Snapshots from Glasgow

Hi all!

After Bournemouth and south Wales I came back to Glasgow to spend some more time with Zul and Jenny and start looking for housing. Here are a few fun highlights to share. Enjoy!

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I turned 48 (WTF?!) in Glasgow and tried the famous Scottish soda Irn Bru!

Scottish people are passionate about Irn Bru and the taste is unlike any other pop I've ever had. It’s a bit like a very sweet cream soda + orange soda but with a bit of a metallic tang. Its a flavour that’s uniquely it’s own. I don't think I'll become a mega-fan but now I can say I've done it.

We spent some time that day in the Burrell Museum. Sir William Burrell (1861–1958) was born and raised in Glasgow and was part of a successful family of shipping merchants. His wealth allowed him to pursue his passion for art and he amassed a huge private collection of items from many different eras and parts of the world. In 1944 he and his wife donated the entire collection to the City of Glasgow with the expectation that it would be free for people to come and enjoy. The museum is housed in a beautiful, modern building in Pollock Park. The interpretation in the sections that we saw was interesting because they were going by theme and not by date. It was a neat way to look at different collections of art.

After some art, snacks and Irn Bru we went looking for the park's prize-winning Highland Cows. We found them waaaaay out in a field and they were not at all interested in coming over for a visit. Here are Jenny and Zul's son Omar and I posing with them at Zul's insistence.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Zul and Jenny's other son Ally and his family. It was a nice chill way to celebrate my birthday.

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A few days later we went back to the west coast for another swim and I finally saw Arran!

😍

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Jenny and her grandson Cosmo and I explored Old Govan church and looked at the “Goven Hogbacks.”

The church is on a spot that is believed to have been a location for Christian activity for the past 1500 years! The large, rounded, carved stones pictured below are a few of the 31 “hogbacks” which were found in the church yard. These are estimated to date from about 800AD and are thought to be Viking grave markers. These are some of the best surviving examples and were brought inside to protect them from further damage from the elements.

The collection in the church also includes a carved stone sarcophagus estimated to be created late in the 9th century!

Amazing!!

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I explored the Castle Semple loch area near Jenny and Zul's and soaked in the history and nature. One day I spent about an hour at the ruins of the Castle Semple Colligiate Church drawing.

The long walk, the fresh air and the focus of drawing were lovely ways to de-stress from the frustration of looking for housing. I definitely had a few “WTF have I done with my life?!” moments in that 10 days but doing something cool like drawing an 520 year old ruin reminded me the goal is to soak it in, not be renting my own gorgeous apartment in a hip neighbourhood and be running the NHS by Christmas. Relax Jones, because,

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The World Bagpipe Championships happened to be on while I was in Glasgow so I went to see if I could find the Simon Fraser University pipe band. I did my undergrad at SFU and I am proud to say they have won the world championships six times over the years!

It took a while to find them in the park amidst the hundreds of other pipers and drummers but eventually I found them warming up!

And I made it to the central competition area where they performed!

They placed second last year and fourth this year. I am sure they were disappointed but I was excited to be able to see them place so highly while I was there.

At the end of the day all the bands meet up in a huge field to play a couple songs together and to receive the prizes. It was so cool to hear the cheers go up as different bands in the various grades and types of performance found out who won.

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I also managed to fit in some more swimming while I was in Lochwinnoch with Jenny and Zul. I went up to a local swimming hole and had a soak on a hot day. It was chilly but such a treat after a hot, muggy day. The teenage boys who were there were impressed that I stayed in for almost 15 minutes! I did not point out that I was better insulated than they were! 😆

You can go behind the waterfall too and I tried that the next night. It was a cooler day and I got there later in the evening though so the whole adventure felt colder that night. I did a quick explore behind the waterfall, soaked for a shorter time and then walked back down the hill to Jenny and Zul's house. It was a lovely, summer-y, village day.

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I did some exploring around central Glasgow while I went to flat viewings. I found the famous statue of the Duke of Wellington who, since the mid-80s, has worn a traffic cone on his head. You can read more about the long simmering tension between city council, who keep trying to find way to remove the cone and discourage future orange hats, and Glaswegians, who has persisted in doing so (and even change the colour up for various social, political and sporting events!) here. The day I went there was one hat and many spares to be had for what, photo ops maybe?!

I went back another time and the spare cones were gone but the hat remained. I wonder of the city workers took them back for road works. So mysterious!

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I have to end my Glasgow postcards section with a report on my fabulous experience at the very expensive jewellery store Mappin and Webb. Being Canadian, I didn’t recognise their name but they turned out to be the company who are jewellers to the Crown!

After a few disappointing flat viewings I was poking around downtown feeling a bit blue when I went past the store which is at the front of the very glitzy Argyll Arcade. The Argyll Arcade is FULL of diamond jewellery and expensive watches. Fancy watches aren’t my thing (even though I can appreciate their beauty, craftsmanship and precision) but I am a sucker for sparkly jewellery. So, to brighten my mood I spent almost an hour looking in Every. Single. Window. I did a detailed analysis of the latest styles, noted the rise of large lab created diamonds for impressive solitaires and enjoyed the wonky diamonds, warm gold tones and filigree of the antique estate jewellery.

Along the way I saw an 18karat gold necklace that looked a bit like a silver necklace some of my girlfriends got me before I left. (Thank you ladies!!) I took a picture of it and was going to text my friends to jokingly ask why they hadn't gone for the 18kt gold version.

I mean, it would have only been about 4,000CAD. What is a friendship worth these days anyways?! 😆

As I looped back past this store (I said it was a detailed analysis!) the sales lady saw me stop again and rushed out to say hi. She said she'd noticed me stop on the way in and then again on my way out and asked if I wanted to try it on. I balked and said, “OH gosh no. I can't be buying jewellery right now but thank you so much. It is beautiful.” She said, “No! Come on in. Just for fun. Why don't you try it on!” After a bit of back and forth, and assuming she could tell from my casual clothes that I wasn't in a position to be buying gold necklaces, I relented. I mean, I love trying on beautiful jewellery. I just don't like wasting people's time.

She was so lovely! Wendy introduced herself, sat me down and had the necklace on my neck in a flash. I showed her the pretty silver version I already had on and explained that I was just planning to send a pic to my girlfriends to joke with them. She laughed and said she understood why I stopped. Her sales partner, who was looking dapper in a three piece suit, then popped by and said,

“Can I get you a glass of something?”

“Oh, yes please. I would love some water. It’s so warm out!”

“Oh no madam, this is a full service establishment” and he proceeded to pop a drink menu in front of me! I stammered and said, “OH gosh, no worries. I mean, I'm just trying something on for fun. Water will be fine.” He laughed and said, “It’s all part of the service!” As I continued to splutter my weakening refusals he looked at me with a big grin and said, “Are you sure?”

“ Weeeeelllll,” I said, caving. “Actually you did mention a glass of something sparkly. Maybe something along those lines?”

“Of course! Champagne or Prosecco? Maybe a wine spritzer? A fizzy cocktail?”

“I think Prosecco would be lovely. Thank you!”

“Of course!” And within a minute a lovely glass of Prosecco was placed in front of me.

The lady who was showing me the necklace said, “Come on! We have to take a picture for your friends!” So,

It was such a treat! She was such a nice woman and seemed genuinely happy to chat. She was so excited for me to be in Glasgow having this big adventure. She insisted that I email her and keep her up-to-date on my adventures.

Near the end of our chat (and the glass of wine) her colleague came back and brought me the other necklace that was just a plain chain. It was slightly cheaper and, after a glass of wine, seemed infinitely more affordable. Wendy could see that something had shifted in my eyes and could tell that my mental wheels were turning to find some way that I could justify this purchase. As I was discussing it with her colleague, exclaiming about the affordability of this reclaimed 18k gold chain (stamped with the Royal Mint logo no less!) and its suitability as a gorgeous souvenir, she very gently pulled the necklace back and said, “Well, now, why don't you get a bit more sorted and when we have some Christmas promotions, I will let you know.” I looked at it longingly as she slipped it away and said, “Oh, ya, maybe I should like, get a job and a home before I buy 18kt gold jewellery.” “Ya,” she said, “I think that’s a great idea. I'll be here and you need to come back and tell me how things are going anyway.” Yes. Indeed. Excellent point.

So, I still don't have housing or a job but I do have my very own sales consultant at a very posh jeweller. A girl has to start somewhere!

❤️ G