Hello from Glasgow!

I'm still a bit jet lagged, and a little overwhelmed, so forgive me if this seems fragmented.

Hello from half way around the world!  I landed in Glasgow Tuesday morning and it has felt like a whirlwind ever since!

The city is so much bigger than I expected and I love it.  It seems to be very similar to other metropolitan areas, but with so much history.  I love the mix of stone architecture with the more modern buildings.  There's so much character here!

Day 1 (3/22)

My first day was so exhausting.  Between all of my travel and the time change I had an incredibly hard time staying awake.  I left Seattle around 6pm on Monday and didn't land here until noon on Tuesday.

Check in at the hostel wasn't until 3, but I was able to leave my bags here and wander the city for a bit.  I exchanged some currency at a local department store (weird) and noticed some familiar brands.  I've found that walking is the best way to get to know a new city, so I just followed my feet for a while until they led me back down by the river Clyde and eventually to the hostel's front door.

After I checked in and found my room I made friends with a lovely girl named Sierra from Vancouver, B.C.  We ended up spending the rest of the day exploring downtown and getting dinner at the hostel's restaurant, where two drunk Scottish guys asked us to play a game of pool (I won!).  It is true, the accent is so much stronger when they're drunk.

After that it was FINALLY bed time.  I had a surprisingly difficult time staying asleep, and I'm STILL adjusting to the time change.

This was a really cool memorial for those who gave their lives in the World Wars.

Their equivalent of City Hall.

For the Doctor Who fans.

Found some really cool street art around the city. This tiger was my favorite.

This is in Glasgow Greens.  It's a huge park that runs along the river Clyde for a bit.

This guy was in front of the GoMA.

The Clyde

The street performers here are pretty top notch.

This is some sort of famous carpet factory? I just thought it was a cool building.

Day 2

This was just yesterday. What.

I took a bus (double decker!) to this park about a half hour south of the hostel called Pollok Park.  Apparently it was owned by this family called the Maxwell's, and they've been around the area since the1300's.  The Pollok House was undergoing some major upkeep, so the outside was covered in scaffolding, but the gardens and the inside were gorgeous.  I could've spent days exploring, it's so much land!

Fun fact:  It was named Best Park in Europe in 2008.  It's that awesome.

In the middle of the park is a free museum called The Burrell Collection that contains everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts to very large archways, and everything in between.  Apparently Burrell was a shipping magnate, and used his money to collect all kinds of artwork, or whatever he fancied.  When he passed his wife donated everything to the city of Glasgow, and they built this giant building to house it all.  I took some pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them just now.

When I got back to the hostel it turned out my friend Gavin was working in the area and finished early, so we got dinner at this placed called Bread Meats Butter.  It was pretty tasty, but it was burgers and milkshakes!  I told him when I come stay in Edinburgh we need to have local food.  More on him later.

After that I tried to read for a bit, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. Damn you, jet lag!

This is the view from the hostel.

Fuzzy cows!

I wasn't allowed to take photos inside the house, but I couldn't resist these books.

Day 3

That brings us up to today.

I made it out to a local spot for breakfast with Sierra.  It was so quaint, and pretty tasty.  I wasn't brave enough to try black pudding quite yet though.

I finally managed to find the post office after roaming around for 3 days, and mailed off a letter to a very important someone.  Even the post office was a learning experience.

Then I wandered over to Glasgow Greens and the People's Palace.  It houses a small museum of Glasgow history.  It was also free (most museums here are, it turns out) and fairly interesting.

And now I'm back in the hostel and out of the rain.  Later I'll venture out for a drink and trivia with some local girls, and hopefully I won't die of exhaustion.

The People's Palace

This is Mr. Happy.  Apparently he was part of a city campaign to promote Glasgow as an attractive venue for both business and pleasure.  I just want to squeeze his little happy face.

Not out; oot.

It seems Glasgow loves dance as much as I do.

The People's Palace and Winter Gardens

This is for Jeff. It's the Scrambler!

It seems Easter is a big production around here.  This little carnival is open for Easter weekend, and every place I've been to visit was getting set up for their Easter egg hunt.

And that's it.  You're up to date now.  Tomorrow Gavin is picking me up on his way from Glasgow to Edinburgh.  I'm staying there for probably two weeks, maybe more depending on how much I love the city.  This weekend I'll start planning for going either north to Speyside, or south to (hopefully) see Lissie just outside of London.  Then over to Ireland the end of April!