Fernando: My view of Glasgow

From the outset of my trip to Glasgow I was well aware of the trouble of understanding Scottish accent properly, but I had no idea of the complexity of the task I was going to undergo. When I flew into Edinburgh Airport, I took a bus to Buchanan Bus Station. The Express Coach was certainly comfortable, with a very convenient timetable (departures every 30 minutes). I sat on one of the front seats in order to have a better view of the road and also to listen to what the two bus drivers were talking about. 

To my dismay, I immediately realized that I couldn’t understand a word. I took a chance on another place so that I could focus my attention instead on three cheerful, lovely ladies in their mid-seventies sitting next to me. They were exchanging jokes with the bus drivers and having fun all the time, and funnily enough, not without a big struggle, I managed to understand this phrase: “Just in case he were to kiss me” after half an hour eavesdropping their conversation. It seemed to me that I was listening to a Germanic language and the whole situation was utterly frustrating to me as a student of English. In that precise moment I felt how much I missed the accent of our dear Chris, so clear by comparison with his fellow countrymen.  

The Royal Concert Hall

On arriving at the hotel I was scared I wouldn’t understand the language to talk about my reservation and stuff. Luckily, the guy on the reception desk had a mild accent that gave me the opportunity of grasping the explanations somehow without being committed to accepting something different from what I had booked. I was determined to do the same things I do whenever I travel, namely, apart from watching the main tourist attractions while observing the locals’ day-to-day life and, if possible, talking to them, as every tiny detail matters to me because I always learn so much just by noticing what happens around me.

Buchanan Galleries

The hotel was perfectly situated in the city centre, next to the Buchanan Bus Station, which is something really convenient as you can walk around the whole city centre. Heading down to Buchanan Street you can find, barely 400m away, the Royal Concert Hall, where the most important artistic events take place. I am not interested in shopping at all. However, my wife wanted to have a look at the famous Buchanan Galleries Shopping Centre and I must admit that it is a magnificent building where you can buy all kinds of stuff. Buchanan Street Subway and Queen Street Train Station are almost next to each other, which gives you the chance to wander around the metropolitan areas and also outside the city. 

Glasgow is a bustling city indeed, as there are a lot of people on the streets coming and going but the majority of them were locals, I mean, there were very few tourists, which is quite the opposite to what happened in Edinburgh. Truth to be told, I must confess that I had no objection to that at all. 

The City Chambers

It is not my intention to provide a full description of the history of the most representative buildings of the town. Nevertheless, to my mind there some places that are well worth visiting and all within walking distance: George Square, The City Chambers, The City Halls (a concert hall), The Cathedral and of course of the museums, in particular the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (by the way most of them are for free). 

The impressive Kelvingrove Museum

Breakfast is the most important meal for me and I always like to have a good one which gives me fuel to go through the day so I booked a room with breakfast included and fortunately it was a buffet one, with a wide variety of food. So every morning I felt energetic enough to walk across the streets, which is, in my opinion, the best way to know a town and what I did at least the two first days, until my wife, unable to follow my steady pace, refused to take part in such an adventure. Consequently, the following days we took the underground, which pleased her so much. The tube has a circular trajectory, with only two lines, inner and outer, and although it can be rather noisy and certainly old, it is doubtlessly easy to handle the itineraries. I continued eavesdropping conversations wherever I went in the hope of grasping something more of the difficult Scottish accent and whenever I could I engage myself in small chats with some local people. 

Oran Mor. A pub, can you believe it!

At this point I have to remark that the Scottish are extremely kind and helpful and I witnessed that behaviour: on every occasion I was in the middle of a street checking my map for directions someone would turn up offering useful explanations. Wherever I went I would read every lettering, banner ad, indication or recommendation in museums, train and bus stations, as well as at the airport, the subway, in churches, restaurants and so on. It is amazing how much English you can learn by simply reading the banners!

Glasgow is a city where you can find people eating at every hour of the day until 8 or 9 pm, when the restaurants and bars become half empty. (I must say that I am in favour of timetables, and it is no problem for me to have dinner early. In Spain many people have dinner at 10 or 10.30 and sometimes this can be unhealthy and certainly not practical at all.)  I like knowing the customs of the places where I go as much as possible so I ate the food that the locals tend to eat. As my wife and I wanted to meet a young man who lately we had heard of a lot, we made a reservation to have dinner in a wonderful pub. If I may, I would like to write its name, “Oran Mor”, at the top of Byres Road Street (Hillhead Subway Station). I highly recommend this place to those who want to visit Glasgow, where you can enjoy your meal while admiring a rather unusual environment.

As a regular listener of the BBC, I had to visit the headquarters of BBC Scotland on the other side of the river Clyde. It is a superb, modern building overlooking the river, which reflects its waters on the glossy windows. It is situated by The Science Museum and there was a lot of construction and activity going on where the City Council is currently transforming the area into a modern and dynamic development, highly beneficial to the image of the city. When I saw all of that, a sad thought came to mind and I said to my wife: “there is money here, a big amount of money. I wish I could say the same thing about our country”. 

The modern Science Museum on the banks of the Clyde

In my short experience, it seems to me that Glasgow has huge potential in the future of Scotland, together with its industrial activity and its three increasingly competitive universities (The University of Glasgow, Strathclyde University and Glasgow Caledonian University) as well as a dynamic transport system essential to create wealth.

The magnificent University of Glasgow 

On balance, honestly I must say that Glasgow’s main asset is, without a doubt, its people, very friendly and welcoming, but to my mind also very different from those in the south of the country. I’ll always have fond memories of Glasgow as a place different from the rest.

Fernando, I've thanked you many times before for your invaluable contribution to our blog and I'll do it once again. A beautifully-written post indeed.

You know, I visited Glasgow with some of our language school students in April 2013, almost 28 years after my first and only visit, and I couldn't believe how the city had changed, much to my surprise. I must admit Scotland's biggest city is like paradise for architecture (both modern and classic) lovers, from the ground-breaking work by the great Charles MacKintosh to the awesome modernistic buildings scattered along the banks of the River Clyde. 

I'm sure I could mention many more places that made an impression on me but I guess the photos above are a good example of Glasgow's charm. However, if you are not satisfied and wish to see some more snaps I took myself (this time on my daughter's compact Canon) during the school trip last year, click on this link.

Fernando: A SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN RIBADAVIA

Some years ago I was working in in Galicia. I must admit that I really have fond memories of the place because it is an amazing place to live in. Apart from its breathtaking coastal areas, unspoiled beaches and well-known landmarks, Galicia has surprising places and villages off the tourist traps, unknown to many people, where you can find very friendly locals, delicious food and inviting landscapes. 

During the time I spent there I used to travel to remote little villages as well as bustling cities and big villages in order to know more about what life was like in that particular part of the country that I love so much. So on a cloudy November afternoon, after an early lunch, I drove with three colleagues of mine to Ribadavia in Orense’s province. We enjoyed ourselves while wandering around the village and its surroundings, visiting the main tourist attractions and shopping for exotic local stuff in an open market. 

At 9 pm, as we were about to leave the village, we stumbled across a stone building with no windows and a big wooden door, which apparently seemed to be a small chapel, although there were no crosses or religious symbols outside that indicated it could be. We could hear male voices singing from inside, so we guessed that it was presumably a choir doing some rehearsal. One of my colleagues, curious enough to know was going on inside, pulled the door smoothly. We saw a group of middle-aged men sitting in a rectangular wooden desk full of food and drinks. On seeing us they stopped singing immediately.” Sorry, we didn’t mean to disturb. We wrongly thought that this building was perhaps a chapel. Please, carry on with the party"- said my colleague. One of the men stood up and told us “Come in, we have an excellent wine that is worth tasting”. We politely refused the invitation, but the man insisted on his offer.  He said to us: “On the left there is red wine, the white wine is on the right and there is also some cheese and pasty on the cupboard on both sides", so we guessed that the place could be either a bar or a wine shop.

We diffidently approached the cupboard where there were several chipped taziñas and filled them with wine. It was extraordinarily tasty and so were the cheese and the empanada. The men continued enjoying the party oblivious of our presence and the one who was apparently in charge seemed to take no notice of everything we were drinking and eating. Therefore, I wrote down in a small piece of paper everything that we drank and ate. The wine was extremely soft and light as usual in that kind of wine (Ribeiro) so we almost gulped down the two first taziñas and, after drinking several more, we ended up joining the party. We had good fun, as the men were making amusing comments and telling jokes, some of them in gallego. In fact, though they were speaking the language most of the time, it wasn’t a problem for us at all because we could understand it easily, and all of us liked the Galician language.

At 10.30 pm, after an exchange of pleasant, polite comments among us, all the men stood up and said goodbye. They left the building apparently in a hurry, considering the mess on the table, where there were some leftovers, half empty taziñas, an untouched piece of bread, a cardboard box full of red apples, as well as homemade apple pie, a small box of cigars and many other things together with dirty dishes. We immediately thought that the man in charge would come back soon in order to clear up all the stuff. Nevertheless, after half an hour no one did, so we went outside in the hope of seeing someone but the street was completely deserted and silent. The only sound was a dog barking into the distance.  We were alone and, much to our surprise, we found out that the entrance door could only be locked from inside the building and obviously we didn’t want to leave the bar without locking it. So, to our astonishment, we were holding the fort of a wine shop for a while. In the meantime, we refilled our taziñas once again and, truth be told, we were almost drunk and having a great time. 

At 11.30 pm we still soldiered on, but we had to make a decision sooner or later. At midnight, we heard the sound of a door opening just behind one of the barrels. We stood up immediately and ran towards there. A tall, well-built man in his early seventies appeared in the threshold of a hidden door. He had grey hair and blue eyes and, though he was wearing a creased shirt, there was something smart in his presence. “Good evening, gentlemen”, he said to us. “It is two minutes past midnight and I’m afraid I have to close our wine cellar right away. I have a date with a very attractive lady and I just can’t wait to see her”. And he immediately started quoting famous sentences from well-known writers which spoke about love. We had a nice chat with him.  He seemed to be a learned person indeed, actually a retired man who spent his time growing his vineyard and sharing the wine with his friends. He lived in a house next door which had a direct access to the cellar. He told us that his friends would come back tomorrow morning to tidy up. He refused to take any money from us but we reached an agreement and left some money inside an empty cigar box as maintenance expenses before saying goodbye.

On our way to where the car was parked, we found a fountain in the middle of a park. I put my head under one of the streams. The cold water cleared my head and my body somehow to help me drive sober. I’ve always been a careful driver and right then I wouldn’t dare be drunk at the wheel for two reasons: it is too risky and also you can put your life and the lives of others in danger.  At about four we managed to go back home safe and sound.

It was an unforgettable experience which perfectly encapsulates my idea of traveling. Every trip means for me knowing new places, meeting new people and living experiences that otherwise I wouldn't live at home and, inevitably, open my mind and my readiness to embrace change.

Fernando, I really love this post, congrats! It perfectly illustrates what "the tiny wonders of life" mean, very much like we discussed in our lessons today. It's only a shame you did't take any pictures of the lively choir or the party you shared with those welcoming villagers.

So come on, guys. Can you share with us any more travel experiences like this? I'm sure you can recall a few, can't you?

Sara Collantes - London: Concrete, glass and flesh

What could I say about London that hasn’t already been said? How can I, in barely 600 words, live up to a city that gave me so much in such a short time?

It gave me the freedom which comes from anonymity, you know, to walk throughout the city as if it were mine. I felt at home every moment of every day while walking down its famous streets and parks: St. James’s Park, Camden Town, Covent Garden, Bishop’s Park or the Soho at night. I was exposed to lots of culture, since London is known worldwide for being a paradise for people who love art, history, theatre, music and cinema. Its cultural offer is simply endless (and often free): The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, The National Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum, etc. And the most important thing, it gave me a new point of view from a more open mind.

London had never been one of those cities I was looking forward to visiting before I die, but over a year ago, the chance of going suddenly showed up. A friend of mine was there doing an internship as part of his University doctorate in Neurobiology. Héctor, that’s his name, was having a really hard time as he was there all alone, away from his family and friends, and he didn’t stop telling me how amazing the city was. So I didn’t think about it twice and two weeks later we, my boyfriend and me, were there, in the big city.

It was a gloomy Tuesday but it seemed to me like all was glittering when I went out of Picadilly Circus tube station. Everything there is big and intense but at the same time absolutely accessible and unpretentious. There’s a perfect blend of the highest office towers with the simplicity of some old buildings. A really good example is the Globe, a reconstruction of the 16th-century theatre where most of Shakespeare’s works were played, whose next-door “neighbour” is the Tate Modern, a former power station turned into the most visited gallery of modern art in the world.

Find me if you can!

Now, you should juggle what the day can offer you with its astonishing nightlife. I mean, when you’re in this enchanting city with your perfect partner and one of your best friends, time just flies. We went to every rock bar we could afford or we found on our way, regardless of whether they were big and popular or tiny and filthy, until we lost the track of time - and missed the last tube as well! But the second floor of a double-decker at 4 in the morning is great fun.

Brian May live!

London is the city par excellence. Not only does it have its own life, which runs giddily through its veins, whether narrow streets or big avenues, but it’s this life which also trapped me and I didn’t even notice. London is a blend of cultures and races, a labyrinth of concrete, glass and flesh but I didn’t want to find the way out. It didn’t win my heart at first sight but little by little: every sip of my pint, every step I took in a park and every “sorry” I got from a stranger, tied me to the city inevitably. Everything is possible in London, even seeing Brian May in concert in St. Pancras’ railway station - like it wasn't important at all!

It is ironic how people always highlight London’s vast proportions and infinite possibilities but then we all get amazed for its quiet and cozy isolated, places, and eventually, end up falling in love with it.

I want to finish this post with some beautiful words stolen from a book by Peter Ackroyd called “London: The Biography”: “London goes beyond any boundary or convention. It contains every wish or word ever spoken, every action or gesture ever made, every harsh or noble statement ever expressed. It is illimitable. It is Infinite London”.

Sara, congrats on a fantastic post! It's really written from the heart, and I can see how much enjoyed London.

Tell you what, guys. Samuel Johnson used to say "When a man (sic) is tired of London, he's tired of life". The things is I went to the British capital a few times in a row in the early / mid 80s, so eventually I kind of grew tired of it myself. I mean, don't get me wrong, how can anyone deny there's so much to do and see there? So many instantly recognizable landmarks (do I need to write a legend under each photo?!) to visit. But still I thought enough was enough and I should know other equally interesting places in the UK. Besides, I daresay I've never been that keen on huge cities, and the usually chaotic traffic, the "hustle and bustle", made London somewhat less appealing.

I  know someone else in the class has also visited this "wonder"ful city, so will you post your own comments about it, now that we're dealing with the subject of "Wonders of the world"?