wrapping up Vancouver

I got back from Vancouver around dinner time on Wednesday, having "enjoyed" a night with a raging sore throat.  I now have a cold coming on.  Yay?  Yes, I've tested.  Twice since my return.  Negative.  Just a run of the mill cold.  Ugh.

So with that and a busy return to work, I haven't made time to catch up on the rest of the Vancouver trip.  I shan't break it down into multiple entries.  Let's whip through a bunch of stuff instead!

I saw friends.  Sherri! 

It's been a few years, but we caught up over coffee.  Chris and Allister! 

I saw them both last month, and we'll see them out east later this month.  Jenny and Steven! 

We'll see them again in eight days when we are up there for Steven's 60th birthday.

Merp was around.

We had beers! 

And cocktails. 

Including a purple Last Word (made with Empress Gin).  

We ate well, especially an enjoyable evening at Joe Forte's

and an excellent lunch at Nightingale

and a dinner we wish had been better at ViJ's

and a super dinner at Chambar

and a nice dessert at our hotel restaurant.

 I showed Van New Westminster oh so briefly.

We made it to English Bay. 

And that's that, other than all the condo stuff.  Conrad and I will be up there again in 5 days!

last day in Glasgow

Last full day, that is.  A Saturday, full of promise of mild or even warm weather.  A chance to hang out with Allison again (and Catriona along with us).  I was looking forward to it.

I started out the morning after staying in bed a little longer - it was a lot of time on foot the day before.  I went to the usual Starbucks I had been visiting and had my decaf latte and breakfast.  I wanted a bit of a walk, but I didn't want to go far afield given how fatigued my legs and feet were.  I also wanted to see some place else.  Hello Google Maps.  I quickly landed on a visit to the Mitchell Library.

Ah, yes, trust the librarian to go to a library on vacation, right?  But it is a very fine building that functions quite well as a community space and resource.  It wasn't super busy before 10:00 on a sunny summer Saturday, but there were people there.  I wandered through it a bit, then headed back to the hotel to relax and change for meeting Allison.

I met up with Allison and Catriona easily, and we took the subway right way up to Partick, which was where Allison's parents had had a flat decades ago.  Funnily enough, I was essentially in the same part of the city and on some of the same streets as Theo had taken me to days earlier.  We walked around a bit, poked into a shop, and then found the street and set of flats where Allison's parents had lived. 

Happily for them, they were at the bottom of the hill!

We then wandered down in the direction of Kelvingrove Park. 

Catriona asked that we stop into a venue that had a museum but also kids' activities, such as a climbing wall, so we did that, only to find that she would have to come back to climb the next day.  Onward to the Park, then and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

I really liked the museum.  The first collection we saw was of the Scottish Boys, as the school of artists was known.  Some wonderful pieces, and they led into some collections of decorative arts that very much put me in mind of the Greene and Greene among others of that time and style.  After that we headed down to see the Mary Quant special exhibit, which was very well done.  They had curated a terrific collection of original pieces loaned to them by some very careful owners.  Lovely!

After that, we were hungry.  We made our way back toward the subway station we had arrived at, and on the way stopped in at Bag O'Nails for linner.  Or dunch.  I'm not sure which.  Steak and Bovril pie for me, and, like Allison, I enjoyed a couple of pints of the Voller Veizen by Glasgow's Drygate Brewing.

And then it was on the subway back into downtown where I sent Allison and Catriona off on the train to the suburbs and walked myself back to the hotel.  I had packing to do.  I did go to the hotel bar later for a small bite and a couple of drinks that don't merit photos or much further mention.  And then off to bed.

I didn't have an early departure on Sunday.  The weather was clearing up after rain overnight. 

I headed to a different Starbucks for breakfast, came back to check out, then got myself on a bus to EDI. 

A long wait there (better safe than sorry), then the flight to EWR where there was a long delay again.  At least the view was nice. 

I made it in the door at home at 2:15.  Glasgow was already more than 24 hours behind me, a set of memories to hold dear.

haggis

I used to get very amused by all the people who would bandy about the word "haggis" as shorthand for the most disgusting foodstuffs you can imagine people eating.  I'm no longer amused.

I first had haggis on a trip to Edinburgh some seven or eight years ago.  At the time it felt like a dare to myself.  But then I had it, and I wondered why people made it seem like some awful thing.  In terms of texture, it resembles stuffing, or perhaps - because of the oatmeal involved - a pilaf.  In terms of taste, it's savoury, redolent of seasonings and with a great umami flavour.

And look, I know how it is traditionally cooked, inside of a sheep stomach.  But come on:  sausage gets stuffed into intestine, so how is that different.  And it's not as if there is a massive stomach carved open at your plate, so stop being squeamish.  You think the ingredients are gross?  Enjoy your American version of haggis every time you eat a hot dog, then.

Enough with the chiding.  Haggis is tasty, and those who shun it based only on preconceived notions are children.  That settled, let me report out on recent haggis eating.

I had met a friend I knew from Instagram last Thursday to explore the down and grab a bite together.  I'll write more about our Thursday in a separate post, but Theo knew I wanted some Scottish food, so he took me to Mharsanta.  I wish the place were busier because I enjoyed it a great deal.   I had the cullen skink to start with, a creamy soup with smoked fish in it. 

Tasty, and not too big a serving.  And then the haggis.  In fact, we each had a plate of it, served in a traditional style with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes).  Yep, just like a remembered it, and very welcome.  I especially like how it sits with the peppery sweetness of the neeps.  It was a generous plate of lunch, and we opted not to have dessert.  Theo had a beer,

I had a cider. 

Bellies full, we wandered out into a damp day to see more of the city.  And I had another haggis experience under my belt.

raclette

Encountering a new and delightful food experience is one of those perfect little things in life for me. Even fast food can count. Yes, I'm easily pleased, aren't I?

Two days ago (gosh, TWO days ago - this vacation went so darn fast!), Conrad and I were wandering around with Brian, mostly on Granville Island. We walked the perimeter (more or less),





stopped in at art installations, watched some singing and dancing, shopped and posed in Railspur Alley,
stood in lines. All of this was quite fun, truly, especially given the sunny weather. Ah, glorious sun in Vancouver.

The highlight, hands down, was the raclette. The Swiss have taken over Bridges Restaurant (which is kind of where I envision my wedding rehearsal dinner one day taking place), and while the line to get in was a good 30 minutes long (a paltry wait by the standards of many of the popular venues and pavilions at these Games), we noticed that there was almost no one in line for some food stations right around the corner. Well, ok.

$8 got us either raclette or bratwurst. Oh come on, I live in the Midwest - I can get bratwurst all the time. Raclette? Melted cheese all crusty from the broiling? yes please. Within minutes we had food.

My sister was once married to a man with Swiss roots, so raclette is not new to her. I have heard her mention it many times. I had no idea this was what it was. This enormous hunk of cheese gets shoved under a broiler. The gooey part and crust then gets shaved onto rye bread before the cheese goes back under the heat for the next person.




Awesome! Fun to watch, fast, and oh so tasty. We sat in the sunshine near a group of singing Swiss and munched away contentedly.


And then, of course, off to get some beer!