Arbouth smokies, Cloutie dumplings & a not so wee Calzone!

Thursday 29^th August

Today’s pedometer reading is 8.13 k’s

Having two nights in Edinburgh meant another opportunity to do some washing…most of our undies, socks and shirts are dry & packed again. A few of them are even ironed!

We think the Scot’s are a cheerful lot, we’re more used to their accents now, they do use the word ‘wee’ more frequently than we had anticipated…we’ve also heard more bagpipes & seen more men in kilts than we expected & have enjoyed both :-)

We’re loving being guided by our GPS with a Scottish accent…we’ve named him Fergus.

Today’s drive to Glasgow was about 75 k’s and along the way we stopped at Falkirk to have a look at the Falkirk Wheel which opened in 2002; it’s a rotating boat lift that connects theForth and Clyde Canals with the Union Canal. These canals were previously connected by a series of 11 locks and it was decided to create a dramatic 21st-century landmark structure to serve them.

The difference in height at the wheel is 24 metres (79 ft), roughly equivalent to the height of an eight-storey building. We watched the fascinating process in motion…

The boat has been driven into the bottom section of the wheel.

A boat can also be driven into the top section, although when Andrew took this photo there wasn’t one.

The wheel has begun to lift the boat.

Halfway there.

Almost at the top & ready to start off along the top canal….very impressive and really amazing to watch.

We arrived in Glasgow just in time for lunch and headed off to the Willow Tearooms. This was something I have really been looking forward to.

The tearooms were designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1903. Not only did he design the exterior and interior, he also designed the cutlery and the waitresses dresses. I first heard about him when I started lead lighting and quickly became a huge admirer of his work. The menu includes many Scottish savoury dishes and I decided to sample the Arbouth smokies with Cloutie dumplings. They were delicious and Andrew was tempted to try them both too!

I was able to marvel at the magic of Mackintosh’s creativity and managed to persuade Andrew to visit the Glasgow School of Arts and take a tour. Our guide was an architecture student and his passion made for a very interesting tour.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. The Glasgow School of Arts is ‘the jewel in the crown’ of his work.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Glasgow under our umbrella...just a light drizzle, then headed back to the hotel, which is very centrally located and our room on the 18^th floor has a splendid view over the city.

I have tried to restrict talking about what we’re eating to one meal each day…today I’m breaking the rule…we went for a walk tonight and ended up in a gorgeous Italian Restaurant where I had the most delicious seafood linguine I have ever had. Andrew loves a calzone & so that’s what he ordered…this is what arrived…there is no funny camera angle happening here…it was HUGE…nothing wee about this calzone!