Fri, Sep 28 I lost my cookies. >:(

I tried to be so careful, packed everything up tightly and neatly. I had bought a package of cookies ("biscuits"), not too sugary or fattening, good for a snack here and there. I left Edinburgh yesterday and just now got back to my room in Glasgow after touring around and wanted a little snack...can't find them. Not in my computer bag, not in my luggage, not in my carry-on. I have lost my cookies. I think I left them on the dresser of the hotel in Edinburgh. *tear*

Yesterday after breakfast, I packed up and checked out in Edinburgh. They told me they really liked having me there and to please come back. I would be happy to. For all the complaining I did, I liked the place, and the people. Jay and Barbara (Barbara's from Edinburgh, Jay is local by his accent) and George (from South Africa after 40 years) were all great. I embarrassed the...maid? room cleaner? whatever, Gabriela (eastern European or maybe Russian I think), I forgot to lock my door and laid down after breakfast for a bit, and dozed off. So when she came by and knocked, she tried the door and it opened right as I sat up in the bed, hehe. Well, fortunately, she only had to wait for me to put on my shoes and finish packing everything away. And of course forgetting my cookies. *tear*

The bus to Edinburgh Waverly Station was uneventful, and it wasn't difficult at all to get a train to Glasgow. They run about every 15 minutes, and when you buy an off-peak (not rush hour) ticket, it's cheaper and you can use it on any train. So, I headed to the next one, and in about an hour I was in Glasgow. I took a few pictures along the way, but nothing impressive that I hadn't already seen. Pastures. Rolls of hay. Big open spaces.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are about the same amount of chilly, about 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. I like Fahrenheit better than Celsius. When the high is 12 and the low is 10...how can you tell? But if it's 50 and 40, at least the numbers make sense. Anyway, the first thing I did when I got to the Glasgow Queen Station, after looking around like a tourist, was find a restroom, which had a turnstyle that you pay about 20 or 30 pence to get through. I didn't realize this, but the turnstyle turned for me, so I didn't think anything of it until I came back out and a guy was asking about money. I thought about trying to pay, but then I figured someone before me must have overpaid. So right next to it were public lockers for hire, and a man sitting there at a table. I asked him about taking a bus to Renfrew Street. "Nae, ye don' want tae take a bosse. It's only a fefteen munute walk. By bus, it's thirty munute." His accent and everyone else's is much stronger than Edinburgh.

So, resigning myself to having to walk 3/4 mile, I headed out, trying to follow the Maps app on my phone. Apparently instead of walking down a main street, I walked down a "pedestrianized" street just north of it, which was only a little line on the map. I still managed to find my way. I took a right turn and hit the Buchanan Galleries Shopping Center, which I didn't know at the time. I just knew it was a big building on the right. Straight ahead was the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which had a bronze statue of Scotland's first prime minister, Donald Dewar. On the ground in front was a five or six man group clad in kilts, playing drums and bagpipes. I really enjoyed the music so I bought their CD for £10. I followed the street around to the left and made another zig zag and hit Renfrew Street. It's one long hill. Long. And then the place I'm staying, the Victorian House, has four small sets of stairs leading up to the door. That isn't so fun with luggage. But, I made it, and checked in.

Remembering that in Europe, the first floor is the ground floor and the second floor is the first floor, I asked what floor they had me on: second floor. I asked for something on the first floor, and the lady said no. So I trudged up the stairs, but happily, she was using American terms! It was only one windy flight of stairs up. So I got to my room, took a shower, and rested. And yay finally! Internet access in my room!

On the way out for a late lunch, I mentioned the sink wasn't draining. It turns out "it's a swivel. Some sinks are plonjers, yours is a swivel, just poosh doun on one sade and it opens ope." I've never seen a sink like that. Oh well. I walked down the hill and I mean down a 5% grade of a hill, praying that I wouldn't fall forward and roll all the way down and into traffic. Apparently by chance I had taken the gradual hill when I first arrived. Well, at the bottom of that hill is a street with a lot of restaurants, so I got fish and chips and the Blue Lagoon. Not bad stuff. No mushy peas, I guess that's an Edinburgh thing. They have a bunch of other things like haggis, meat pies, sausage etc. I might have a meat pie for dinner. After lunch I walked around a little then went back and worked on my computer. For dinner I walked down the hill again and ate at a nice small Italian restaurant named Antipasti. I had the pesto with linguine, very good. It was linguine noodles in a pesto and roasted pine nuts sauce, and I had them add on mushrooms. I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream for dessert. Then I explored some more, bought a small container (200 ml...a half pint?) of milk and went back.

I get free breakfast with my room, but I wasn't really hungry so I just had a bowl of cereal, then went back to the room and waited around til lunch time. I went to Subway then walked back to the train station where I picked up the Glasgow bus tour. It was about 90 minutes, and got fairly cold riding around on the top. I took a lot of pictures, but I don't think I'll remember what most of them are. I don't think they intend people to take quality photos as the bus rarely stops and keeps hitting potholes. Sometimes I wish I could film the entire time and pull out still shots later, because I saw some great picturesque sights but couldn't get the camera up in time (the difference of half a second sometimes). I'll have to write about it later, because right now it's 5 pm, which is lunch time back home, and time to get some work done.