Exploring Glasgow
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2012
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32
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Trip End
Aug 26, 2012
Where I stayed
What I did
St Enoch Shopping Centre
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Friday, July 27, 2012
We sat in bed for a bit then went downstairs to breakfast. The TV was on in the breakfast room and we watched the BBC news which was of course talking about the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on tonight. At 8.12am (not sure why it was that time specifically) there was 3 minutes of bells ringing around the country, led by the bells of Big Ben. There were a few towns around the place shown to be ringing bells too. This was to celebrate the beginning of the Olympics.
We finished breakfast and went back to our room, then spent a little while Skyping some the family. After that we had showers and Emma had a nap at about quarter to ten. I finished getting ready and Emma woke up at 10.30am. Matt gave Emma her morning tea and we went out at 11.00am.
We walked down the street for about fifteen minutes until we found the St Enoch Shopping Centre. We caught the lift up to the second level and went into Hamley’s, which is a large toy store with just about everything a kid could want. We headed over to the baby section and Matt chose a book for Emma. The book has nice touchy, feely parts on it. I chose a squishy bath book which she can put in her mouth and not ruin.
It was getting close to 12.00pm by then so we paid and left the store and went down a level to the food court. We decided on a quick and simple lunch so we just got some KFC which we haven’t had in ages. It’s mostly the same as at home though Matt didn’t think it was as good.
We found a microwave in the food court and heated Emma’s food up and fed her. With the exception of morning and afternoon tea, feeding her is now a fair bit more difficult than it used to be, so it took a while. We always persevere until she’s eaten a good amount.
After that we went upstairs to give Emma a change, then headed back downstairs to Boots so I could buy some more food for Emma. Having done that, we walked through the mall and out a different exit. We were close to the river so we walked a few streets over to have a look at that.
I took a few photos then told Matt we better go because the sky was looking very cloudy. But sure enough, it started to rain before we could get anywhere so we had to quickly duck under some cover. We put the rain cover on the stroller and I got the umbrella out. Emma had water on her face but she seemed to think it was pretty funny.
Once that was done, we continued back through the streets to the main shopping area and began to walk back the way we’d come. We saw a nice looking store called Frasers and went in for a look. It’s a bit like Harrods but not as fancy.
We had a brief look around there and then continued back up the street. The rain had stopped whilst we were inside and it was nice and sunny again. Emma was starting to get sleepy so we went back to the hotel. She fell asleep about ten minutes before we arrived and I put her in her cot but she woke up as I put her down. She didn’t go back to sleep as I hoped she would so Matt got her back up and she played on the bed with us for a bit. She had fun with her new bath book.
At 3.30pm Matt put Emma down in her cot and this time she slept properly. We took the opportunity to have a little nap too. Emma woke up at 4.30pm and we gave her some afternoon tea and played for a bit. Emma has learnt to bounce now and when we say 'bouncy bouncy’ she bobs up and down, it’s so cute.
At 6.00pm we left the hotel again and went for a walk to find some dinner. We ended up at Ask Italian which is quite close to our hotel. Possibly not realising Emma was too young for it, the waiter brought her some big pencils and a picture to colour in. Matt tried to show her how to draw on the page but of course she just tried to eat the pencils. Unfortunately she couldn’t have them so I ended up colouring in most of the picture for her.
After we finished our dinner, we got some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream from the cinema across the road before returning to the hotel a bit after 7.00pm. To save time in the morning as we have to leave early, Matt and Emma had a quick shower.
At 8.00pm we brushed Emma’s teeth and I fed her and put her to bed. I had my shower then got into bed to watch the Opening Ceremony. That started at 9.00pm and I’ve been a bit distracted watching it so thought I better get a move on and get this done.
Glasgow has been pretty good, with some good shopping to be done if you wanted to. Tomorrow we’re driving almost two hours to Cairnryan then catching a ferry to Belfast which I’m excited about.
The Opening Ceremony has been pretty spectacular so far. I enjoyed the creation of the Olympic Rings, the Queen’s arrival sequence and seeing J K Rowling and Voldemort. We cheered when we just saw the Australian team enter the stadium.
