Glasgow

Glasgow was cool. I had to take the metro to a bus to a plane to get to Glasgow and once there, I had to take another bus to a taxi to get to Phillip’s flat. I made it all in one piece, and I spent the weekend walking around the city. The weather fluctuated from rainy to sunny and back to rainy. All of the locals were really friendly—and I did see several men in kilts. They say, “cheers” instead of “thanks” or “thank you,” so when I said “thanks,” I got some weird glances.

Friday, we went to the McLellan Galleries where the art from the Kelvingrove Museum is being stored during the Kelvingrove renovation. Lots of great paintings and sculptures. Friday night, I cooked dinner in Phillips flat—Indian food, duh, and it was good. In Scotland, cider is really popular and sold in plastic 2-litre jugs, so I managed to drink an entire jug that night because it was so good. I think for my 21st birthday in January, I will go to Blueberry Hill with Aaron and have cider. Saturday during the day, I went to the main park in Glasgow and walked around before escaping to a coffee shop for a BIG cup of coffee (I don’t even drink it back in the USA, but since Paris only offers the dainty baby cups of coffee, I though that I should indulge). On my walk back to Phillip’s flat, there was the strongest rainbow I have ever seen. Saturday night, Phillip went to a concert—The Go! Team. They’re like an 80s/rock group, and this 17-year-old white British girl rapper opened for them, and needless to say, she was really bad. The concert was cool, I’ve never gone to one where people are crammed into a small standing room only space jumping around, and I have never heard so many Scottish college students screaming in my life. I think I have some bruises from the dumb drunk people who jabbed me with their elbows when they were dancing.

The kids that live with Phillip are so cool. There are a couple of them from the USA who go to Trinity and Denison, and the rest were from England, Scotland, and Ireland, and they all hang around the flat together and compare American and British expressions. It was a lot of fun.

This morning, I walked to the subway station in Glasgow but it was closed, so I had to take a taxi to the train station and then a train to the airport and then the flight back to Paris and then another bus ride back to Paris and then a taxi to the apartment. For some reason, I am NOT in the mood to watch, “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.” I had no trouble in customs in either country, even though I was told by my school’s office I would since my visa is not yet finalized. But it worked, so I have now booked my trips to London and Prague…and pretty soon in the future, we’ll be booking Belgium and I’m going to go on a trip myself sometime in December to Amsterdam so I can move at my own pace, because in Amsterdam, I want to go to museums and tours, and not participate so much in the underbelly (aka marijuana and prostitutes). I won’t be able to get to Italy or Spain…so I hope I’ll be back to Europe sometime in the next few years.

Tomorrow another week starts. I’m going to try to be ultra productive. On Thursday night, I’m going to the opera to see La Boheme, and on Thursday and Friday, my Paris Monuments class is going to the Pantheon (Thursday) and the gardens of Versailles (Friday).