Gardens, Laundry, No Tapas

Mickey rallied today so we went to Glasgow's Botanic Gardens.  It is as spectacular as Edinburgh's. There are 2 glass houses and many different types of gardens, including an herb garden, the World Rose Garden, herbaceous border garden; the houses have a gigantic fern collection, orchid collection and the largest begonia collection of anywhere.  The reason  begonias are studied and collected here is they were a hobby of one of the benefactors and, after his death,  his wife set up a foundation to ensure the studies continued. . The garden is 200 years old and about 50 acres.  It is open from 7 a.m. until dusk which we're guessing is 9:30 now. In the winter, that's around 4. It's free to the public and hosts Shakespeare plays and concerts.

Botanic Garden

Some ferns 

The Kibble Palace--the main glass house with a chronology of the garden and sculptures from the 1800s

Kibble Palace

Because it was a beautiful warm day, there were tons of people, some with kids or dogs.  I think tourists were the only people looking at the gardens. The rest of the people were just sitting in the grass or having picnics. We spent a long time just sitting on a bench people-watching. A tea room has recently been added but the food wasn't  that good.  The coffee was terrible and they were out of iced tea which is never on UK menus anyway. On the other hand, Earl Grey is Earl Grey.

The gardens are a little far so we took Ubers. The app works here but doesn't ask whether you want to tip or automatically add a tip like mine is set up to do. I researched to see if you're supposed to tip but you're not since that's one of their selling points over traditional taxis.

After naptime, we walked to the Glasgow Green which is close to this condo along the river Clyde. It is another ancient, huge park that was also full of people just hanging around.  It is close to Trongate which is a two minute walk from here.

The Clock Tower or Tolbooth Steeple at the beginning of Trongate

It was built in 1625 and was used for public hangings as well as marking the beginning of the merchant area.

Glasgow Green is the oldest city park, established in the 15th century, and is 136 acres. It was used as a meeting place by the suffragettes, was the site of the anti-war movement during WWI and has hosted a number of festivals and activities, including the only concert in Scotland by Michael Jackson (1992).

McLennan Arch taken from a Council Building that was destroyed in 1890

The largest ceramic fountain ever built; Queen Victoria is at the top surrounded by scenes from the colonies

The river Clyde

There is also a monument to Horatio Nelson, built one year after his death in 1806. The park is home to the People's Palace which houses a museum dedicated to the history of the people of Glasgow. There is a glasshouse here too but it's not as big as in the other gardens.

During all the excitement of going to parks, I did 2 loads of laundry.  Each one took approximately 3 hours.  This condo has both a washer/dryer and a dryer. The dryer doesn't work so I used the washer/dryer combo that no one knows how to use. I thought I set it on wash and dry but I don't think that exists. I washed a load but it didn't dry so I chose the sun setting for dry only but it was still wet so I set it on superdry. It probably dried for a few hours. My pants were wrinkled and my socks will now fit a child.  But, not to be defeated, I did another load.  This one washed and then for the dry part, I set it on delicate dry which left everything damp so I hung them up since I was afraid to dry the clothes anymore.  The others may make fun of me but they were just waiting for me to learn so they can copy my instructions.

Finally, we tried to get Scottish tapas at the famous Guy's restaurant which won best Glasgow restaurant in 2015, but it turns out they just serve tapas at lunch so we have to go back. The food was fine but the mussels appetizer was great. We have not been overly impressed with the shellfish here even though everyone recommends it. Also, apparently, Scotland is not known for serving fine wine. Surprisingly, we have been able to understand most people here until tonight. The young woman was just impossible to understand. Finally, she said "You can't understand me, can you?" When we said no, she said "I talk so fast and I have an Irish accent."

I haven't mentioned bagpipers--thankfully, they aren't out on the street here...at least so far. In Edinburgh, there was a corner where a piper played all the time. I hate bag pipes; they're horrid. I'm sure most Scottish people feel the same but can't admit it.  On the other hand, I do think the men wearing kilts with matching sports coats are dazzling. I'm sure they all work at one of the many Harris Tweed shops but it's a great look that more men should try but probably only in Scotland.