hanging out with Theo

Oh man!  By the time this posts on Wednesday, it will have been a week (plus some hours) since I arrived in Glasgow.  And that means it's six days since I met up with Theo.

I left Instagram late last year.  I had a lot on my plate leading into December, professionally and personally, and it was too much of a time sink for me.  I thought I might deactivate the account for a month or two, but I didn't miss it, and by six months gone from it, I deleted it outright.  But I stayed in touch with some people from Instagram outside of that platform, and Theo was one of those friends.

I met up with Theo at the University of Strathclyde where he is completing a Masters degree.  He showed me a little of the campus,

and we talked a lot about our experiences in higher education.  I know that as a librarian I should be visiting libraries on every vacation or some such thing like that, but having worked in higher education for almost a quarter-century and having now completed three degrees, I find myself more interested in visiting colleges and universities and exploring their cultures and such.  So it was that I appreciated the conversations through the day that returned to his degree work and my own time as a student and as a faculty member.

From there it on to the haggis lunch with a stop for tablet,

which is a Scottish treat Allison used to make for me.  You really need a sweet tooth to like it, I think.  I took Allison to the same shop the next day, and I think she was pleased by that.  Theo, however, is not Scottish, not even British, so he didn't know tablet at all.  I will say that between that and the haggis, he was a very good sport about trying the foods that I wanted him to enjoy with me.

Lunch done, we hopped on the subway. 

The train cars are so wee, or so they seemed, and I chuckled to think that they were like Hobbit trains.  But we made it over to near the University of Glasgow and walked about, visiting the botanical gardens

and walking through Kelvingrove Park, getting damp in the on and off rain, enjoying a stop for ice cream.  And then back downtown for a drink at a gay bar.

Oh, friends, I am not a gay bar person.  At all.  I seldom went in Chicago when I lived in the Boystown neighbourhood, only occasionally for swim team outings.   When I travel, I don't seek them out either.  I am very happy they exist - they provide so much for many who need them - but I'd really rather just go to a nice bar or lounge where I can hear what others are saying.  Yes, I am elderly.  But go we did, to The Gallery, where I made the mistake of ordering a passionfruit martini on tap.  Let that be a lesson to me.  Theo, however, continued to be great company, and he kept that up after one drink and leaving the bar for Las Iguanas where we shared a build-your-own taco platter.

And then the day was done.  We'd hung out for nine enjoyable hours.  Alas, that was our only opportunity on the trip.  So maybe I'll have to head over there again one day, or he'll pop by SoCal, or somewhere else.  A great guy, though, and I'm glad we had the chance to meet and know each other in person.