My first \u2018real\u2019 morning in Scotland (ie.\u00a0awaking in bed<\/em>!) is bright and sunny, a few harmless clouds can be seen in the distance. It looks coldish, though. Anyway, later, I\u2019m anxious to go and explore!<\/p>\n P.S. glad to see I got over the depression?!<\/p>\n 10:35 am<\/p>\n I just finished touring the Glasgow Cathedral and its cemetery. This church was constructed during the Middle Ages and finished a few centuries later. I touched stone that was cut by a man who lived in the 12th<\/sup><\/em> century! \u00a0Contrary to North American equivalents, we could go everywhere<\/em> and touch everything<\/em> in this cathedral with one minor exception. \u00a0The cemetery is so old that most of the names have disappeared from the stone. The oldest I\u2019ve seen is mid-eighteenth century. (The oldest gravestone I saw during my month long stay in Scotland was mid-fifteenth<\/em> century! It is a St. Kentigern\u2019s church in Lanark. There\u2019s no date on the gravestone, but you can easily identify it by the skull with crossbones. It\u2019s to the left of the entryway into the cemetery by way of the reconstructed arch in the ruins.) I like<\/em> cemeteries. They are so peaceful, they don\u2019t care how their inhabitants got there! That\u2019s enough morbidity, I\u2019m going to climb the Necropolis.<\/p>\n P.S. jaywalking appears to be the favourite Glaswegian pastime! Remember, look right then<\/em> left! (It took me over a week to \u2018learn\u2019 how to cross streets in Scotland, and even after a month it still didn\u2019t feel all that natural! I don\u2019t even want to count the number of times people told me to \u2018go back to Canada if you don\u2019t know how to cross a street\u2019!!!)<\/p>\n 3:50 pm<\/p>\n I\u2019m back at the hostel, waiting in the lobby for Haggis. It\u2019s been an excellent day.<\/p>\n The Necropolis was beautiful despite the fact that several crypts and nooks and crannies were obviously the lodgings of derelicts. It\u2019s a huge<\/em> cemetery built on a hill. What I liked is that while they maintain the grounds (ex. grassmowing) they don\u2019t repair the stones, allow things to crumble, etc. I almost tripped on a vase that had rolled down a steep hill and was lying flat on its back in the middle of the road! It was obvious that it had been lying there for a while.<\/p>\n Lunch was yet another yummy veggie burger with onions. They\u2019re cheap and plentiful in Glasgow, to my surprise. (Actually, they are very common all over Scotland, even in the smaller towns and you\u2019ll soon discover that it almost became a sport to try the local veggie burger! Although I occasionally found two that were similar, generally no two burgers were exactly alike in taste, texture, or condiment. They made for a cheap meal which varied more than one might imagine!)<\/p>\n After, I bought postcards and a Father\u2019s Day card for Dad. I mailed a postcard to (my stepmother)\u00a0for her birthday, as well the card for Dad. After, I rode the \u2018Clockwork Orange\u2019 (ie the Underground, subway, metro, metropolitana, etc.) back here. It\u2019s clockwork, orange, convenient, and easy<\/em> to use! as well as cozy and comfortable. (I soon came to realise that it\u2019s a lot<\/em> easier to use the U to get to the hostel, even if you have to walk maybe five minutes more than if you took the bus. Here are the directions from the Kelvinbridge (bridge, not hall) station. Once above ground, you turn right on the road. You follow its natural curve, and cross an intersection. Keep going straight, this road will merge into Woodland Road. Cross Woodland Road (careful, it\u2019s dangerous!) Follow the youth hostel sign you\u2019ll encounter almost immediately. Easy when someone tells you, but very difficult when you have to discover for yourself! I took the long way for all, but one of about six trips on the U!) Now, I\u2019m going to ask the hostel if I can use their bathroom to freshen up.<\/p>\n 4:08 pm<\/p>\n \u2018No problem.\u2019 It\u2019s amazing what going to the bathroom, washing your hands, and refilling your canteen (I didn\u2019t carry a water bottle on this trip, rather a 2L hiking canteen. With its strap, it was easier to carry, and its flat shape made it less cumbersome than a bottle.) can do to your spirits! I must that the tap water here is excellent, (that stopped in Inverness, where the water situation went bad. It just didn\u2019t taste good in the Highlands; most likely this is do to the peat which makes the water brown. I also noticed in Pitlochry that the water was making me mildly sick, but not enough to stop my fun, so I put off buying expensive<\/em> bottled water until the last possible moment. Inverness.) I\u2019m refilling my canteen in bathrooms (the water in bathrooms runs very frequently, so it is usually fresher and better tasting.). Speaking of which, the public one near the Necropolis is unbelievable<\/em>. It\u2019s clean enough to eat off the toilet bowl , the sink and faucets are sparkling, there are (fake) flowers around the mirrors (there were some in the airport bathroom too, and someone said it was \u2018unScottish\u2019), drinking cups and soap are within easy reach, etc. The paper towels are blue and the toilet paper is pink, which makes the water\u00a0go red!) It\u2019s obvious that Glasgow takes pride in itself. I\u2019m going to wait outside now. Later, perhaps in Edinburgh!<\/p>\n![\"map1\"](\"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1998\/06\/map1.jpg\")
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