Category: glasgow

I may not have nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills or computer hacking skills but last weekend I headed up into the Central Highlands for a ‘Winter Skills’ course. There was plenty of snow about but also gale force winds, blizzards and a wind chill of -15°.

The train ride up on Friday was intriguing – watching Glasgow’s grim outer suburbs give way to pasture, first small drifts of snow appearing then whole hillsides followed by steep mountains appearing in the gloom. I stepped out into snowfall at Avimore – the Aspen of Scotland 😉 (almost).

Kitted up with multiple layers, waterproofs, gaters, scarf gloves & ski goggles and with a set of crampons in the pack, we climbed past closed ski fields, to fight winds and learn how to identify avalanche risk. It was very high apparently – not that that stopped us from pressing on up the mountain. The conditions worsened to such an extent after lunch that we headed back to the village where we were staying and studied navigation, earning some strange looks from the locals as we paced about the town.

On Sunday we managed to bag a Corbett (no Munros yet but they are coming) navigating our way to the summit in a complete white-out. Back at the bottom of the hill we stomped about in crampons and practiced how to stop oneself in the unlikely event that one is caught in an avalanche! This involved much random sliding down snowny hillsides which was great fun apart from the snow down my pants.

We finished the afternoon with a little bit of rock/ice/scree climbing which was enough for me to decide that it definitely wasn’t my scene. It was stunning countryside to wander about in especially with all the snow that was around the place, and I now feel a bit more comfirtable heading out into the hills in winter conditions.

In line with our policy on exploring Glasgow we set off for the walk along the river into town from our place, via Glasgow’s premier waterway. Much vaunted in the Lonely Planet, shunned by locals – the banks of the Clyde are a mix of industrial wasteland and new mid-nineties buildings lumped on its banks like the BBC headquaters shown below. There seems to be very little consideration for urban design in the area with limited pedestrian scale amenities.

We identified a few other areas worth future exploration, but it is no Southbank (Brisbane or Melbourne). Contrary to what we had been led to believe, neds (Scotland’s very own bogan/bevan/chav equivalent) were thin on the ground as were any other people at all for that matter (apart from a few disgruntled looking Lonely Planet holders 😉

We have been in Glasgow for 2 months now, but with the exceptions of the West End near our apartment, and the centre of the city near our office, we have seen very little of it. Having decided to rectify this oversight (and with a few visitors requiring guidance headed our way in the next few months) our aim is now to see somewhere new each weekend.

Last Sunday in our first attempt we visited the much vaunted Burrell Collection in Pollock Country Park on Glasgow’s south side (an area we have had limited occasion to visit).

A brief train ride from the city, we alighted with rolling pasture on one side (complete with befringed Highland Cows) and towering housing blocks on the other (looming housing blocks are a recurring riff in Glasgow settings). A 10 min walk through the park afforded a view of the Burrell Collection;

However we decided to press on while the light lasted through the gardens to Pollock House – the original country house of the park. With a pre-requisite skim through the fancy bits of the house – which include some impressive Spanish paintings (Goya et al) – we headed for the remarkably resplendent servants quarters and the restaurant tucked away in the former kitchen (it is always about the food for us). Lunch was pleasant though not particularly praiseworthy (Chhay’s haggis was apparently a little limp).

When we finally made it to the Burrell collection (via a couple of detours through damp muddy forest) it was a quite delightful mix of ancient knick knacks in a great setting. The building itself appears a little bit 80’s from the outside but was great once we got inside with lots of exposed timber laminated beams, over flying mezzanine spaces and a beautiful connection to the forest it backs on to. We discovered it had an Australian connection with Brit Andresson having been involved in the design, perhaps explaining the Scandinavian feel to the interior.

The rest of the park offers some intriguing looking wanders or bike rides – it is quite extensive with a few old buildings dotted around and a little stream to explore.
Furthering our cultural exposure of a different sort, on Monday we watched Dick Gaughan play at City Halls as part of the Celtic Connections music festival. Despite our limited understanding of the history of the region – in particular the clearances and Irish migration, his music – gritty folk was still quite powerful, although it got a little twee by the end of the set. We followed this up with a further tour of the south side – this time by night, with a stop to sample the fare at what is reputably Glasgow’s best kebab shop.

Woke to our first snowfall this morning. No pictures because it has turned to rain & slush already and it isn’t even light yet. We were still excited though.

Update…the snow is back – very peaceful working with flakes drifting past the rooftop windows (and as it is still quite slushy – inducement to stay at work, very different from staring edlessly at the sunshine in Brisbane winters).

Last day at work – very little to do as you can probably tell. I have finally managed to download our pictures from our time in Scotland – have updated previous posts with relevant images.

I hope everyone has an excellent Christmas wherever that may be, the next report is likely to be from Israel (or maybe once we are back).

We have just returned from our first bona-fide British Pantomime experience. We saw James & the Giant Peach (admittedly not a classic panto tale but fun nevertheless). Surrounded by hordes of screaming children – “that peach is plastic!” “You’re ugly too Aunt Spiker”, “look behind you James!” it was certainly memorable. We were attending as we had met one of the actors (pictured on the right with those sweet glasses) previously through a friend. We received a back stage tour on our way out checking out the over the top costumes, the disappointingly cardboard shark and the not for childrens’ eyes cast graffiti.

My only wish was for the set to have been more Quentin Blake influenced – then I would truly have been transported back to childhood – as it was James & the Giant Peach was one of my least preferred Roald Dahl books.
We wrap up our year in Glasgow tommorrow with a quick venture to one of Glasgow’s finest curry houses – quite suprisingly this will be our first attempt at dining out for Britain’s national dish followed by a house party before we head south for Christmas on Saturday morning.

This is coming to you live from our lounge room as we finally have broadband connected at our new place (after several false starts). I should be posting a little more regularly now. All we need now is the cable for our camera and I’ll get some of our UK photos posted.
Recovering from our housewarming last night which was fun though somewhat lightly attended! Glaswegians certainly have stamina as we had our work Christmas break-up Friday, had people here until 3.30 this morning and were called out for a whiskey by the same folk this afternoon! Not sure if our livers will survive the winter.
We also somewhat randomly booked flights to Israel on Friday night, to catch up with a friend from Brisvegas and grab a taste of the Middle East. We are heading to the promised land on the 27th after Christmas on the Isle of Wight, returning on the 7th of Jan for a new year in front of the computer screen at JM (at least for me Chhay is still deciding her fate post holiday).