The Long Way Home

Glasgow is a working class city mostly featuring 19th century architecture. I like Glasgow because it has a really energetic and diverse feel to it. There's an edge here that is lacking in Edinburgh. This is the view from the window of the last hotel I stayed in which was a "Quality Inn" ensconced in a dilapidated Victorian building that must have had some sort of political use in the past (as a "chambers" perhaps?). It is huge and the Glasgow Central Train Station has been built onto it.

This may be my favorite picture of my gorgeous sister from the whole trip. A lot of Glasgow has a gritty feel to it but we took a walk through Kelvingrove Park and decided that we would live close to the park or on the West side of Glasgow which is where our walk landed us. The West Side is where you will find the University and, consequently, all the tattoo shops and student style cafes and it reminded us a lot of Brooklyn where my sister lived for a few years.

The East Side is where my brother found his favorite adventures. It's where all the Irish pubs are, it's rougher, it's grittier, it's louder, and you'd better be careful what colors you wear on the streets. I'd avoid wearing orange or green. If you have to wear one of them and prefer not to be stabbed or punched, I suggest you go with the green.

I have to admit that I got really tired. This was not, over all, a relaxing vacation. I did a lot of walking in Glasgow, til my feet hurt and my legs ached, and when the night fell on the last day I was not at all sorry to zone out on some British television and pack my bags for home.

Apparently, everyone in New Jersey craves steak, judging by the large presence it makes in the Newark Airport in which I spent six hours whiling away my time drinking Guinness and eyeballing queer giant chunks of flesh that are suppose to tempt weary travelers. In all it took 24 hours to get home. By the time I got on the plane to Portland I was fairly grumpy and desperate to see my guys and to nuzzle my nose into my kittens and my dog. It made the last plane ride seem interminable. A sensation very much heightened by my fellow passengers.

I sat in a window seat. Something I don't do anymore for several reasons, the main one being the diminutive size of my bladder and the deeply stressful psychological damage it has done to me: if I know I am in a situation where I cannot easily get to a bathroom I will instantly have to pee. I couldn't arrange to sit in the isle seat on this flight so I knew that every time I had to get up to pee I would have to disarrange two other people to do it. Knowing this made me feel like I had to pee for the entire interminable flight.

The person who sat next to me was a fascinating red-headed dread-locked guy who clearly had a cold (judging by his constant sniffling and occasional deep coughing fit) and had not heard of bathing or deodorant. I don't like the acrid smell of man-sweat. Five hours of the smell of man-sweat, nasty bad cheeseburgers (the Continental dinner), and canned air did a lot of damage to my already faded humor. I got the dude back good though by having to pee three times during the flight. That was out of kindness to him and my other row partner. I would have been much more comfortable if I had been free to pee at least six times.

At last I landed home. I could not have been happier to see my guys waiting for me than if I had just been given a million dollar check! Oh they were such a good sight! I love Portland. I love Oregon.

Right now I am stinky and in need of a shower but I'm enjoying my coffee and Pippa is purring in my lap. I am looking at my house and feeling so excited about all the things I can do in it. I am excited that I've brought home inspiration for decorating it and garden inspiration as well. It's raining today which makes me really happy too because it was warm for my whole trip and I need a break. I heard about the heat wave here and am so happy to have missed it!!!

Home is such a wonderful place to be. I might need to nap most of this day away.