Shaiwal Birthday Sequel

Okay so there we were in Glasgow, equipped with directions from google maps on how to reach where. Our first stop was breakfast and soon after we headed out for the Hindu Temple.

Glasgow at first instance was a bit of a shock for me. As much as Edinburgh is steeped in history and natural beauty, Glasgow is a modern city with sky scrapers, steep roads and the concrete jungle look. I had been under the misconception that Edinburgh was representative of how all cities in Scotland would look; well i had that straightened out then. I guess it shouldn’t have been such a surprise given that Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and with the best airport and flight connectivity to rest of the world.

Anyways we reached ahead of time at the temple, it was to open at 9:30am and we were at its doors at 9:00am. So we ventured into a nearby park and loitered around, it was a nice sunny day so just kicked back for sometime. The temple when we entered was better than the one we visited in Edinburgh, given that that was a bit of a shabby affair. This one was well maintained and it had a pujari, but it sorely lacked the chanting of mantra's and the hustle bustle of our temples. It almost felt like being in a church with so much silence around.

We finished our darshan and were heading out when I noticed the temple shop where the small deities were being sold, it was closed but we still tried with the pujari and as lady luck was smiling on us we managed to secure a small one of Shirdi Sai Baba.

Next stop Kelvingrove, a museum, I wasn’t too excited to begin with cause although I like art I am not the sort of person who would enjoy a roomful of astounding paintings and patiently take time to examine each. I get restless. The museum however was a pleasant surprise, it was a lovely red palace and a very huge one at that which had sections devoted to different things, like stuffed animals, paintings, the culture and society of Scotland, the Asian equation here, Egyptian culture, history of different earth periods and of course a nice café to sit down and take a breath. :)

I especially loved the hanging iron masks depicting different human emotions and the display of stuffed animals. Although a bit cruel when you think about it, its been done well and the history and statistics of each animal well documented beside each and best of all an appeal to be environmental friendly so that these animals remain on earth and not be made extinct.

There was a transport museum which we wanted to visit later but it’s been closed for renovation and will open only next year so we then made our way to Indian food and had a sumptuous lunch. Well it resembles Indian it wasn’t the exact taste but then can’t quibble over that.

Next stop the science centre, this was let me tell you one of the most touted destination of Glasgow on the internet. Like all consumers we fell for the sales pitch and we went in. It was miserably disappointing, the science centre would have been great had we been 10 year olds but as adults it was a bit embarrassing to be there in the first place, so we made haste and went to the nearest underground station and caught the tube (train) to city centre. I had last been on the underground tube in 2006, so I felt quite nostalgic about the journey.

At city centre we finally decided to take a bit of a rest and have our aching feet put up, so we went into the food court of a shopping mall and plopped ourselves down for a good amount of time. Once refreshed we tackled the shopping streets of Glasgow, it was awesome, there were so many streets lined up with shops and more shops. No wonder people at Edinburgh said Glasgow was a shopping haven. The hustle bustle was nice, we hit a few stores, found some great deals and then soon enough it was time for the train. We managed to catch the 9pm train and headed back home. The two of us were limp from fatigue but happy with our day out.

Since Sunday was Shaiwal’s actual birthday and I had already gifted him with a collage poster and a shirt which he wore on Saturday; on his actual day I did a small treasure hunt of cards wherein each card I mentioned facts about me that he didn’t know. Made him a feast as Nitin and Gopi had suggested and after lunch he had the look of a well fed or should I say over fed cat.

And that my dears is how his birthday went. :)