose. Just as well, because we struggle to head southwest. We make it well on time to Ardrossan all the same, but the "additional sailings" are full, and we are left on stand-by.
Our good fortunes seem to have evaporated at last, after some twenty years of reliable ferries. Annoyingly, we have a pre-paid gala dinner at 18:00, and zero chance of showing up on time, now. It is about to get worse, though: the next boat comes and goes. The following is two hours later, and it is 20:30 when we finally board (the 19:20 service), or five hours later than planned. That is our dinner down the drain, and the associated costs. Snok. Better than lying at the bottom of the Firth of Clyde, but annoying all the same.
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