Glasgow GTG January 2011

[Sundae]

And thence to the hotel - The Alamo.
None of my photos of the interior really do it justice, so you'll have to check out their website yourself.

[Sundae]

I was first to arrive and was checked in by a staggering attractive young man.
I honestly found it difficult to maintain sensible conversation with him. He was tall and rangy, with large liquid eyes, and an open and guileless expression. In some ways he reminded me of David Tennant playing a B&B employee. Sadly no photo of the vision called Sandy, as he wasn't working on Monday morning when I brought my camera to breakfast.

Anyway, there was another lovely male I had more contact with, and behaved better around, and that was the cat, Flash. 18 and a half years old, solidly built with massive paws, very sanguine and very friendly. The epitome of Nae Bother.

Here is a pic of the room with Flash on my bed. As you can see, neither of the other ladies are in residence at this point. Don't worry, they appear in the next thread or the one after that. I'll bet you were wondering when I was going to get round to it, right?

I then headed off to the nearest recommended pub to have a drink and think about lunch. Sandy McHandsome suggested The Park Bar on the corner as it was a real Scottish pub, and full of Highland-and-Islanders speaking Gaellic. In the end I couldn't justify eating out, so I had a quiet beer and then bought a Pot Noodle (!) Still, it was a nice place and I got you a picture of the menu for the reason that will become apparent when you look at it.

[Sundae]

Now. The moment you have all been waiting for - DanaC arrives!
I met her at the door as I had the keys - she's as lovely as ever. Down to earth as well as earthy and intelligent as well as lighthearted.

We settled in and started to get ready to head to Cafe Cafe Cossachok to meet Limey, We found a taxi and got there with very little drama. It's a gorgeous place. We were seated at our table for three and settled back to wait for the final mamber of our triumvirate.

I didn't get the settings right until after our food arrived, so the pics are low quality. Again, check out their website for better quality photos.

[Sundae]

Turns out Kimey was already there - she was speaking Russian to the owner. Some people just don't know how to stop being accomplished.

Limey is pretty much how she comes across on the Cellar. Very honest, forthright and full of common sense. Great, cheerful and intelligent company with no hint of how many talents she has under her belt, and no suggestion of eliteism - in fact she is generous in all senses of the word.

Finally, we're all here!
So. Dinner.

Starters first. Dana had Smoked Salmon and Smetana Blinis (Smetana is sour cream pretty much and the dish is served with Russian Wheat Pancakes)
Limey had Rostovsky Salad, a duet of beetroot-raisin & carrot-garlic salads in mayonnaise dressing.

[Sundae]

I had a mixed dish with onions, potatoes, herring. It came with a shot of vodka. So we all ordered one

I honestly can't remember the name, hopefully Limey will stop by and remind me. It might be Seliedka...?

Limey taught us how to drink it the Russian way - it involves sniffing and bread! - and taught us a Russian toast. I felt like a sophisticated woman of the world.

[Sundae]

The starters were dekicious and quickly polished off - as were the vodkas of course.
We were talking almost non-stop, but the good thing about three people is you still get the chance to eat while the conversation keeps going.

Dana's main.
I think it was Lulya - succulent georgian lamb kebabs, pan-fried and seasoned with mixed herbs from the Caucausus served with rice and a side of tangy tomato salsa.

Limey's main.
I have no idea, sorry! Lamb again I think, and cracked wheat...?
I really should write these things down

[Sundae]

And finally - mine!
Moscow Blintzes - pancakes, stuffed with beef & turkey mince, fried onions, rice and herbs, served with a creamy spinach sauce.
Wow they were lovely! Too rich for me in the end, and I had to leave the last third. But then I HAD had a full starter.

[Sundae]

Dana slipped off early, and Limey and I had liquer coffees and follwed at a more sedate pace.
We went looking for an off licence to get some wine for our room.
We found one, and were quite bemused to find that you could not touch any of the alcohol - it was all protected by a plastic "wall" that ran around three sides of the shop, with a little serving hatch in it. You asked the owner for what you wanted and he fetched it for you. I've never seen anything like that, but when we went into another one on Sunday, Dana admitted there was one like it in Leeds.

As we were walking out, a slurring Glaswegian asked where we were going and whether he could come along. Limey said in a withing tone, "No." and carried on moving. "Nae borther" came the amicable reply. I was glad she was there. My instinct to be polite would at least have made me engage in conversation with him and that could never have come to any good.

Back to the hotel, open the wine and get into the Cellar!
Oh. And then get into bed together. Well, what's a girl to do..?

[Shawnee123]

Bravo!

I am loving this...sitting here giggling and smiling. MORE!

[Sundae]

The next morning we were up in time to catch breakfast thanks to Dana's alarm.
Alarm is the right word - not being a morning person she had something that sounded like an alert in a nuclear power station. It scared the bejesus out of me even through my earplugs. AND she had it on snooze! When it went off again I decided to get up and get rid of the rest of my bejesus in the toilet just across the hall.

I WISH I'd videoed coming down the stairs to our room, and where the facilities were. We had our own bathroom (no bath, sez Limey) but for the rooms without there was a WC opposite, and next door was a bathroom (with bath), shower AND WC. And also a shower room - nothing but shower, but underfloor heating, heated towel rail, all toiletries and a super-smashing-great LARGE shower.

So I used these, because three girls in a room do need someone to take themself out of the way. And also I was worried I'd stink the room out embarrassingly with my morning bowels. And I couldn't resist the shower room and it's opportunity to cavort naked behind a locked door without worrying I was denying anyone else access

So, off to breakfast.
Again, I had to remove myself from the room in the end. For a nicer reason - Sandy was making it difficult for me to swallow... No, really I just wanted to get sorted for the day, and as mentioned the caffeine fiends had already indicated they needed further stimulants before moving.

The breakfast buffet from the left - fruits and fruit salads in bowls, pots of fromage frais, muesli, single person packets of cereal, plain yoghurt, cheese, honey and Marmite bottles, butter and marge, milk, orange and apple juice.

The hot table from the left - croissants, scrambled egg and bacon in the chafing dishes. Tomato and brown sauce as condiments. I didn't fancy the bacon, but Dana and Limey partook. I will praise the eggs though. Toast came with my pot of tea, and both were refillable if required. Coffee was via a help yourself flask-thingy. Which the naughty Dwellars emptied all on their own and had to be refilled...

[glatt]

Looks like a really nice place. I'm enjoying these pictures!

[Sundae]

Again, soz for the rotten quality.
One day I will sit down properly and work out how to take decent pictures in low light.
The trouble is, all the settings which attempt to do it for me automatically require a very steady hand. I find just putting enough pressure on the camera to press the button makes it move enough to blur. Sigh.

You can see outside via the mirror in the above pic, but here is one to show you the lovely windows too. And while I'm at it, here's one of the entrance hall. The owner - Steve - hand painted the ceilings.

[Pico and ME]

Don't be so hard on yourself...these pictures are perfect.

[Sundae]

So, off onto the streets of Glasgae.
We decided to stay in the Kelvingrove area - there was easily enough to see locally and after all the reason we booked a hotel this side of town was to be close to the SECC where the pantomime was.

The pavements, the pavements. Four words.
I have another three. Sheet Fucking Ice.

I have never come across anything as slippery apart from an actual ice rink.
I have not been physically brave since I was about 12 years old.
I suffered enormously (now raise a large AWWWWWWWW! like a good panto audience).
I am not used to mincing about, holding onto things and being rigid with fear for every step I take in case I slip and impale my cheek on the very railings I have to hold onto in order not to be horizontal.

Of course I'm exaggerating. Well, I mean I was exaggerating the consequences as I walked around, my fear and my shuffling were the real consequences. Dana and Limey were far more pragmatic, but even they were slow and cautious.

We tried to go to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but it was still closed! despite what felt like a late start to us, it was still Off Limits On A Sunday o'clock. So more mincing over pavements of doom, more fear and pulling faces from me (at this point I was ready to go back to the room and ply the girls with coffee and the red wine left over from the night before and it was only 10.30!) Wiser and more adventurous minds prevailed and we ended up walking through the University grounds.

We could walk on the grass there, and as my fear of falling abated I really began to appreciate the architecture, the still cold air, and the feeling of being up while lazy sluggards were sleeping (I pretended not to see the joggers, as light on their feet as elves, sprinting past on frozen pavements).

When we left the grounds we were on a road which had been at least partially gritted/ cleared - mostly by the owners of the shops, bars and restaurants along that stretch. The second picture below is an advertising taxi for an American style diner/ coffeeshop. The girls were keen to go in and get their fix, but Dana needed to find a cashpoint, so we walked further along. When we came back on the other side of the road we found the Big Mouth Coffee Company, which fitted the bill just as well. I had a milkshake

Dana and Limey were having a personal and profound conversation about death and families. I zoned out because I was wondering whether the description "moo-rvelous" on the advert behind me could be considered incorrect given that the British spelling should have to ll's. Can you misspell a made up word?

Pics: Kelvingrove Museum as before (glimpsed through trees from the hotel in previous pic) and the taxi.

[Sundae]

Back to the room - still no falling over, still more fear from me. Crikey I was happy to turn off onto Gray Road, which is quiet enough to walk in the street.

I went and pilfered some more instant coffee from an unoccupied room as the girls had now been about 30 minutes without. Then I had a glass of wine. In fact this was when I made the post re getting excited about seeing JB.

I have to pause now, as I need to come up with the right words to describe the sheer majesty of the occasion.

So in the mean time, here we are united, even if just by a poster. I think it's a hideous photo of me, but it's the only one with the two of us together and I'm sure he'd be hurt if I didn't post it.
And here are Sam and Dani enjoying our gourmet lunch at the SECC. I'm not being snooty - maybe it wasn't gourmet but I loved it.

And when we were all full it was time to find our separate seats (Dana & Limey were together, but I was in the front stalls) and settle down for a magical two hours. Magical I tell you.