Scottish Holiday Day 2

Day 2 was supposed to be a relaxed day in Glasgow. We had been told that there was something called Merchant City Festival happening, and that sounded interesting.

We had a totally relaxed morning, lazing around until that got boring. Husband’s flat is quite in the central area, so we decided to walk to the area where the festival was being held. We walked past the river front, under magestic bridges. I loved those bridges so much that I came back home and looked up their history. There is something about a river flowing through the heart of the city. I guess it shows how almost all towns were built around water sources. One of the bridges has some inscription to the effect that bridges showed and nurtured a town’s progess and I can understand that. Having a bridge must have improved commerce in so many ways. I thought I had taken pics on the phone, but turns out, most of the pictures were in the camera. So just one of the many bridges we walked past.

It was a lovely sunny day, the last for the next few days, according to the weather report so we made the most of it. The town centre was bursting with people,but most going about shopping. We were the only tourists, or so it seemed, with cameras around our necks. And the shopping options! It made me miss being in a city. The place we now live in a little town, and the shopping options are not the greatest. Here. I could go crazy. But didn’t. After all, shopping could be done on rainy days, and from the look of it, we have plenty of them coming. But I was tempted, seriously tempted.

The festival was further ahead, so we walked past shoppers with bulging bags, walked into a little market which we initially thought was part of the festival but realized that it couldn’t possibly be so small. There some cute trinkets on sale, but I wasn’t in the mood for them, so went on, on search of the festival.

After walking through the crowded city centre area, we finally reached the festival. It was like a massive version of the continental markets that keep happening in most towns. There were handicrafts, hand made stuff, scarves, painted boots.. all sorts of stuff on sale.

There were dance performances on the streets, this one has daughter watching captivated.

They were really good.

Festivals would be incomplete without the food stalls, wouldn’t it? All sorts of tantalizing smells assaulted our senses. Spicy Paella, hot dogs, sweet fudge, baklava, ice cream, jacket potatoes.. We however ended up in another restaurant that husband and his colleagues frequented. Daughter was tired after all that walking, and she wanted to be indoors. We had another massive meal(a rather late lunch), and all we wanted was to go to sleep. We went back into the festival, in search of gelato. The flavours didn’t appeal to us. I do suspect that we had eaten so much lunch that we had no real space for dessert. Husband was tempted by the churros people were carrying but we couldn’t find that stall. Actually, I was glad we didn’t. I wasn’t sure my tummy could take it, but I was sure that my tastebuds would have been easily tempted to give in:)

It was on the way back that we realized how much we had walked. The walk back had us dragging our tired but happy feet past the river front, past the bridges, soaking in the sun. Thank god we did that, because today it is pouring, like the monsoons in India.

We ended the day with another Indian meal, delicious, with dosas and Indian Chinese. Yum! But I do think the next few days, I will be looking at other cuisines, I need a change of cuisine:)

Reading through my account, I’ve just realized, that all we’ve done so far is eat! So not the holiday thing to do! Hopefully, the next few days, we will do a little more than that:)