December Daily Meme - Day 9- er, 10

[motetus]

honscot asked: I'd love to hear about your experience of living in Scotland. Do you think you and the wife will stay there longterm, now that you have the gorgeous apartment?

Okay, but be warned, this post is basically going to be WHY I LOVE SCOTLAND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS.

So, um, the first time I ever set foot in Scotland was when my parents dumped me off at uni in St. Andrews - I accepted the offer from a place I'd never visited because it had a very good reputation, had pretty pictures on the website, and somehow wanted me to come there despite not exactly having stellar grades. I didn't fall in love with it at first, but eventually I became very fond of the people (the few actual Scottish people I came across, because St. Andrews is 98% rich Americans and English), the sea, the lovely grey and solid architecture, and even the weather wasn't as bad as I'd expected. When I left four years later to join the Wife in Manchester I cried all through the bus journey, but staying wasn't an option because St. Andrews is tiny and it was time to move on.

Three years later I decided fuck it, I hated Manchester and I hated being away from all my friends who lived in various parts of Scotland, so I moved back by applying for a PhD in Glasgow which had seemed like an interesting city the few times I'd visited. I know some people think Glasgow has a bit of a bad reputation, but they are people who have never visited the West End - it is gorgeous here, full of parks and museums/art galleries and little independent shops/cafes and hundreds of really good restaurants (food is very, very important to me), and there are some lovely old grand buildings and charming Victorian tenements (architecture is also very, very important to me). Edinburgh is an hour away on the train, Hadrian's Wall is not too far away, and a half hour drive gets me to Loch Lomond and the countryside there is spectacular - I have not actually gone much further north than there, but I hear it's even prettier as you keep going up! I certainly hope we end up staying here long-term - I would be happy if we were here for at least another 3 years, hopefully 5, but I suppose that all depends on jobs. If we have to move we will, and I suspect eventually it'll happen because neither of us are settling-down-for-the-rest-of-our-lives people, but as Scotland is the first place I've ever felt at home in I really hope that's not any time soon.

(also yes, my lovely (and as I am currently appreciating, WARM) flat! I certainly would not be able to afford something so nice and in such a perfect location in most other cities. And I haven't even begun to decorate it properly!)

I was planning on taking a photo to go along with this post at the weekend, but as it was dark and grey and rainy I wasn't too keen on leaving my sofa and my hot chocolate. Here is one I nicked off google of the university tower from Kelvingrove park (everything is called Kelvin-something here, it gets very confusing):




Dec. 5: AS A BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO ME, DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL (augustbird)
Dec. 6:
Dec. 7:
Dec. 8: Tell me about the place you most want to visit! (osprey_archer)
Dec. 9:
Dec. 10: I'd love to hear about your experience of living in Scotland. Do you think you and the wife will stay there longterm, now that you have the gorgeous apartment? (honscot)
Dec. 11:
Dec. 12: What about talking about the wife and how you guys met and wound up getting married to each other? (seascribe)
Dec. 13: What was your favourite book (maybe several books) as a child? Did it remain your favourite, when you grew up? (beili)
Dec. 14: I'd love to know what/how you drew when you were little. (fififolle)
Dec. 15:
Dec. 16: Talk about Father Ted! Do you draw anything Teddish or is it more of a distant love from Far Away? (bunn)
Dec. 17: Your favorite character to draw and why (carmarthen)
Dec. 18:
Dec. 19:
Dec. 20: Could you please talk about one book that really influenced you? Even in small ways, but a book without which you wouldn't be the same, which taught you someting or changed your perspective. The if you really want to know me, you gotta read it kind of book. If you have one. (arvok)
Dec. 21:
Dec. 22: Favourite people from ancient Rome (weekend)
Dec. 23: Favourite people from ancient Rome (or history in general) you want to paint or draw one day (the_little_owl)
Dec. 24:
Dec. 25:
Dec. 26:
Dec. 27: Your favorite thing to draw that isn't people (carmarthen)
Dec. 28: Your favourite Sutcliff novel and why (weekend)
Dec. 29: Would you consider reminiscing about a favorite story of you with a grandparent, or great grandparent? (pronker)
Dec. 30:
Dec. 31:

Comments

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Scotland is quite lovely north of Glascow. I haven't been in years but you've reminded me of just how lovely it could be.

[motetus.livejournal.com]

I'm terribly ashamed of how I've never been further north (um, this side of the country) than the nearby lochs - definitely need to fix that come spring when the weather is nicer!

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

I know I only got to see a tiny bit of Glasgow, but I really liked it! <3 Scotland generally was pretty great, I can see why you are in love with it.

[motetus.livejournal.com]

If you ever come back (that's if Meg didn't scare you away for good), I will show you a bit more, and by that I mean all the best restaurants, because mmm, food. My favourite is this Vietnamese place that's done up like a hipster paradise and there's not a single Vietnamese-looking person running it, but the food is just so good and surprisingly authentic. They've taken so much of my money, the bastards...

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

Do you and Meg still stay in touch? I would love to come back and see all the stuff I missed on my mad dash to see All the Old Roman Shit. :D

[motetus.livejournal.com]

We do! Every so often she turns up on my doorstep to insult me for being middle-class, terrify the wife, drink all my vodka and watch a few episodes of Rome to perv over James Purefoy. Good times.

(I am actually planning TWO holidays to the US, but the closest I'll be is NYC. That's your fault for not living anywhere exciting! Hurry up with the Canada plan so I have an excuse to go see snow and moose and mounties, will you?)

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

Oh, good, I am glad she is doing well! :D

We have horses! And bourbon! Okay, NYC is probably a better bet. As soon as I am in Canada, I will let you know and we will go stalk moose and Mounties together.

[pronker]

It's beautiful and so scholarly looking in the photo; I backpacked and eurorailed there *meaning Scotland, England and Normandy* in '81 up to Loch Lomond, ran out of time to go to my ultimate goal, Loch Ness...

..., another reason to enjoy/love Scotland: it's near Ewan!

[motetus.livejournal.com]

I bet it would have been so different back then - well, the cities, not so much the landscape. Have never been to Loch Ness (yet!), but I assume it is full of appalling Nessie tourist tat. :D

Isn't Ewan over in the USA these days?

[pronker]

Ewan gets around, in any number of meanings.

[fififolle]

That is wonderful. I'm glad you are happy there. My fondest memories of Glasgow involve food - Italian, and donuts, LOL. It's definitely a beautiful city, I absolutely love it, so vibrant. I'd be more than happy to live there, though I grew up on the East coast, Dunfermline, so that's more my roots, and coastal Aberdeenshire, too.
Scotland is awesome :D Thanks for sharing!

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Donuts! I must find a good donut place here, I've been missing that. It is amazing for food, I don't know if I could now bear to live somewhere that didn't have such a variety.

Ooh, I've seen a bit of the east coast around Dunfermline - driven along the coast past places like, um, Dalgety bay and Burntisland (I think) on a beautiful sunny winter day. It's ever so beautiful there - probably a bit too small and quiet for me to live there, but I'd gladly take a holiday home there if offered one!

[arvok.livejournal.com]

It's great to hear that you like it there. I admit that so far I've heard mostly bad things about Glasgow - about how it's big and grey and, well, non-Edinburgh-like - but this post makes me want to visit. As you said, it's only an hour away and West End sounds charming. Nothing makes me like a place faster than green areas and cafes (except for seaside, that is).

That's a brave thing to do, to accept an offer from a place you've never been to - and I guess it could turn out bad, but if it turns out good, it gives you this "thank god I wasn't too afraid to do it" feeling, doesn't it? I did a similar thing for my Sixth Form - I went to a boarding school in a place I've never been to before (not to mention in a country I've only visited once) and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. After my final exams I cried on the bus to the airport, at the airport, on the plane and in the car back to my home city... Well, with some breaks inbetween. ;-)

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Ignore all the people who have told you lies about Glasgow being bad! Sure, some parts are pretty dodgy, but they're mostly south of the river and the west end is terribly civilised. I actually prefer it to Edinburgh - Edinburgh's a beautiful place and I like it very much, but Glasgow's lovely too, and is less touristy and more affordable to live in. If you ever fancy a day out here, I'm more than happy to show you around and take you to my favourite cafes, because I will take any excuse to go stuff my face with tea and cake!

[arvok.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'd love that!

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Offer's open any time! :) (er, weekends that is, I work weekdays)

[arvok.livejournal.com]

Weekends are good, my schedule is all over the place but I do get a weekend off every now and then, so I will definitely take you up on that after the whole Christmas/New Year turmoil calms down. :-)

[honscot.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous picture. Thanks so much for answering my question. I can't believe it's taken me so many days to get back here to comment.

I've been fascinated by all things Scottish for years, so it's great to hear first-hand accounts from people who live there. I don't know anything about Glasgow (aside from the fact that that's where Craig Ferguson is from (I believe)), but your descriptions of your part of the city make it sound like a place I'd definitely want to visit. Food is very important to me too, it's one of life's greatest pleasures! (Along with booze. Hubby and I often base our decision of where to eat dinner on what kind of booze they have and whether the bartender is any good at making Cosmos. We have our priorities, don't you know.) We visited Edinburgh briefly a few years ago and loved it. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the architecture. We took tons of pictures of buildings! I just love the fact that so many of those buildings are ancient, whereas most here in the States are new and modern, and a good share of them quite hideous because of that, in my opinion. I wish there was more of a tendency to revamp and reuse the old buildings, rather than knocking them down and starting from scratch. I suppose it probably costs less to do that - God knows most things are driven by profits, or lack thereof - but I wish there was more respect for the history, you know? Anyway, I also agree with you about the Scottish countryside - beautiful! We weren't able to see much in the short time we had, but we took a train from Edinburgh to… let's see if I can remember… Cambridge, I think it was, and what we saw was absolutely gorgeous; loved the sheep dotted here and there. I can't wait to go back and stay longer. I have a fantasy of hubby and I renewing our wedding vows at Eileen Donan castle, including him in a kilt, but dammit, he just won't go for it! ;)

BTW, yes, Ewan does live in America now, has for several years now. Malibu, maybe? No, I don't think that's it. Anyway, a suburb of LA.

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I totally agree about modern architecture. That's what I always notice when visiting the US and Australia, that lack of history, and it makes me very grateful I live where I do. And I don't think I could ever live in anything that isn't at least a hundred years old - even ignoring what they look like on the inside, I hate the tiny rooms and low ceilings and lack of beautiful, intricate cornicing. Glasgow's got it's share of hideous 70s buildings though - the university has some truly horrendous towering monstrosities that overlook all the beautiful old stuff, and I wish they'd hurry up and tear them down, they offend my eyes. But yeah, the west end is great - I like how it's not horribly touristy like Edinburgh with bloody wailing bagpipes everywhere and people flogging pink "Princess Diana" tartan (no, really), and it really is one of the best places outside of London for eating out. I'm trying to pick somewhere for the Wife to take me for my birthday, and choices, too many choices...

You need to find a way to trick your hubby into trying on a kilt because trust me, he'll fall in love with it in seconds! A guy wearing a kilt for the first time ever is such an amusing sight - there's that moment where they realise how fun the feeling of freedom and the airflow is, and then you can't get them to take it off. All the photos I have of the last Scottish wedding we attended are of the Wife and his friends showing off obscene amounts of pale, hairy thigh, and looking extremely pleased with themselves. And the twirling. So much twirling...

[fruityshirts.livejournal.com]

I am so late on catching up on your December daily memes, but damn, between this and an article I read recently in a travel magazine about Glasgow, it is very quickly getting pushed toward the top of our travel list. We're gigantic foodies as well, so the description of lots of beautiful old architecture and good food is like a siren song! My husband and I both have Scottish ancestry back a few generations so we've been meaning to go explore for a while. What I'm saying is that if we end up in Scotland harassing you for tour guide services, you've no one to blame but yourself. :-P ;-)

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Ha, I have successfully lured so many Americans over to Scotland that I deserve a commission from the tourism industry! Yes, you absolutely should come over, Glasgow is surprisingly charming and not at all as scary as the English claim it to be, and the food choice is brilliant, there's more to it than deep-fried pizza and mars bars (the former is vile, but the latter is wonderful). If I promise you my guest bedroom, will that make up for the limit of my tour guide skills being "here's a good pub, but read your bloody travel guide book if you actually want to know anything remotely accurate about all these things I see daily but have never bothered to learn about"?