The Great French Surprise

Right before I started my new job, Steve asked me to keep the weekend of September 19th open for my birthday celebrations saying he could “neither confirm nor deny” that he had something planned. He then purchased the following: tickets to Craft Beer Rising at Drygate, two bottles of wine (in case we couldn’t leave the flat due to the referendum) and an air mattress. Anyone else may have questioned the last two items because a) Steve doesn’t drink wine and b) our first guests weren’t due to arrive until January, but I guess I’m super gullible.

It had already been a pretty exciting week with an amazing birthday package from my mom and the big vote, so on Friday I was not really in the mood to be rushed from work to the Ark for just “one quick drink with the guys” before going to the beer festival. When we got there no one else was there, which irritated me to no end until I felt an arm around me asking if I’d like a drink. It took me about 20 seconds (followed by a lot of gasping and screaming) to realize who it was: my friend Céline, who had come all the way from France to spend the weekend with us!

Céline did one year of her masters degree at Grand Valley and during that time we became friends (and roommates for a hot second). I’ve only seen her once in the past five years since she lives in Cannes – but now I’m on her side of the world and a quick plane ride away. With Céline’s help, Steve pulled off one heck of a surprise 🙂

Since it was Céline’s first time to Glasgow (and Scotland in general), we decided to start with what we know best about this town: beer. After a few more “OMG OMG” moments, we headed to Craft Beer Rising – the largest craft beer festival in the UK and this year was the first time it has been held outside of London.  I’ll admit that Céline and I spent the majority of the time chatting, but we did spend some time at the booth of Thistly Cross Cider. Not only do they have great cider and an awesome staff, but they have connections to J.K.’s Scrumpy Hard Cider based in Flushing, MI. It was really hard to suppress my love of Michigan (especially since I was wearing one of those MI HOME shirts).

The rest of the weekend was spent showing Céline around our neighborhood, shopping, and checking a few things off of our bucket list:

Bread Meats Bread is pretty much what it sounds like: a variety of grilled, smoked and pulled meat on a delicious bun accompanied by any type of “chip” you can imagine (we opted for sweet potato and bacon with sriracha mayo). Their kitchen wasn’t much bigger than ours, but it was the first time we had to wait in line to eat anywhere in Glasgow.

Mansion House is a three-story club with seven different themed rooms ranging from karaoke, comedy, tiki lounge and

Steve’s incredible limbo skills are displayed at Mansion House

70s/80s dancing. It was pretty clear that it was the type of place that is mainly frequented by bachelorette parties, but they had some great late-90s dance music going on (Xtina’s “Dirty” anyone?) and a confetti gun. Almost made up for the fact that we saw three separate people get punched, detained and leave with blood all over them. Nothing like a little late-night excitement!

Glasgow Green is one of the city’s oldest parks and Steve and I have only ever run through it.

Glasgow Green

What’s more shocking than the fact that I was running? The sun was out all day on Sunday, which made for a beautiful morning to enjoy a latte and walk through the park!

Amore is the second Italian restaurant we’ve been to and was a perfect choice for a late lunch. Their pizza was spot-on and the entire staff spoke Italian (that’s pretty legit, right?).  Again, only a block from our house so that could be dangerous.

More than anything, it was great to have a familiar face with us in Glasgow. Thank you for coming to visit, Céline, and for reminding us that we are not alone in Europe!

City Centre Weekend

So forget what I said before about having found our “neighborhood bar” – it was too soon to tell. Living in the city centre puts us within walking distance of some of the best bars and restaurants in Glasgow and this past week we found a few more local favorites.

Citation’s classy patio

Too much Strongbow at The Libertine

First, there was the global selection at Beer Cafe, followed by the accidental Strongbow at The Libertine and a ‘Raging Bitch’ brew at Blackfriars (our second time to this traditional pub). Then during the week we had two outings with my new co-workers, one for a mojito at Metropolitan and another for wine and “fizz” on the sunny patio at Citation. Did I mention these are all within 0.1 mile of our flat?

The WEST beer garden

Our tour of breweries in Glasgow continued this weekend with a visit to the surprisingly fancy WEST brewery in Glasgow Green.  We were slightly taken aback when a waitress (who was wearing a floor-length apron and white button-down shirt) asked if we had a reservation to sit in the restaurant – not very craft beer like. So we opted to sit outside with everyone who had brought their dog. Literally EVERYONE had a dog with them – Frenchies, Maltese, Labs, Airedale, Yorkies and (much to my dismay) a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. We were a bit disappointed with the selection and variety (only four beers on tap, mostly German-style lagers) and left after one to head to Drygate.

Now this was more our style: industrial feel, sunny beer garden, awesome staff and a great selection. I almost cried when I saw Founders in their bottle shop and would be lying if I said I didn’t get a little homesick. Then the bartender asked Steve to help him with his Fantasy Football lineup* and I knew we were really going to like this place. Oh, and this is a half mile from our flat.

This post seems to indicate that we do a lot of drinking, but don’t worry (moms) we’re not that wild. With only one drink at most places, we’re usually home (and sleeping) by 10:30pm. And we do eat…

Pre-Theatre

…but eating out is expen$ive in the city. An average restaurant would probably cost roughly £16 (~ $26) per person mostly because everything is a la carte. A lot of bars will advertise “2 meals for £7.95 – every day, all day!” which is usually a set menu of generic, ok-tasting items (that are the same no matter which restaurant you go to). So we haven’t been able to get to the foodie side of Glasgow living.

But this week my co-worker told me about the amazingness that is “pre-theatre” – a set menu that most upscale restaurants offer before 6:30pm. I had seen these menus and just assumed you had to have theatre tickets (midwest upbringing), but turns out it’s just an early-bird special to get butts in seats. So Friday night we went to Qua, an Italian cafe next door to our flat. For £10.95 per person, Steve and I each enjoyed three courses: minestrone, mozzarella fritta, flatbread pizza, spaghetti con salsiccia, lemon cheesecake and hazelnut spongecake. We left stuffed and happy that the only thing more expensive than our food that night was our bottle of wine. Surely this won’t be the last of our Pre-Theatre excursions!

*Steve here* I should make it known that I gave the bartender rational, but eventually crap fantasy advice. It was RG3 v. Jacksonville or Luck v. Philly. I reasoned that his choice was not RG3 v. Luck, but to either start RG3 this week or cut him– if he can’t put up numbers v. Jacksonville, when will he? RG3 was carted off in the first half with a dislocated ankle….

I leave you with a few more photos from our ‘hood:

Pre-Theatre at Qua

West End Adventures

On Saturday we walked to Glasgow’s West End – a hip neighborhood that is home to several cafes, bars, boutiques, Botanic Gardens and the University of Glasgow campus. The West End is a bit over 3 miles from the City Centre and normal people might drive or take the bus. We chose to walk (as it wasn’t raining) and it took us about 45 minutes to reach our first destination.

Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery

Kelvingrove is one of the most visited museums in the UK (outside of London) and houses one of Europe’s great art collections. The museum was opened in 1901 and I spent just as much time oggling at its exterior architecture as I did its collections.

Reppin’ ND with Clyde

Also outside the building was Clyde – the official mascot of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The giant floral sculpture is taller than a double-decker bus and made mostly out of succulents, which I thought was neat. 

The museum has 22 themed galleries ranging from arms/armour, ancient Egypt, Scottish art and French impressionists (including one of the largest collections of 17th century Dutch art in the UK – random). The obvious crowd-pleaser is Salvador Dali’s Christ of St. John of the Cross. Overall our trip to Kelvingrove was really nice and I think we felt we took in enough culture to warrant our next stop…

BrewDog Brewery

A nod to American craft beer

BrewDog is Scotland’s token craft beer company (think Goose Island or Stone Brewing Co.) and can be found at most pubs in the city. Surprisingly, the beer market in Scotland is not great and the options are largely light lagers that make PBR seem fancy. We sampled some of their headliner beers, such as the Punk IPA, Dead Pony Pale Ale, Fake Lager, and had a few off the menu as well (Shipwrecker Circus). I also snuck in a pint of Summer Love from Victory Brewing (USA). 

The food definitely didn’t disappoint either. We stuffed our faces with burgers and chili-coated chips (aka fries) dipped in a garlic mayo. Spicy jalapeño burger for Steve, pork burger for me. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

We walked off our burgers and beers along the river and enjoyed the sunshine. A lovely day altogether in Glasgow!

 

Welcome to Glasgow: The “Beautifullest” City

I arrived in Glasgow on Friday, August 29th, with everything I own in two suitcases, a carry-on and a backpack. A lot of people asked me if I was nervous to move – I wasn’t. I am fortunate enough to have an awesome husband who took care of everything before I arrived: apartment, cell phone, bank account, etc. All I had to do was arrive, unpack my bags and try to stay awake.

Native wildlife of Glasgow (pigeons not pictured)

Here are some commonly asked questions that were quickly answered during my first weekend in the city:

What is the weather like?

Think Seattle: the temperature doesn’t get above 70 or below 20 (little snow) and it rains. A lot. Steve (and everyone else) warned me to bring everything I have that is waterproof – which is nothing. It became immediately apparent that my jean jacket, scarf and flats weren’t going to cut it. I bought a rain jacket, a down winter coat and a pair of white, leather Converse “trainers” (all the rage in Glasgow). A lot of people have also been very concerned with my hair, which I decided to chop a few days before leaving. It’s a daily struggle, but I’m slowly learning to manage the ruthless wind and rain that causes a strange “euro-fro.”

Do they speak English there?

Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can understand what they’re saying. I usually have to ask someone to repeat themselves or else I walk away without a clue. It goes both ways though. A waiter asked me to repeat myself after I ordered a water at a restaurant.

Will you eat a lot of Haggis and Blood Pudding?

Probably not. I haven’t seen either of those things advertised much either. There are a surprising number of Italian restaurants where we live – otherwise it’s mostly modern bars and bistros. On Friday night Steve took me to his favorite Mexican joint, Topolabamba. The barbacoa tacos, pork tostadas and smothered enchiladas had my mouth on fire – nothing a mango margarita couldn’t fix.

It may be too soon to tell, but I think we may have found our regular neighborhood joint on Sunday. Bar Home is two blocks from our flat and they have a two-meal-deal for 7.45 gbp (~$12). The vibe on Sundays is pretty laid back, but they feature DJs on the weekends that we’ll have to check out. And great customer service – I tweeted at them and they offered us two free cocktails on our next visit. Hooray for social media!

Does this mean you’ll start drinking scotch?

Unless we go on a special distillery tour in the highlands, I don’t think scotch will ever become my drink of choice. On Friday night I learned that the drink of choice for many is cider, which is totally acceptable to drink from a 2 Liter bottle (fine by me). We met up with Steve’s coworkers at their favorite Friday-night spot: The Ark. It’s a contemporary sports bar with an awesome beer garden and great staff. It was great to meet the people Steve spends his days with, most of whom are from Scotland (one from France, one from Manchester and one from Connecticut!). Although we left early (jet-lag), everyone sent us off with a friendly wave and a “see you next Friday!”

It’s starting to feel a bit like home after all.