Day Four: Glasgow and Granny

Granny outside where she was born in Rutherglen

Granny visiting her childhood church

Dale at High Tea (oh and champagne, too)

Woke up to a bit of misty rain. What is more Scottish than that?

We met up with Granny and Lesley and decided to go down memory lane. So off we headed to Rutherglen where both her and Jim (Glen's dad) were born. To be honest, there really isn't much there. We saw where Granny had been born (now a rather drab looking office building). The most interesting part was when we went inside the church she used to attend. The pastor came out and gave us a bit of a tour--pointing out the alligator heads carved above the pulpit (?) and the Roman Catholic influences of Jesus on a cross. Okay, apparently, according to the pastor, the Catholics prefer a more serious image of Jesus on the cross whereas the Protestants prefer an empty cross reminding them of the uplifting resurrection.  

Off we went to see the Barras. Now that was a disappointment for Granny, Glen and Lesley who remember it as a wild and woolly carnival-type atmosphere of hawkers in a market. Well, not so much anymore. The most interesting part was Glen buying greasy donuts that only he could eat and whelks (snails you pick out of the shell with a pin and gulp down). The best part was getting pictures.

Upon deciding to take a bus back as we tried to board, none of us could figure out the money and how much it cost. There was an older fellow lined up (oops queued) behind us who started yelling about "f-^%)*ing people who take too long" or something of the ilk. It was totally indecipherable Scottish. As it turned out he was joking and continued yelling as we rode the bus with everyone laughing. I could only understand the swearing. He apparently was very funny.

Dinner was at a very nice seafood restaurant called Merchant City. Stephen and his girlfriend Emma showed up first. Both of them are doing great and I totally loved their company. Great couple and I hope they come to Vancouver some day. Then Ian Clark (Glen's cousin) arrived. He is a drumming instructor and plays in a band. I've heard his name for so many years and it was great being able to put a face to a name. Again, I really liked him and wondered why I had avoided Glasgow for so many years! haha. He actually lives on the road to Edinburgh. Then Aunt Jean arrived. Unfortunately, Uncle Billy was unable to come but she was also fun and lively. She was sitting a bit further over so I didn't get to talk to her as much. At the end of the meal we decided that if Uncle Billy couldn't come, we'd go to him.

When we got to Uncle Billy and Aunt Jean's council house (much nicer than I would have thought) he was asleep. After banging on the door for a while, I went over to the window to peer in. He woke up and looked at me and I yelled out "Hey, Uncle Billy!" He came to the door and in we went, welcomed like he knew us (well, he did know Glen).

Now, I can't say I understood all of what he said (apparently he speaks a dialect "Fyfe" and most of it is also indecipherable, but he was a wonderfully funny fellow--definitely not always politically correct! At one point he was telling me about the wee "Jap" hiding in the back garden. I had no idea what he was talking about but I had many translators sitting nearby. He was laughing up a storm....

Lots of whisky, gin and tonic and Pringles. The conversations were fun and lively and we ended the evening with Ian driving us back to Glasgow.

Finished off the evening with Glen buying and eating (mostly by himself) fries covered in curry and cheese and the reddest chicken tandoori you've ever seen.