funkylady

Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts

Hectic

I'm off to Glasgow on Sunday and I haven't packed a single thing. Bummer. Lots of things to do but I just can't find the energy to start off with anything. Then I'll cram on Saturday, so predictable no

Have to sleep first..

It's funny now that I think about it, I really didn't have fond memories of Glasgow (except a time or two with my friends). And I find it odd because going to new places always excites me and it did actually, but it was a different story when I got there and stayed for a week. The weather has always been grey since the day we arrived. The conference organiser had to give out hundreds of raincoats to conference delegates. I got a yellow one, screaming "slow down" to incoming traffic. I didn't figure in a vehicular accident, thankfully. I'm not sure how one can, since the roads are too narrow in the city centre and the bus drivers seemingly polite with their hats and Scottish accents.

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Not actually the city centre in Glasgow but going to Lanarkshire
still the roads are quite narrow for a main thoroughfare, I guess most roads in Europe?


Every time I come back to my room, I'd always look outside and check out the cityscape: everyday it's the same gloomy, old Victorian buildings staring back at me and a minute of rain. But I don't know, I keep on saying it looks sad and gloomy yet the bleakness has a certain appeal to me.

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View from my room around 11.00pm
I had to wear eyeshades and draw my curtains to block out the light


I wandered alone one day, decided to skip the early part of the conference and visit the Glasgow Cathedral. I got there so early that it was still closed. The dead in the nearby necropolis kept their silence as I took frame after frame of that morning's stillness. They decided to keep mum about the cathedral's opening time. They must thought that everybody can read the sign, but what if I'm blind.

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Early morning visit at the necropolis, too coward to go inside though

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The Glasgow Cathedral taken across the road

I wanted to take a picture of myself with the cathedral in the background and see how my face looked like that day, must be extremely bored and a bit pale from not eating blood pudding offered daily at the University cafeteria.

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The armadillo, an architectural landmark in Glasgow viewed from the Science Centre
grey as usual and a drizzle every 5 minutes or so

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Clydeport and a view of the SECC and the armadillo
how can people survive this kind of weather


I pray that this year won't be so blah, though I don't know how. Half of the people I was with last year are gone. Maybe I'll just go and visit my friends at the necropolis one last time.

Just got back from the extremely exhausting week in Glasgow. We travelled for more than 15 hours and the thought of finally being able to stretch our legs and get a long warm bath made us more excited to get back home. But murphy's law was definitely in motion yesterday as we were greeted by a distraught housemate outside the gate (she arrived from the airport 15 minutes ahead of us).

Our landlord decided to start the re-furbishing of the bathroom on the day of our freaking arrival. So we went inside and saw chaos. Sledge hammers pounding the wall, dirt all over, no food on the fridge. Totally unbelievable.

I decided to ignore everything and plop down on my freezing cold bed. I turned up my heater and prayed that I won't die from frostbite. Let me just rant that despite the grey and cold weather in Glasgow the buildings are very well insulated that getting inside is actually a respite. But here in Joburg, the office where I'm seated right now is bitterly cold that my fingers are numb. They simply just don't believe in insulation. Or opted to ignore it.

Oh and by the way, we were greeted this morning again by sledgehammers and a burglary of our gate's electronic box. I was told that being hijacked or burgled or meeting a road accident here in Johannesburg is not an issue of if but when. And all I can do is pray and fervently hope that it won't be tonight.

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