A Tartan Greeting!

Hello from the Scotland. Home of the Highlander and William Wallace. The whole family made it out here safely without really driving anyone around us too crazy. We had a 10 hour flight from San Francisco to London, a 5 hour layover and an hour flight to Glasgow. Abby was so well behaved and slept for more than 6 hours on her flight to London. We had a bassinet which she barely fit. There was even a belt above her head which prevented her from lifting up her head too much - poor girl. It still helped her sleep for a long time and we were really happy. Other than that, there was a guy behind us who snored so loudly - I've never heard a guy snore more loudly sleeping upright.



We got to Glasgow pretty late and settled into our hotel which is very close to the conference center. It stays very light until quite late at night (10PM or so). Still, we were quite tired and went to sleep pretty quickly. The next day, we went to the city center where we explored some of the shopping district. We found a Marks & Spencer where we bought some desserts for later in the day. We also got some basics for Abby including baby food. One comment on British baby food - they feed their babies things Americans would never dream of feeding their baby at 4-6 months... like "Grandpa's Sunday Lunch" - a combination of carrots, peas, potatoes and chicken or "Shephard's Pie" - veggies and lamb or chocolate pudding or egg custard for that matter. We're embracing the British baby food and letting Abby go crazy with the meats.

In other news, Abby has not only mastered sitting up pretty completely, she is now rolling both from front to back and from back to front (the latter took a while). She has also finally discovered a consonant. After months of "AAAAAAAAAA!!!!", we now have "bababababababababa". It's quite cute (purely objectively speaking of course).

Food:

1. Random hole in the wall British eatery

Here I had fish and chips and Albert had a beef casserole. It was good but too salty and greasy for our taste. I think we've had enough British food for a few days.

2. Wagamama's

We went twice to make sure our assessment was correct. I went to Wagamama's many times in London many years back and loved it... so much so that I asked Albert to get me a T-shirt when he was there. We eagerly anticipated touching down in Glasgow to get our first taste of Wagamama's in a few years and was very very disappointed. The ramen was too salty. The rice was too sticky. The curry sauce was lacking. The rice noodles were al dente. To top it off, the price was nearly $20 a head! I still bought a T-shirt but that's because I love the name - in Japanese it means "spoiled brat". My parents used to call me this all of the time when I was a kid.


3. Mrs. Majhu's

41 Byres Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G11 5RG
T. 0141 339 1339
Lunch here was actually very good and fairly reasonable. For a prix fixe lunch, we were able to share 4 small plates plus some rice and naan all for 8 pounds per person. We had saag paneer, chicken curry and two lamb dishes. All were spiced very well without being too overwhelming. The restaurant was also clean and inviting. Abby slept through the entire meal so Albert and I were able to really relax.

Sights:
1. Kelvingrove Museum

This is one of the most eclectic museums I have ever been to! We loved the fact that over the stuffed elk and moose, you could view an old WWII Spitfire aircraft. In the same museum, there were Matisse paintings as well as a neon Elvis. There were some really pro-Scottish statements in some of the commentary on British history which we also enjoyed.



Beyond our general sightseeing, I am here for a more important purpose - the ICC 2007 conference where I am presenting a paper. I will be spending most of my time at this conference and am limited in my sightseeing for Glasgow. All in all, we thought Glasgow was a lot of fun but we're excited to be moving on!