Sunday 18 May 2008
Glasgow, Scotland

Slowly our focus is moving from west to east over Glasgow. Sounds cryptic, but I just mean that so far we spent most of our time in Glasgow this weekend in the West End, but we are starting to discover other areas as well. The day started in the West End though, with a picnic in sunny and beautiful Kelvingrove Park ("oh jeez, there is Glasgow University again"), and a subsequent visit to impressive Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We had already been told by a lady on the plane that this museum is well worth a visit. The lady was right, of course, Kelvingrove is great and has a wonderfully diverse collection.

Next up was the Museum of Transport, where we briefly wandered through the exhibition halls. One part of the museum is a rebuilt cityscape of Glasgow as it must have looked 80 or so years ago. Especially the rebuilt Underground station (authentic stuff from Merkland Rd Station - now closed) is interesting to see - for those who like that kind of stuff (such as me). After the museum we tried the Glasgow Underground (rebranded to Glasgow Subway) for real. Even though it's one of the oldest lines in the world (third, after London and Budapest), it has never seen any extensions, and the route is still the same as it was from the very beginning - as is the size of the stations, tunnels and trains. I love it! It's a Museum of Transport in motion.

The subway took us to the city center, which failed to impress Steve, and a bar there that none of us had been to before (The Ingram, if I recall correctly). Bar-hoppingly we ended up in the West End again. We walked, via the Pot Still bar (closed, unfortunately), St Aloysius (a church, not a bar), the Glasgow School of Art (above), the State bar, the Bon Accord Bar, to Mother India - a superb Indian restaurant, where we had delicious curries. From there we went to the Ubiquitous Chip bar and lastly to Oran Mor. I truly believe there's isn't a bar in the West End left where we haven't been, although, this being Scotland, I'm most likely to be wrong on that one.

Saturday 17 May 2008
Dumgoyne, Scotland

This day couldn't have been more Scottish if we had all worn kilts and said "ye'rite!" to each other all day. After breakfast we headed off for Dumgoyne, just north west of Glasgow. Dumgoyne is the location of the Glengoyne whisky distillery. The picture shows some of the many empty casks that were lying outside, after one of the warehouses had been demolished for rebuilding.

The warehouses, located on one side of the road, are geographically located in the 'Lowlands', while the actual distillery (and water source, shop and offices) are officially located in the 'Highlands', making Glengoyne a Single Malt Highland Whisky. Apart from many specialties variations, the three main variations of Glengoyne whisky are 10 year old, 17 year old and 21 year old single malts, as well as a 12 year old cask strength whisky. We did a tour of the distillery, where we also got to try some of the whiskies. It was truly interesting - my first visit to a distillery, located in idyllic Scottish landscape, a stone throw from Glasgow.

Before we got to Glengoyne, we had already had lunch in Milngavie (pronounced: Mull - Guy or Mill - Guy) in a nice little restaurant called The Tea Cosy. Lunch was tea, a sandwich and cock-a-leekie soup (no really, it exists and it is delicious), Scottish chicken stock and leek soup. The Scottish food kept on coming over dinner, back at Andy and Colin's place.

Andy had prepared yet another wonderful meal, with many Scottish delicacies - haggis being the star attraction. In case you don't know what a haggis is: it's a tiny nocturnal furry animal (plural: haggii), not bigger than a grouse, mainly found in the Highlands. It is said (for this is a mysterious creature) that it has shorter legs on one side of its body (males left and females right) which makes it easier for them to run around the hills and, when they meet in the middle, mate. Hunting the haggis is difficult indeed. It is usually killed by surprising it and hitting it with a stick as it tries to run away. And, it's delicious, most definitely combined with neeps (and carrots) and mash. Of course whisky and real ales accompanied this meal. The bars for tonight were the Three Judges bar and Tennent's, both in the West End. An excellent Scottish day!

Friday 16 May 2008
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands

Glasgow! Finally again! My last scheduled trip to Scotland's largest city had to be cancelled back in April because of work pressure and the fact that my father was waiting for his operation in Sittard's hospital.

Work pressure is still high but more manageable now, and my dad is doing very well, no obstacles to stop me from going to Glasgow today. And to add to the anticipation, my former colleague Steve - a true whisky aficionado - is joining me for this four day trip. I met up with him here, at the meeting point in Schiphol's railway station (he's not in the picture, by the way).

The flight to Edinburgh went fine and was practically on time. Andy and Colin very kindly had driven to Edinburgh Airport to pick us up, and we were welcomed in their flat with delicious home-made fruit cake and a dram of whisky... not the last one of this weekend either. After that great entree we headed off to some bars in Glasgow's lively West End.

First of was The Doublet, just off Kelvin Bridge, where I first learned of the existence of a 'half and half' (a half pint of ale and a dram of whisky, drunk alternately). Yum! After that we walked to Uisge Beatha, which means 'water of life' in gaelic (a.k.a. whisky) where we continued the real ale and whisky tour. What makes this bar special is that all waiters wear kilts. Yum! We were home past midnight after a great first night in Scotland.

Thursday 15 May 2008
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Another day where there wasn't a lot of time for taking today's picture.

"Magic in a jar," is what Ant called this bottle of Jack Daniel's Original No 7 Recipe... Barbecue Sauce. It was a gift from my American colleague Henk who was in the US recently and who had carried twelve of these back with him from the States (much to his surprise they weighed close to a stone). It's very sweet that he thought of buying gifts for his colleagues, although the choice of present would probably not have been mine. Nevertheless, it's very nice of him. I haven't tasted the "magic" yet but I'll let you know what I think of it as soon as I have.

Wednesday 14 May 2008
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Some people - supposedly out of politeness - compliment me on how clean my flat is. Ha! They never saw it like this! A mess! Today I decided I urgently needed to fold some laundry and put it back in the cupboards, where it belongs. So the living room floor was covered in laundry - folded or unfolded for a couple of hours. The picture, actually a wide angle HDR picture, was taken when nearly all was done again and just before the living room was spotless again.