Day Trip to Glasgow and a Visit with Ian and Mary

Yesterday (Tuesday), the six of us, George, Bj, Pat, Barbara, Tom and I boarded a train for our day trip to Glasgow.  Did I mention our weather has been absolutely flawless?  The temperature has been in the 60s with only one short rain shower.  We could not have asked for better.
Arriving in Glasgow, we came out of the train station into George Square, and found the Hop-on Hop-off bus at the edge of the square just steps from the station.

The square is named for George III and contains statues and monuments dedicated to Robert (Robby) Burns, James Watt, Sir Robert Peel, and Sir Walter Scott

The city is a mixture of the old and the new. It is situated on the banks of the river Clyde and was known for it's exceptional shipbuilding and marine engineering in addition to chemicals and textiles.  The population is approximately 600,000 but in 1939 at the height of the ship building era it was over 1,100,000.Today the city known for it's vibrant banking and financial center as well as tourism.  We all stayed on the bus for a complete round trip to get the layout of the city.
Some of the highlights of this trip were, the Glasgow Catherdral, the Riverside Museum with tall ship moored there, Glasgow University, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center (consisting of three venues, the Hydro, the Clyde Auditorium and the Scottish Science Centre) and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

The Glasgow Cathedral

Built before the 12th Century

The Clyde Auditorium (nicknamed by locals as "The Armadillo") is a concert venue and auditorium on the banks of the Clyde river.  This is the place where Susan Boyle was discovered.

                                                     Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
                                 Named after the renowned scientist William Thomson Lord Kelvin

After a full morning of sightseeing, lunch was next on the  agenda.  We had said from the start, when in Scotland, we would all try haggis--the traditional dish of Scotland.  We ordered a sampling of haggis bites with dipping sauce.

Pat ordered the "full meal deal" complete with tatties and neeps--potatoes and turnips. He ate every bite.  The rest of us opted for other choices.

As much as we loved exploring this beautiful city, the true highlight of this trip was seeing Ian and Mary, the friends we met 3 years ago in Spain.  It was so good to see them again and introduce them to our Dallas friends.

We met for drinks, talked about old times, and exchanged some gifts.  Ian brought Tom a bottle of Scotch in a rocking bottle suitable for taking on a ship-as it would rock with the motion of the vessel.  Mary gave me a beautiful plaid wool scarf made in Scotland, of course!  And together, they gave us a 100 year old book, "The Book of Glasgow ANECDOTE" by D. Macleod Malloch.  A very thoughtful gift and a treasure we will cherish!

Off to dinner and the rest of our evening.  Most opted for the delicious dish of beouf bourguignon. Bj had salmon, and Mary had chicken. 

We topped off our meal with after dinner drinks at the Anchor Inn Bar, to round out a perfect day!  After saying goodbye to our dear Scottish friends, the six of us returned to Eninburgh on the train and home for a good nights sleep.