Glasgow and a Blue Police Box

Ello mates, as promised here is a tale of my trip to Glasgow Scotland’s second great city, in my opinion the lesser, but certainly the larger of the two.

Friday 22 February 3013

6:37AM

My room, Dalkeith House

There are some things that always remain the same, even when travelling  I’m sure everyone has their own little quirks. For me, and I’m quite certain I am not alone, I don’t like getting up. The alarm clock is not my friend, which is a condition – to my disappointment – did not magically disappear when I crossed the border. With that being said, today wasn’t a normal day, and breaks in the schedule tend to magically make my alarm clock more effective. I had only snoozed it twice. This was a good sign; I’d have enough time to take a shower.

I was in the shower by 6:40, and back to my room by 6:54. I was making good time. Niki had made it very clear that we had to be in the main hall at 7:15. I made it to the centre hall, pack lunch in hand, by 7:10. I walked over by Amber and Jess, and here we waited.

As it would turn out the bus wouldn’t show up until 7:25, and we weren’t on the road until 7:33. Doing some mental math, I calculated that I could have slept in another 15 minutes, and would have been equally on time. If you’re a snooze button user, you know how valuable 15 minutes is.

Anyway, the ride to Glasgow took about an hour. There wasn’t a lot to see on the way there, and it wasn’t a particularly nice day to not see anything. Amber and Jess chatted about friends of theirs back home, and I read a book. For notification, this guy could really write.

It was cold and overcast, but apparently that counts as a good day in Glasgow, because it was going to be dry. Looking back, I’m not really sure why I didn’t take my umbrella along, when knowingly going on a trip to the rainy side of the island. I was lucky not to need it.

We pulled through, what might be the infancy of a high-rise, and into the city centre. Here we picked up Jerry (our professor, Glaswegian, and in this case tour guide). He sent some sweeties (candy) around the bus for us all to snack on, as the driver drove around and Jerry spoke to us about the various buildings over the intercom. It was during this part of the trip that I saw the Police Box. I have to admit, I got a wee bit giddy when I saw a real life police box.

The bus continued on until we made it to Celtic Stadium. Now I have to be honest, Celtic stadium didn’t make a big impact on me. I don’t like watching sports. Yeah football (soccer to you guys) is a big part of the culture here, but American football is a big part of the culture back home. So I feel like I’m being the cultural equivalent of myself.

We got to see the trophy room, the locker room, and then they walked us through the tunnel and onto the field, well not on the field but where the team sits anyway. It was a nice field, the grass was very green. The bleachers spelled out Celtic with cleverly placed different coloured green and white chairs. We got to see where the rich VIP’s get to sit. I’m not really sure what else to say.

We finished off the tour with a video that looked like a soccer version of one of the documentaries my brother would watch on the NFL network. Best (and by best I mean longest) 18 minutes and 37 seconds of my life.

We left Celtic stadium and went into the adjacent gift shop. To my surprise not everything there was overpriced. I actually almost got a scarf (but unfortunately the one I wanted was one of the pricey things). Anyway after about a half hour of wandering around the shop, the group was ready to get going. So, we all piled onto the bus and headed off to the Glasgow Museum of Transportation.

It was built on what was once a ship yard, and was a nice way to represent the city’s history. Although as I have mentioned in a previous post, museums aren’t really my thing. Being a speciality museum, it lacked the mummy exhibit or a T-Rex. However, the rest of the stigmas still apply. I did get to see the world’s oldest bicycle, and I had a nice cup of tea so it wasn’t a bad outing.

We continued from the transport museum to a more standard museum. This one had all traditional exhibits, which I stayed clear of. This building was beautiful. Ancient marble tiles and intricate carvings lined the walls of this huge arched room. To be honest as far as exhibits went this was a knock off of the Edinburgh public museum, but the grandeur of this building was just enjoyable to walk around and soak in.

After this last stop, we were given some free time to explore the city. To no one’s surprise the first thing I wanted to find was that Police Box I saw earlier. So Amber, Jess and I set off in search for the Blue Box. We got lost a few times, but before long we found it. If you check my facebook, it is now my profile picture.

Blue Box found, we headed back towards the spot where the bus would pick us up. I have to say, one can tell quite easily that Glasgow is a very different city than Edinburgh. When I walk around Edinburgh, I know I’m in a big city, but it doesn’t feel like it. Glasgow feels like a big city. It’s not as inviting for some reason. I certainly didn’t feel bad about not wanting to stay the weekend.

When we got back to the meeting place, I followed Amber and Jess into a few shops. I need guy friends. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy looking at dresses and shoes as much as the next guy, but to be honest, I don’t have that much to contribute to the search. As a general rule of thumb, I don’t wear dresses or heels of any kind. So you can understand where I might feel out of place. Jess and Amber seem to be oblivious of this.

Anyway we left Top shop and had a wee bit of time to kill. So we wondered until we got to an outdoor market that was “roofed” by sheets of hanging white lights. It was cool. I separated from the group, getting good angles for pictures. Eventually, I wandered through an archway and found another Blue Box. This one was a lot closer to the Doctor’s TARDIS. It’s a shame I was on my own at this point, because I wasn’t able to get my picture taken with it.

After taking a few shots of the box, and then I decided to head back. It was close to 6:00 at night, and the night life of the city was just beginning to wake up. I could hear random music in the background, and as I walked under the brilliant hanging lights, I felt the first sense of endearment to the city.

I suppose you can’t judge a city at night by the city in the day.

Cheers!

-Anth