In every place I've gone to I've tried not to form an idea in my head of what I think the people or the place will be like. With spain all I had in my head was bulls, tapas and the word 'ole', literally.. so when I got there everything even the bad things were something to embrace.
Thats pretty much the same mindset I had when I went to scotland. My main reason for heading up there was to visit meegsie, who is leaving in October as I had promised to see her and also to get a feel of this place which is the home of haggis, william wallace and all things charming.
Even checking in proved to be a challenge, all the heck in personaell were scottish. I couldn't understand them. Before I left I looked up some scottish dictionaries, to try and glean a few phrases that may help me. But no, they were no help what so ever except the occasional funnies that made me laugh out loud..
perhaps you'd like to know as an FYI, just in case you guys have better pronounciation skills than I.
Goodbye: Guid cheerio the nou!
Happy birthday:Canty Birthday!
My Scots is bad:Ma Scots is bad.
Big/small:Muckle / wee
I have to go: A hae tae gang.
and my favourite :
my hovercraft is full of eels - Tha mo bhàta foluaimein loma-làn easgannan
so with thsoe thoughts in mind i headed off with rufus for sctoland. I arrived at the bus station to meet meg at about 11.30pm and after a nice cup of wee tea when we got home, I crashed out.
I did notice in the cab over that there seemed to be a lot of wierd people on the streets, by wierd i wmean junkies and hookers and pimps, as we seemed to descend into a seedier and seedier part of town but I put it down to tiredness and my overactive imagination.
Turns out it wasn't my imagination,t eh next day meg expalined to me that glasgow is very much divided between weast and west. The ast being protestants and west being catholic. The ast is one of the most dangerous parts of town, its where nearly 80% of all murders are comitted and she also delighted me by telling me that Glasgow is now recognised as the the city which is home to the most murders per year in Europe, and is in fact more murders each year than New York. Fabulous!
We started out our staturday by meandering over to the Barras markets, infamous for having anything you want, legal and illegal. from guns, to mattresses to dvds to food to porn.. and antiques, it has it all, if you want it you could get it there..
It has developed quite a name for itself oo over time and It was interesting walking past all the characters in the streets. as we slowly made our way over to the east side of town, I noticed the buildings becoming more quaint, and more looked after, the dynamic of the city evovled.. its rather sad to see how the town is so clearly divided
I saw preachers on the street, rallying about the merits of protestant or catholicism.. it was unnerving that something so simple and yet complex hs faith could still be such a problem for our times.. There are bars littered with the signs rangers (protestant soccer team) and catholic celtics (catholic soccer team) only..
we went to the museum, the university, the big park there and just meandered the streets, and took in everything there is to know bout the city, its shopping is amazing, a pituy i was poor and couldnt hmake the most of it, its all so close together not like london and spread out near and far.. I also found and had my first agent provacteur experience. its a lingerie shop, but not any type of lingerie shop, they are high end and have some of hte most controversial displays iaroundhte world.. just recently they had fake blood sprayed all over the windows witht he words lets eat kate (after kate moss was dropped for her drug dependencies) and basically indicating they wanted her blood.. i know it soudns odd but it really is fascinating how they go over the top in their marketing, when I went there , it was still done up from wimbledon, how a store can make tennis balls look sexy and provaccative i dont know,,but they did and they did it well.
I promied myself its just one ofhte things i need to buy whiel im over here, a set of lingerie from there. its so equistie and fine you just cant put it into words, think victoria secret only rten times better. thats my opinion anyway.
so on the way home from our glasgow day out meg picked up some haggis, now i was determined to give it a go and was rather apprenhensive, she roasted it with potatoes and pumpkins (its nearly impossible to get pumpkin over here because they feed it to the pigs).. and it was delicious, tasty and quite herby.. but certainly not something I would go out and eat as a regular thing every friday nite.. but it was great to try wat is a tradional fare in scotland..
for those who dont know what it is made of:
sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in a sheeps stomach and roasted or boiled for three hours.
as gross as it sounds it was good to try....
Impressions of scotland:
the biggest demon i noticed in Glasgow was not so much religion but whisky. There was a whole area in the peoples palace dedicated to alcohol and how it has affected the sctops people, there are carry carts there from when they used to dump epople in them to carry them to the police station. I have never seen so many homeless or bums on the street as what I did there, I couldnt believe the state some of them were in and it mad eme wonder how they ever got into that state in the first place... it was a sobdering experience (no pun intended).. but all in all glasgow was just one of those cities that really drew your eye to some of the things oridinary tourists simple wouldnt be able ot sample or see.. it gave a bit of insight into the scots way of life..
I loved their brouge.. teh scottish twang if you can call it that, and if it sounds adorable on adults, u cant imagine how endearing it soudns coming from children..
Where meg lives there are a big groupd of shildren in the community who play out in the paved bitchuement out the back an uyou can overhear them calling out...
'och noo, I'm zsee baddiee, I'm szee black pooower ranger.. ( spelt it the way it sounds)
the scots as people are gruff and quite grumpy in apperance, they are stoic and quite moody looking but they have the most tender hearts and smiles, its that rough exterior that can put you off, when on the inside there is a warmth that you simply dont see too often.. they are generous too.. i was overwhelmed by how friendly they were if you smiled and made an effort.. they too like us back home, hate tourists who dont make an effort to be polite and are impatient and dont try and at least understand their language.
Infact for some reason, while my dad isnt scottish it reminded me of him, when they said 'moush' and their mannerisms and the gruffness reminded me so much of him, and also the warmness that is also within dad.. they are a beautiful people.
and if glasgow was a harsh glimpse of the realities of scottish life then edinburgh is the epitomy of every scottish stereotype you can possibly imagine or conceieve, with a majestic castle overlooking the city, to mediveal buildings, unusual characters on the street, the towering but gorgeous arthurs seat which overlooks the city and the picturesque royal mile which winds its way up heart of the city to the castle.. it really is just beautiful beyond words. The rolling hills and valleys nearby are just gorgeous.. in fact when i arrived and first glimpsed the city from our bus, I took a sharp intake of breath.. I wasnt prepared for such an awe inspiring city.. it flirts with you as london does, beneath the tartan fabric of its heart lies a cultural city that is bursting with arts, theatre and all things creative. When we arrived it was the start of the fringe festival, - a theatre and comedy gala festival which runs for two and a half weeks. the city was literally bursting at the seams with people but seemed to take it all in its stride.. crazy comedians darted in and out of hte crowd encouraging people to come to their show.. and making fools of themselves..it was like you were breathing in the very essence which keeps Edinburgh's heart beating..
I stepped into a 'wee whisky shop' out of curiosity and sampled some of the whisky, not a hard drinker at all.. i was intringued by the effect this particular drink has on people. I tried some mini samples and the first thing which struck me was it smelt like petroleum and left a burning warmth in the back of your throat, i literally felt warm from the inside out, my mind fuzzed and I felt lightheaded.. I could see its appeal and I could see its strength, the whisky specialist (yes it is a position) said whisky isnt drunk to be enjoyed or flavoured, its drunk in order to get drunk and to get drunk fast.. that struck me as incredibly sad..espeically considering the cost to so many of hte lives caught under its spell..
i saw lots of little things i wanted to get, santa claus xmas decorations with tartan quilts, angels with bagpipes, tartan scarves, all sorts. it was so much fun. of edinburgh, the main things I experienced was just walking up teh street, checking out the view from the castle, going to holyrood house (where the queen stays when she is in the city) and arthurs seat.. it was a wonderful day..in fact when I went to the top of a monumnent in the city I was tempted to call out 'Freedom' at the top of my lungs but rethought it when I saw all the greyhaired americans tottering about among me.
Its a city that I definitely want to go back to, a city I could live in and it has a vibe that is entrancing and intoxicating.. to say I loved the place is an understatement..
So as we took off to go back home with thoughts of haggis, scottish culture and beauty in my head I made a promise to myself.. scotland has not seen the last of me, not by a long shot.. so william wallace eat ur heart out..
