A Lakely Story

When I began this blog I had one goal and only one goal. That goal was to relay home what exactly it was I was doing here in Glasgow without making any type of lists. The very last thing I wanted was to create a blog in which every week I penned a bulleted list detailing my adventures. But as the weeks slip by each one more quickly than the last and events seem to pile one on top of the other, a list seems more and more appealing. So as you read on below, if it begins to feel as though you are reading a list of the week's activities ignore that thought, it's just your imagination!

Tuesday, Scotland had the opportunity to appease it's fanbase and actually make it into a tournament. The odds were against them and as usual the Scots were excited by this slim possibility but were forced to supress this excitement in statistics and pessimism. What exactly were their chances and what were they playing for? Well these questions are summed up in a portion of my invitation to watch the game.

     "Ok, so if we beat (world-champions!) Spain on Tuesday (or at least match the Czech Republic's result against Lithuania) we will qualify for the play-offs for Euro2012 (which means we might get in if we then beat someone else). It would be our first major tournament since World Cup 1998! It's a 'mathematical possibility' as we often hear when it comes to the Scotland national side!"

After this fairly upbeat message (Note the exclamation marks!) I assumed that Scotland had at least a chance of winning. Because of this, I happily made my way to the local pub to watch the match. I quickly learned that I was the ONLY person that had the highest of hopes for the team. Before coming to Scotland I would have never defined myself as an optimistic person. Not that I believed I was horribly pessimistic, I just never saw myself as an optimist. I love the Scots (really, truly, madly and deeply) but these people make me feel as though I am the biggest optimist ever. Spain charged right out of the gate and scored a goal. Was this depressing? Of course! Did I believe this completely ruined Scotland's chances? No! Did I think it was possible to stage a comeback and win? Yes! Was I the only person in the bar who thought this way? Yes. After this pattern of Spain scoring happened three more times my own optimism slipped away. I began cheering instead for Spain to have a 4-1 victory so my watch partner's score prophecy could be fulfilled.

Wednesday was Pub Trivia Night. I love pub trivia. However, I got frustrated in the States because many of the games consisted solely of pop trivia questions. I certainly don't mind a few pop trivia questions but it's nice to have a mixed question game. When creating a pub trivia team it is neccessary to cover your bases and have an expert (or two!) in all possible categories. And, it is for this reason that the best trivia team ever was created with the following line-up:

 (Players will be listed by name followed by subject area expertise)

Richard- Africa, Sports, World Flags, Economic terms

Sanne-Films, Music, Belgium, Spelling complicated words and names such as "Rihanna"

Stuart- Scotland, Current Events, Absolutely random and useless (except when it comes to pub quiz!) knowledge, joke creation.

Kate- Team creation, knowing when answers are wrong but not being able to produce the right answer, hopefully America and literature

Our team did exceptionally well. There was only one terrible moment of strife over a question concerning the nut and fruit content of a particular "whole-nut" bar. While this question proved difficult it was not enough to derail our team and we came in second (by only two points!). We didn't even walk away empty handed! Our team won best joke and received a prize bag... if you would like to hear the joke you may contact Stuart.

Thursday evening I attended my first theatre event in Glasgow. I received an invitation to attend a theatre production with my favorite Glaswegian. This invitation was accompanied by an attached briefing of the play. I quickly glanced at it but seeing as though I always have a wonderful time with the invitee and am up for just about anything I agreed to go without fully reading the attachment. So you can imagine my surprise when the day of the play I received a text that asked if I was prepared for the silent play that evening. Silent play?! How had I missed that minor point in the description. While I was taken aback by the silence I was to be facing that evening I was still excited for the play. So excited in fact I pulled out my little black dress and sweater and accompanied my suit clad companion to the theatre. In these lovely outfits we were sufficiently overdressed. In fact, to blend in with the clientele at the evening's affair I would have had to fashion up a pair of skin tight jeans and acquire a piercing or two while my theatre sidekick would have to shave off the lower half of his hair and ditch the suit for some plaid.

I truly wish I could describe the spectacle that unfolded before our eyes Thursday evening but I am afraid I can't do the play justice. (Quickly, let me say this: following the performance we attended a question and answer session with the artistic director and the actors. Apparently, the director was upset and offended because a critic called this production a play. The director claims that it was not meant to be a play.... I'm still not sure what it was supposed to be.) There are no words to describe it as there were no words in it. While the performance lacked speech it contained astronaunts, wild plants, babies and apes. Following the play there was a stunned silence between myself and my overdressed friend before a burst of laughter and a "well what did you think?" and ultimately a decision of being not "arty" enough for these types of things. While the performance was utterly bizzare and I am still not entirely certain of what I witnessed it provided an entertaining evening and sparked fantastic conversation on the ride home.

After a wonderful week the weekend sure had a lot to live up to. And, it most certainly did with a trip to the Lake District! When I first came to the UK in 2005 I was fortunate enough to travel to England's Lake District. I absolutely fell in love with the area and hoped to go back during my time in Glasgow. There is always the worry that a second visit will fall short of expectations, this was certainly not the case with my weekend holiday.

No classes in either American Studies or Economic Development on Friday meant that my travel companion and I were able to leave early in the day Friday. We travelled from Glasgow's Central Station (one of my favorite places in the city) to Oxenholme train station, a journey of about an hour and a half. We then connected into Kendal for a quick wander around and lunch. After somehow getting sucked deep into a conversation on South African politics we realized we were minutes from missing our train and unfortunately across town from the station. Thanks to a fairly good sense of direction, a much shorter distance than hinted to on the map and a kind elderly woman we landed on the train right as it began to take off. A short train journey took us to Bowness on Lake Windermere.

If you are ever in the Lake District I highly recommend Fir Trees. The location is perfect, the people lovely and you get an absolutely massive English breakfast.

 The small town of Bowness on Windermere.. it is extremely touristy! But, very nicely priced during the off season.

 First to stick their hand in the water.

 This trip was the perfect opportunity to teach  my travel buddy the great game of "My Herd!" Although, I was mocked relentlessly for suggesting such a "trival" and "ridiculous" game. This game became quite a part of our trip. These sheep were in my herd.


Besides a wonderful landscape the lake district is rich in literary history. If you are a literature fan  you have to visit the Lake District. Beatrix Potter is one of the Lakes' famous authors. Having both grown up on Potter's tales my travel partner and I wanted to visit some of the places around the lakes in her honor. We, unfortunately, chose the most touristy of them all, Beatrix Potter World. In the museum you watch a short video then wander through creations of her stories. You can try to guess which story is represented in the following pictures!

 

 After having our Potter fill we decided to explore some more of the Lakes' literary side and visit Wordsworth's home. Grasmere, home to William Wordworth's Dove Cottage, is one of the town's I had visited before. Grasmere was my favorite town of the Lake District and I was excited to go back. It again exceeded my expectations and I was able to see more of the town than I had upon my original visit.

                                                       This calf is also in my "herd"

 When I first came to Grasmere I took a picture of this bridge. It has been hanging in my room for years. I always wanted to come back and find the bridge again and I did!

                                                      The entrance to Dove Cottage

                                                                        Dove Cottage

                         Ambleside. Another lake town we stopped in on the way back to Windermere.

 In Windermere there is a small ice cream store called "32 Flavours." Upon our arrival it was decided that this would be the place we would get icecream. We were extremely loyal! So loyal in fact that we passed up hundreds of other lake front icecream stores only wanting to return to our 32 Flavours to finally get an icecream fix. Upon arriving back at Windermere we discovered 32 Flavours was closed! We had to wait until the next day to get our icecream. This picture is proof to how amazingly loyal we were and proof that we actually did get icecream.

And, this is when I discovered that my camera has video-ing capabilities and I should probably use it.  

 This is what happens when you stick a South African on a cold, wet and rainy ferry. Not so happy.

 After a ferry cruise we landed at lakeside where we visited the Lakeside Aquarium (Pretty much another tourist trap). However, they had really cute river otters and an underwater viewing tunnel.

 The aquarium was geared towards children under the age of about eight. I figured that it should be enjoyed like an eight year old. Because of this I took part in the scavenger hunt. This is my scavenger hunt! I got 100%. And, I absolutely did not under any circumstances cheat off the children loudly yelling the answers.

Outside the aquarium there wasn't much to do in Lakeside but take a long walk down a country road, which I was perfectly happy with. A long walk which was followed by a coffee and scone.. even better.

 After an amble around lakeside it was back to Windermere to pick up the luggage and wish our swan friends goodbye...although not in the road.

 We adventured back to Kendal. Having lived in Glasgow for almost two months I have become quite accustomed to Sunday being just another busy city day. Because of this I was a bit surprised upon arriving in Kendal to find nothing open! It was quite a struggle to find a place to eat dinner. This is the hotel I stayed at when first visiting Kendal in '05.

One last shot of the Lake District. It truly is a beautiful, charming and relaxing place. While I was sad to leave I was so happy to return to Glasgow!

As we made our way back into Glasgow the sun was setting and the city looked as it did when I first arrived. It made me think about how much has happened in such a short time here and how much I have grown to love this city. I love getting out and travelling around the UK but I love returning to Glasgow even more. There is just something about this city that I can't put into words. Every day I uncover something new about Glasgow that adds to my affection for the city. While I have a great love and at times even a longing for other places I've visited these feelings are entirely different than the feelings I now hold for Glasgow. In just a short time I have come to not only love the city but feel as though I can call it home.

And, yes.. people make fun of me all the time for my sappiness regarding Glasgow. I can't help it!

Scotslish Lesson- Courgette: Zucchini (It's not really a Scottish word but it's what they use here!)