Second Day in Scotland

On Day 2 of our journey, we woke up bright and early (and by that, I mean at 10 am) and met Anne at the City Chambers. Our other cousins, Catherine and Jim, joined us there for a private tour from Anne.

I couldn't get over how gorgeous the building was! Even though it houses city government, it feels like what we would find at the national Senate or House building...or, maybe even the White House. And the Glasgow City Council has 79 members! We even got to meet one of the former Lord Provosts (the head of City government), Liz Cameron, and we later saw her portrait in the portrait gallery.

Pictures don't even do the City Chambers justice, but here are some anyway:

The finish on his nose is rubbed off because people touch him for good luck upon passing by.

This is where all of the council meetings take place. The head chair (for the Lord Provost) was gifted in the 1800s by Queen Victoria.

After the tour, we headed over to the People's Palace, a museum which contains the history of Glasgow. We got to see a bomb shelter and ration cards (both of which my grandmother experienced during World War II). And we also stopped for a tea in the winter garden.

Since Glasgow was famous for ship-building, the top of the winter garden is designed to look like the hull of a ship.

Then, we visited the street and neighborhood where my grandmother grew up. Her house has long been torn down, but we did get a picture of us with the street name in the background.


We also visited the church where my grandmother was baptized. It's also the same one where my great-grandparents were married. Unfortunately, it was dark when we visited (it gets dark in Glasgow around 3:30 p.m.), so this picture doesn't capture the altar's true beauty, but it's a start.




By then, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we met the rest of my mom's cousins at a restaurant called Metropolitan. It was housed in a venue called Merchant Square, which, from the looks of it, used to be an outdoor market. However, now it's a hip, cozy, enclosed spot that houses several restaurants. Our restaurant in particular was beautiful. There were candles and white lights everywhere, and we got to sit on the balcony overlooking the main part of Merchant Square. The chefs even prepared a special vegan dinner for us.

Totally oblivious to the photo-bombers in back.

But, the greatest part of the evening was just getting to be around my family. I could have listened to stories all day, and it was fascinating to talk about how much we had in common, despite growing up on different continents. My cousins were so incredibly nice, generous and hospitable (not to mention wickedly funny). We swapped stories for hours, and it was truly a wonderful time!

I've only been in Scotland for two days, and already, this trip has been everything I had hoped it would be! It's been incredible so far, and I can only wait for what's to come.