![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgownewyorklooksmaller.jpg\")
\nOK it doesn’t look like Manhattan here but trust me it did…honest!<\/i><\/p>\n
The journey round the UK ended with a visit to Glasgow. On the way there a pretty fraught row between Colin and I over who owes who money took place. (“Be neither a borrower or lender of money” echoes through my mind!) So the rest of the day was spent pretty much segregated.<\/p>\n
Today we are journeying to Glasgow. The sun shone like on a summer’s day , and we were all in a good mood until Colin and I decided to have an almighty row over who owed who what . As the argument ensued I grabbed hold of the steering wheel as tight as I could in case he got any ideas about punishing me by killing us all by bringing the car to an abrupt halt. He didn’t, it’s funny what goes through your mind sometimes.<\/p>\n
We eventually found our way to the centre of Glasgow, it’s set out in blocks but the roads run in one way only systems which was a nightmare to navigate. The air was smoggy and streaming full of sunlight, and the whole place was permeated with a feeling of New York’s Manhattan. But it wasn’t today’s Manhattan, it was the one I’d seen in films, the one from the 1930’s to the 50’s. It has a griminess about it, it is well known to be an area that has poverty stricken areas to it, and wherever I was I got the feeling destitution wasn’t far.<\/p>\n
\nOK it doesn’t look like Manhattan here but trust me it did…honest!<\/i><\/p>\n
Because we’d had the row on the way we all went our separate ways once we got to Glasgow. I had my real life calling me and had to go and find a place where I could send a fax. I was running low of cash so I had to find a bank. Because my Bank is not regarded highly in Scotland, even though it’s actually owned by the Bank of Scotland, I was forced to take quite a trek to find it. The guy in the tourist office said it was a short walk away but I decided to take my car anyway, which as it turned out was a good idea because his idea of a short walk would have left me unable to walk any further.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowchurchinreflectionsmaller.jpg\")
\nOld and new (what an original graphical statement!)<\/i><\/p>\n
I felt a bit lost today, possibly the argument, possibly the transitional feelings I get as I approach the end of a trip. But after going to the bank I wasn’t sure what to do. I ended up going to the EASY Internet Bar, which has to be one of the biggest in the UK. There must have been several hundred terminals, most of which were being used. It’s the school holidays here right now so the place was full mainly with children between 12 and 16 years old. Most of them were shouting at each other, whilst chatting on the Internet and sending each other text messages. It seemed ironic that in a place where there’s supposedly so much poverty that the kids were able to be spending so much on communication. After checking my emails I decided to read some of this diary. It took me half an hour to get through three pages, I was quite struck by how much I’d written and felt quite sorry for anyone who’d actually ploughed through the whole thing, if that’s you well done, I don’t think I could do it, even though I did it, if you see what I mean!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowmeonbusinreflection.jpg\")
\nThat’s me the cold one on top<\/i><\/p>\n
Once out of the Internet Bar I decided to take a tour bus. I made my way to a bus which was ready to go and was told that I couldn’t get on as it was the last trip of the day and I was supposed to have a ticket already. I explained about the diary and how I would mention them in it if they “please please” let me on, they relented and off we went. My main memories of the journey were the historical aspects that came up during the tour, how Glasgow has such a big connection with Ireland and the river it is built on.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowtallshipsmaller.jpg\")
\nA ship<\/i><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowsydneyinfluence2smaller.jpg\")
\nA modern building (a mini Sydney Opera House)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowwomanlyinginstreet.jpg\")
\nA Glasgow kipper<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Glasgow reminded me very much of other towns that had relied heavily on industry in the past and the residue of division that is left between the working and middle classes. In many places in Britain the middle class is slowly absorbing other class strata, but where the local and family history remains in the conscious memory of people the divisions are kept running. Couple this with high unemployment levels, poverty and mass housing estates then the scars aren’t going to heal. This is what I felt about Glasgow, it’s a place that doesn’t want to forget it’s past but as a consequence it keeps it’s divisions going. As we toured the city our guide drew our attention to this and that monument but my eye kept finding derelict buildings, groups of men hanging around and other signs of a dual economy. Some of the attempts to bring Glasgow into the 21st Century were noticeable don’t get me wrong, but there was always a rough undertow not far away.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowfionaonbussmaller.jpg\")
\nOur guide<\/i><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.simonsdiary.co.uk\/written%20work\/Traveldiaries\/uktour2002diary\/glasgowfionaonbus2.jpg\")
\nYes… even the guide was cold (She can’t have had her oats that morning)<\/i><\/p>\n
The sun shone brightly as I said, but sitting on the top of an open topped bus was a mistake, I was freezing cold when we arrived back at the centre. I made my way back to the car and waited for the others. When Colin got back
\nI made some sort of joke like “Are we speaking now or shall we have a fight”, he laughed but really from then on the friendship had gone and the relationship felt strained to me.<\/p>\n
We made our way back to Lanark and this evening began to prepare for tomorrow’s journey home. The end of journey’s or any joint venture is often fraught because dealing with the severance of relationships is difficult for most people, so maybe the argument partly happened because it helped to make a “clean” break. Tonight I spent most of the time writing the diary and feeling mixed feelings. I was looking forward to getting back to my life, but at the same time I felt\u2026\u2026. No lets not bullshit you, I was just looking forward to going home!<\/p>\n
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