Culture in Glasgow

Image: Samantha Nicol

It’s been some weekend! I started last Friday off with a very large and strong black coffee (apparently this is called an Americano in some places—places I now avoid) and a healthy and bountiful morning roll with a black pudding tucked inside and a greasy fried egg placed on top.

It was worth every minute of the three hours of heart burn that followed.

Workshop
Due to my lack of planning with Dropbox, I re-wrote assignment 5 of the Advanced Dialogue workshop during my lunch break. I would like to say it came out better but I’m not sure. What did work this time around is that I managed to find what the point was in the story to begin with. It’s hard to reveal something when you don’t know what the point was in what you were writing.

Glasgow and Food
I left work at a timely hour and headed through to my homeland, Glasgow. I met my sister, Binny,  and as I was beginning to get frustrated at her insistence we not go to the pub just yet, my other sister, Fiona, arrived from Perth. Neither she nor I had any inkling we were going to be there so it was a great surprise for both of us.

We dined in the Alishan Tandoori in Mount Florida and enjoyed a brilliant meal, lots of drinks and a great laugh. It’s the first time the three of us have been out on our own together for quite a few years. We finished the night off in the Clockwork Pub before heading back to Binny’s flat to crash for the night.

The next morning, after a ridiculously short lie in for Binny’s place, we headed out for brunch at Café Ludovic. Fiona was a Ludovic virgin, but the entrance of this pure Glasgow eating establishment with tradition, Glasgow culture and good food lining the walls (not literally) turned her into a fan, just like us.

Citizens Galbraith
The afternoon was set aside for more culture in Glasgow, and after being dropped off in the city centre and waving Fiona off on her drive north back to Perth, Binny and I joined my mum for a coffee and a chat.

Binny then went off to do some shopping while I took my mother along to the Citizens Theatre to see Men Should Weep, Ena Lamont Stewart’s dramatic play about a family living in poverty in 1930s Glasgow.

It was a brilliant play. It told the story of one family’s struggle to survive the depression, and the love that shimmers underneath the daily torments and torture of having to try and feed and raise a family with next to no money, food or warmth; it was an intense and emotional play. Although I’m no theatre buff, this play was brilliantly acted and it swept my mother and I off into a different world from the start.

Drinks and Food
Following the play—which we talked about in depth for the next few hours to come—we met my dad for a few drinks in Sloan’s pub before finding a place to eat. We settled on Sizzlers in the Merchant City area of town for a steak meal and bottle of red wine.

It was there I decided to stay over at my parents for the night, which involved a bus trip I hadn’t made on a Saturday night for many, many years: Glasgow to Bridge of Weir, via Linwood. Boy, did that take me back, the bus scooting back through places I hadn’t seen for nigh over 15 years.

It occurred to me as some young teenagers boarded the bus at Braehead, that there was every chance some of them could belong to people I went to school with that still lived in the area. Scary thought.

Sunday
Sunday it rained. Heavily. During a gap in the rain I went for a walk around the streets I used to play as a child and then grew up. There were memories on every street corner, house name and empty garden, the place a lot less lively it seemed to me, than when I was a boy.

I popped in on Mikey P (one of The Diners), but he wasn’t home so I made my way back to spend the rest of the day in the house fixing computers, do some reading, and helping my mum. Binny joined us with her boyfriend, Derek, for Sunday dinner, before I got dropped off in Glasgow to get the train back to Leith.

Work Catch-Up
So that’s my catch up. This week has seen the start of more work around the house and finishing up other stuff. The dialogue workshop has taken up most of the writing time I set aside, which is totally fine because the benefits are far and reaching.

I accepted The SKY Project invitation and will be off to Kilmarnock to meet the kids as a surprise guest some time next month. I’m not saying when in case any of them should actually read this, but it’s going to be a great night. I can’t wait.

I’ve a busy week lined up and hopefully I’ll make it along to the Literary Salon run by the Edinburgh City of Literature this evening. I never got the email notice but some friends have been in touch, and I want to keep the ball rolling on some ideas I’ve had. Also, be good to see some new friends made during the book festival again for a pint.

Have a great day; peace and out!