After much preparation, my first trip outside the US borders has happened. To the UK to visit my daughter and her boyfriend who have been living in Glasgow for a few years. The city is enchanting, the people are extremely friendly and cheerful, this despite a rather intense series of lockdowns, not to mention the gloomy weather that is a permanent fixture.
The West End has lots of leafy streets and a few alleyways that look like they could be in a village, not in the middle of a sprawling city.
Naturally, charity shops pull me in like giant magnets. I haven't found anything that called out to me quite yet, mainly because it's still early in my visit. I am learning that there are charity shops (in very large numbers), there are vintage stores (mainly focusing on the 1980s and 90s), and a few consignments stores (which I have yet to set foot in).
Great Western Avenue. North of the University of Glasgow campus, lively on a Sunday.
Heading to the Barras Market on the subway, a circle line that is simplicity itself, with the Inner line and the Outer line, one going clockwise, the other, well, counterclockwise. On my ride to St Enoch, I couldn't help but notice that the car was filled with humans of all sizes wearing the exact same tee-shirt, the soccer jersey for the Celtic team, as there was a game on the south side of town.
The Barras market was a bit disappointing. I had seen it on the tv series "Lovesick," and thought it was going to be rich with treasures. Instead it was mostly hodgepodge stacks of clothing and old housewares, displayed in unattractive ways. Glasgow is the city of designer and architect Charles Rennie Macintosh, and one does find a few of his designs at the market. I did pick up a couple of mismatched plates for my daughter. Not sure if she'll like them, but, as they say, it's the thought that counts.
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