West End kind of day

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 I think by now I have the local tours memorized for our visitors. From adventures with Pedro, to showing our visitors around, I know my way around and can easily plan out the day for the best parts of the city.  We figured today could be more relaxed, have a lie in, and just go about our day however we felt. Whenever we woke up, we took our time to get ready and head to the bus.  I knew our first stop would be the Botanic Gardens, which meant we could have brunch at the Tearoom as a little preview for our official afternoon tea on Sunday.  

I had joked that we could sit on the top deck of a double-decker bus on the way to West End (since most of the city buses are double-decker) but the first bus we caught just happened to be a single.  It's just as well though, because it's a pain to get down at your stop.  

Got off at the gardens, and I walked us up to the main gates to get the full experience.  It did look a bit different from the norm though, as they were setting up for a Halloween event.  Where there would normally be flocks of pigeons, there were great big dinosaurs and concert lights set up for GlasGlow: The Land that Time Forgot. The event is set to start next weekend, so they had most of it set up already, blocking a few pathways, but luckily the main attractions (ie the glasshouses) were still fully open.  

We headed straight for the tearoom, and after a quick panic thinking they were closed, an employee came out and unlocked the gate for us.  I had never visited before, since Pedro and I always bought from the coffee truck outside if we were peckish, so I had no idea what to expect.  I suppose their afternoon menu is a bit more, but their morning menu was simply toast, a scone, or a croissant.  Ah well, just left room for lunch in West End. After we eat our food (and my mom got to try clotted cream- similar to whipped butter), we headed to Kibble Palace first.  It was a bit a reprieve from the chilly weather and had my mom slipping of her jacket. 

I found myself taking less pictures, especially since I've already been to these places so many times, but also just experimenting taking photos with my lensball.  I still enjoyed showing my mom around and had fun with it. 


Going through the next glasshouse, I was pleasantly surprised to see a previously blocked section suddenly open to the public.  Pedro and I thought it might have been special plants or quarantined ones, but it turns out it was a whole new section they were working on: Aquatic Plants.  It was small circular room, with water tanks full of plants and small fish on each side, and a small pond in the middle.  The whole room was stuffed with plants; someone with claustrophobia might have trouble walking through.  My mom and I however were completely fixated on the small pond covered in a top layer of duckweed. Every 30 seconds or so, we'd see a creature pop its mouth out of the water and nibble at the surface.  We couldn't see more than its nose and top lip, unable to tell what kind of creature it was.  It wasn't a turtle, kind of looked like a catfish, but it would shrink away every time with tried to get a picture.  Well, after going through Glasgow Botanic Gardens' 45 pages of list of species, I've decided it was an 'Anguilla Anguilla' aka a European eel.



After we had our fill of flowers, we headed towards Pedro's school.  The main campus, that is. The older part looks what you'd expect from the 4th oldest university in the UK, whereas his modern vet school looks pretty much...like a school.  I was proud of myself, navigating the campus easily, when I usually have Pedro take over that part of the tour.  But I got us to the beautiful courtyards, along with the museum and, of course, the gift shop. 


At this point, we decided it be a good time to break for lunch.  I took my mom to Pedro and I's favorite restaurant spot.  We had always thought of it as 'the hidden place' because it is a little alley full of restaurants that is tucked away between the school and the busier part of West End. I have since learned than Ashton Lane is quite beloved and famous. Ah well, beer garden!!


I wasn't sure if we'd get to Kelvingrove, but with our newfound energy from lunch, we decided to go for it. Mostly because of the floating heads.


After that, we were done.  We walked back to the bus stop through Kelvingrove park, seeing a cone-capped Kelvin on the way out.

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