Scotland - Glasgow part 1

I received two interesting pieces of news towards the end of last year - firstly, after many years in Melbs, Suling decided to give up a city she considered cold weather-wise to move to Edinburgh. HAH! Secondly, Patri also took up a position in Scotland - but in Glasgow. With the presence of two chums in a pair of cities which are less than an hour apart, I decided it was time to plan a trip to Scotland!

Due to the existence of an easyjet route that flies direct from Munich to Edinburgh - Lufthansa and BA would all stop in other cities - the first stop was Glasgow. 

Where my presence was celebrated by drinking a local beer!

Prior to my trip, people warned me that Glasgow was a super ugly city due to its industrial history which suffered due to Thatcherism, leading to a great deal of urban decay. What people don't mention is that since Glasgow was a boom city during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, there are still a lot of jewels from then scattered about.

Such as the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Built during the age of International Exhibitions, the building is magnificent. 

I think this history can also be seen in its collection which was an interesting combination of paintings,

sculpture,

and mixed artifacts.

For example, this taxidermied elephant who had been the pet of a local.

Like many other places with similar histories, the decline in economic fortunes attracted artists and party people to Glasgow, leading to a revival in the 90s. 

They also host exhibits examining Scottish history, and a large collection of Scottish fine and applied arts, such as a tea room designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and lots of art nouveau pieces.

The gallery also has Dali's Christ of St. John on the Cross, which is worth seeing, and to Patri's amazement because apparently her parents had a print of this hanging in their apartment. She's looking forward to showing them the painting in person!

After the gallery, I walked out the back and got this wonderfully sinister view of the University, where upon I picked up Patri and we headed back for a warm Spanish meal, cooked by her bf Javier!

Given the inclement weather - it would alternately pour with rain or have blue skies, I decided to forego the Botanical Gardens and instead walk to the city, taking Sauchiehall to Buchanan.

See? Blue skies.

The Doctor has landed in Buchanan St! And he brought even more rain with him!

The University Main Building by night. Nice.

The Kelvingrove.

For dinner, Javier was going to make tortilla (and he taught me how to make it!), but before that happened, he asked if there was anything I wouldn't eat. My reply was that I would try anything at least once - and in that spirit, I wanted to try haggis! He got pretty excited when I said that because Patri and Javi had also tried haggis and thought it was a lot like morcilla, making it a perfect accompaniment to the tortilla!

Haggis. Not looking as horrendous as you're led to believe. Also, like weisswurst, you're not meant to eat the casing made out of stomach/intestine.

Also, I can confirm that it definitely does taste like morcilla, given the different spices used in it. Therefore, fans of blood sausages should be okay with this. 

Happy times indeed.