The world's a lot bigger when you're lost.

Picking up with dinner last night...I walked (and yay, didn't fall and roll) down the quite steep street to the restaurants and hit a Chinese buffet I had seen. I was convinced it must be good, because when I went in, I saw maybe 90% of the diners were Asian. And the rule I've heard is if Asians eat at an Oriental restaurant, it must be good. But, they were completely full. So, I started walking to see what else I could find. It turns out there were restaurants for a couple of blocks, then clothing and other stores for a few blocks, then more restaurants. I found a pub named Lauder's and decided to give it a try.

This place is what I would call a "sports bar". It was very busy, very loud music, very loud talking, and big screen TVs. There was no hostess, but a waitress told me to order at the bar, so I went and stood facing the bartender. He just looked at me, I smiled, and he turned away and kept making drinks. After a minute, I looked around and saw that one end of the bar had a sign for "Food service area" so I went over there. I must have stood there a couple of minutes waiting for the lady in front of me to even stop chit-chatting with the other lady behind the counter. Then I thought hey, I already don't like this place; I'm only still standing here because I don't know where else to go. But screw it, there has to be somewhere better. So I tossed the menu I was still holding on a counter and walked out...and tossed a pound into the cup of a beggar standing right outside. Take that, Lauder's.

I found a Pizza Hut restaurant just a short walk away. It was nice. They sell more than pizza. They have a salad bar. It was well-lit, not loud, and clean. I had one of their baked pasta dishes, which came with free salad bar. And I treated myself to a strawberry milkshake with a little raspberry drizzle. I made sure to tip the waitress well...which they only expect 10% tip anyway, so I left her 15%.

Saturday morning I gladly went down to breakfast and had some hot food, which yay, is included with my room. Some places charge, and they charge a lot. I'm happy with this hotel in that respect, only £27.50 per night and a hot breakfast. It kinda makes up for all the stairs I have to climb.

And not to complain too much, but I think my big toes must have arthritis or something. Maybe just physical stress, I don't know. The past few days, it's been difficult to walk around. I'm sure the hills and pavement don't help a bit. The pavement is frequently uneven, composed of large paving stones (sometimes loose) and more historic bricks. In some places, the bricks are ancient and bumpy, making them quite difficult and tiring to walk on. Yeah, it must be the pavement, I'm not that old.

Yesterday I had taken the tour bus, and I wanted to be sure to get my two full days out of it, so about 11 am I left the hotel to head for the stop. Unfortunately, after barely a block, I felt a migraine coming on, so I had to turn around and come back. I haven't had a headache like that in a long time. Fortunately, I took a couple of ibuprofen and slept for a couple of hours, and had just a dull throb, which was great, because I was really hungry. I gave the Chinese buffet another try, and I was right...it was good, and a decent price. And, since it was all you can eat, I had two plates. :) AND, because I could sample anything I wanted, I got brave and tried the curry chicken. I'm not a fan of hot or spicy food, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, but I figured it wouldn't cost me anything. I guess it would be considered "hot". It didn't have a sharp painful taste, but it did make my lips tingly. It had a good flavor.

After that, I went to the tour bus. I was worried that somehow I would have run out of time on it. Even though it's "two days", they might cheat it like in London and consider 24 hours (like from noon Friday to noon Saturday) as two days. But I just held up the paper and the driver didn't even want to read it, just waved me on. I rode to the first stop, which was Glasgow Cathedral, and got off. I have decided the only way those tour buses are practical are to get a good overview of the city and some useful commentary and then only plan on seeing two or three things at the most. As it turned out, I was at the cathedral about two hours. They allow photography, so I took photos of EVERYTHING. So much stained glass, some ancient, some very recent. The cathedral itself has been undergoing restoration for years, and will for many more years. It's the oldest surviving gothic cathedral in Scotland, and actually it might be the only one that survived the attacks and demolitions during the Protestant Reformation. I asked a man inside, who was wearing a Glasgow Cathedral tartan tie and a robe (actually more like a drape, very long that was draped around his shoulders) when the outside restoration would be completed. He chuckled and told me to ask him something he could answer.

After the cathedral, I went left and visited the Necropolis, which means City of the Dead. It's really a big cemetery with tons of memorials, monuments, and mausoleums. At the very top is a monument to John Knox, on a big base with a tall pillar and a statue of him on top. There are some great views of the city from there. But, being tired and sore, and it being 4:15 and thinking the last bus might be 4:30, I hurried back down. I had to wait until about 4:40 pm for the bus, but very glad it came. In fact, the last bus leaves the first stop at 5:10 pm, so I had plenty of time. So, I decided to get my money's worth and ride it all over again...this time from inside, out of the wind and cold. I had really hoped to visit the Riverside Museum and The Tall Ship on the west side of the city, but by the time the bus got there, I didn't think I'd have a free ride back home. Instead, I stayed for the full trip until it ended back at Glasgow Queen Street train station.

I had been wondering about a couple of traffic things, so I asked the driver. He said when the white lines separating the lanes do a squiggily zigzag thing, that means you're approaching a pedestrian crossing and to be cautious and no idling. I had also seen open triangles within a lane and thought it indicated the direction of traffic, but knew I must be wrong when traffic came the opposite direction. Apparently it actually means you're coming to an intersection. I think it's a silly symbol to use.

For dinner, I was going to try a place called Yates's, but it seemed to be another sports bar type of pub, and I wasn't in the mood. So, I went across the street to a small Italian place called Papa Tony's and had a nice pasta dish with chicken and mushrooms, and treated myself to a big slice of tiramisu. I mention that it's big because a lot of places have insultingly small portions for desserts, for the price they charge.

And here I am back at the hotel. My plans for tomorrow are to visit the Tron Church (I need to look up what exactly that means, it's an old word) and do some laundry, and inquire at the train station about a ticket to Fort William and what public transportation there may be there. Still undecided about whether to visit Ireland.

Oh, about today's title: I have noticed in every city I've been in that it's very big, and feels it. It's easy to get used to a certain small set of streets and shops because they're familiar. But once you travel around a bit and start recognizing not only things but where they are in relation to other things, the city feels smaller and less overwhelming.