Day two was definitely more successful in translation.
On my first full day in Glasgow I made my way to the Kelvingrove museum and art gallery, where I discovered to my childish delight that they had a special exhibit on dinosaur eggs and babies. Note that the museum is free, except this exhibit, which I happily paid 5£ for. I then wandered through the natural history exhibits, because you know me and my fondness for dino fossils.
This is the most iconic part of the museum. It's delightfully weird.
Good start.
Mamas and babies begin!
Rawr.
Mama oviraptor and eggs.
The elephant is named Sir Roger (seriously) - he's been in the museum for something like 100 years.
I took a lunch break in the middle, heading over to one of Glasgow's oddest treasures. As I discovered, despite Scotland being one of the world's unhealthiest countries with its massively high rates of heart disease, obesity, and early death, Glasgow has the highest proportion of vegan restaurants in the UK. For the record I only discovered this via yelp, when I noted there were an unlikely amount of vegan restaurants, therefore inspiring me to google what the hell was going on. So, here I arrived at one of the many prized vegan restaurants, because my body was shouting "vegetables, Swan, eat some fucking vegetables!"
It was so good I went back two days later for dinner. Also, vegan mayo is sometimes better than the real stuff, as blasphemous as it sounds.
After lunch I went back to the museum, where I spent a few more hours perusing the art/other exhibits.
Anything to do with mummies will always fascinate me.
Freedom.
Old-timey dress.
Demonstration of cleaning a painting.
Part of the Scottish history exhibit.
I love thick brush strokes and bright colors.
A grave marker designed by a woman for herself and her partner. So much love.
Giant snakeskin from the amazon.
View from above.
That evening I decided to check out what was lauded to be the best thai food in Glasgow, which turned out to be a quiet, deserted little restaurant with some bangin' spicy food. Stir fry with tofu, garlic, veggies, and chilis? My veggie-craving body was stoked. The owner was pained I couldn't take my leftovers home but, alas, I was lacking a fridge at the hostel, or believe you me I would have.
By the way, coconut rice is ah-mazing.
Day two I made my way to the main downtown area, which is more or less just a big shopping center, where I wandered around aimlessly, purchasing a pair of earbuds decorated with robots and a pink glittery gel pen.
Still a kid at heart.
Somebody has a sense of humor.
People make Glasgow.
For lunch I decided to be brave and had my first taste of haggis, which, as it turns out, is actually remarkably tasty. Despite my mistake of googling exactly what it consists of, I was happy to discover the combination of spices in the mutton... Parts... Is actually pleasant. But I was unwilling to order just haggis, in fear of hating it, so I opted for balmoral chicken, which is basically chicken stuffed with haggis, wrapped in "bacon" (or as we Americans would call it, ham), and topped with gravy on a bed of mashed potatoes.
It was pretty damn good.
That afternoon I found my way to a local pub, where I ordered a beer and sat down to write in my journal. Usually writing in my journal does a fine job of encouraging people to not try talk to me, which for a solitary gal like me is an added bonus (particularly when it involves nice but moderately creepy old men trying to pick me up, because I am a magnet for this sort of thing). On this day, however, the older paunchy Scottish man at the bar was not deterred, and started a conversation with me by observing that I write very quickly. At first I was polite but distant, as I was thinking "oh brother, here we go again..." But he persevered relentlessly and I eventually gave up and started chatting with him because, despite my attempts, I have a difficult time being downright rude. "It's nice to be nice," as dad always says.
As it turns out my new acquaintance turned out to be a rather interesting fellow, having traveled the world and grafting trees for a living. Despite my initial reluctance I did wind up enjoying our conversation.
After my beer I excused myself and made my way back to my new favorite vegan restaurant, where I chowed down on a quesadilla which was out of this world.
My final day in Glasgow I went over to the Hunterian Museum, which I head heard, thanks to the dino eggs exhibit in Kelvingrove, had a good collection of fossils. More dinosaur fossils? Hell yes.
I made my way through the art gallery first, where I discovered a couple really wonderful impressionist paintings, before making my way to another recommended restaurant in the neighborhood as a break in between cultural expansion.
I treated myself to a more fancy lunch, accompanied by some sort of wonderful cucumbery cocktail that was light, refreshing, and formidable.
Goat cheese wrapped in phyllo with red onion marmalade and a pea shoot salad. Pretty much the best thing ever.
Indonesian rice dish with poached egg and shrimp.
Well, maybe it's just that I had two cocktails that I felt a little tipsy.
What better time than this to explore the natural history part of the Hunterian?
The place was deserted.
The coolest old map ever.
A study in birds' nests.
Toothy smile.
Replica of Lucy, for all you fellow human history nerds.
Dino eggs!
Footprints.
I was in nerdy dinosaur-lovin' heaven.
The final floor of the Hunterian focuses on the history of medicine, which was, in my opinion, kind of gross. Sorry folks, but I just do not get my kicks from pickled diseased organs or urine preserved for 100+ years in a jar (no, I'm not joking).
I spent the sunny afternoon in the park, watching some young guys walk an impromptu tightrope between two trees and lovely youthful couples snuggling on the lawn. Regardless of whether or not it's actually warm, the sunshine is enough to bring everyone out in full force to absorb as much of it as possible in between extended bouts of dreary, misty gray weather.
Dinner that night I reappeared at the thai place, where they remembered me (always a good start and generally resulting in a nice tip for the staff) and I didn't make the rookie mistake of ordering a starter before my main just so I could eat as much of my pineapple fried rice as possible. Yum.
Overall I enjoyed my time in Glasgow, though I didn't leave with that sense, "I must come back here" like I've felt in some other cities I've visited. But hell, it's a big world, and there's so much exploring to do!
Catch you all later.
~Swan
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