Rhonda Bracey: At Random

Today was our first full day in Glasgow. It started with a morning bus tour around some of the sights, including the esteemed Glasgow University, led by the very knowledge and lovely Stephen.

Glasgow University

Then we had a tour of the Willow Tea Rooms (designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh) and finally, lunch there in the upper salon, a very special room that used to be the ladies part of the tea rooms.

One thing that became very obvious to me was that while Rennie Mackintosh is known around the world for his architecture and Arts and Crafts furniture and design in the early 1900s, the 2 main women in his life — Margaret McDonald, his wife and a fellow artist, and Catherine Cranston, the owner of the chain of tea rooms and his boss — were not. And yet they were as important as him, if not more so. Cranston seemed a formidable but very fair woman, making sure she gave her employees every opportunity to learn and to progress themselves. And she had quite clear notions about how she wanted her tea rooms designed, even when that conflicted with Mackintosh’s artistic aesthetic.

My lunch consisted of a haggis parcel, baked wild Scottish salmon, and a sticky toffee pudding. All courses were delicious, but the haggis stood out. I’ve never eaten it before but if this was representative, then count me in! Inside the filo (?) pastry parcel was like a shepherd’s pie, with spicy/peppery haggis on the bottom and mashed potato on top. It was surrounded by the richest, thickest and most delicious gravy/sauce, which the server said later was whiskey based, though I couldn’t taste whiskey in it at all.

Tonight was something completely different… Yep, we’re going to play Bingo at a big bingo hall!

We took the #2 bus there and the subway back. I came close (one away) from a full house and 100 pounds, but one of our group got 100 pounds on her first game (it was 200 but someone else also got it, so it was split)! No-one else won anything. But we had a bit of fun. I thought it would be much more full with people and engaging — the one time I previously went to bingo (in the US), it was packed. The regulars had their spots and their little good luck charms spread out around them, different coloured dabbers, snacks etc. And based on our tour leaders’ experience this time last year, they were expecting that too. But this was a bit sad. Our group was put upstairs, which was a good idea, but when I looked down about halfway through the evening’s games, the main hall was basically empty. Still, we now have our dabbers and membership card if we do this again in Inverness.

Just one away from a full house (bottom game)

Almost empty bingo hall