Based on Annie Lennox songs, it wasn’t so much “September in the rain”, more like “Here comes the rain again”!
I took the bus in to Glasgow this morning to meet Alex and to get some shots of the lights in George Square and maybe St Enoch’s Square. I did think of driving in, but Scamp might need the car and besides, I’d still got half of Kevin Bridges monologue to listen to, so I would be entertained on the way.
We met at Buchanan bus station and walked down to our usual starting point at Cafe Nero near the Royal Concert Hall. A cup of coffee each and we planned our day. It was all all covered by the square mile of Glasgow city centre. We’d been here before and there was no point in heading out of town on such a dull, wet day. Best to stay central and be able to nip into a shop if it got too wet.
First stop was Princes Square just in time to shelter us from the first deluge. A few shots of the escalators, still done up in their Christmas regalia and a walk round the painting gallery and by the time we walked out the rain was gone and the sky was back to grey again. I had thought of sheltering in the Apple shop which would have been nearer, but I could just hear Alex’s cries of “How much?!”
St Enoch’s was a bit of a let down. Not enough stalls, not enough fairground rides and because of that, not enough folk to become models for us. It was time for lunch and as usual that would be in Paesano.
Paesano, is the pizza shop for folk who like pizza. It was rammed, as I knew it would be, but there is almost always a table for two. For four or six or eight, you’ll have to wait, but two can usually be squeezed in. Alex is settling in to the rhythm of the place and has his two favourites. Either a number 3 (with anchovies, olives and capers) or a number 5 (cooked ham and mushrooms) both with tomato sugo but no cheese. I’d also go with a number 3 or a number 5 (but with sugo and cheese), but I’d add a number 7 (with Fennel sausage). In reality I’d have any of them, bur realistically, not all at the same time! When we left, the queue was out the door and along the street. We must have just hit the sweet spot!
George Square as getting busy when we walked up to it and we did get a few shots. Mostly we both seemed to be concentrating on the roundabout with the traditionally painted horses on spiral poles and the stalls selling vastly overpriced sparkly fairies for hanging on the tree. No use to Alex as his tree had come down yesterday to prevent his grandson, Olly, from doing any more damage to it. I did find more interesting material in the Chair-O-Planes, especially the close-ups of the uncomfortable looking shiny chrome seats reflecting the coloured lights.
By late afternoon, the light was failing and for a ‘golden hour’ there was enough light to shoot by, but not enough to dilute the colours. After that hour, it became too dark and we resorted to taking photos of the reflections of the decorations in the puddles of rain water outside the fenced off square. My PoD was one of those reflections. It looked good on the big 21” screen, but on the laptop it looked a bit dull and disappointing. It still held its place of PoD.
We walked back to the bus station and said our goodbyes, agreeing to meet again next year. Which hopefully will be in two weeks or so!Another hour of Mr Bridges life story carried me home, again in the rain.
I didn’t really need any dinner, but Scamp’s “Just Soup” was too much to resist. We watched the first semi-final of Celebrity University Challenge later in the evening while Scamp watched Antique’s Roadshow while processed some of the 200 odd photos I’d take today.
Tomorrow looks like a bright sunny day for a change. A glimmer of light in the darkness. Let’s hope it works out that way.