Category: Bus

A photo walk in Glasgow – 20 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

On a cold day we decided to stay in Glasgow city today.

Met Alex at the bus station as usual, and as usual, we went for a coffee to discuss exactly where we’d go. On the way down Buchanan Street we noticed water bubbling out of the subway. It flowed down the street, guided on its way by piles of sandbags that channeled it down into an open sewer near West George Street. No idea where exactly it was coming from or whether it would be on its way into the Clyde, further down the street.

Coffee in Nero and then a walk down Buchanan Street took us to ‘The Shows’ in St Enoch Square. Not much we hadn’t seen before, so after a cursory look around we continued on to the Clyde Walkway.

Again, there were graffiti artists hard at work on their murals using ladders and countless paint canisters. We watched them for a while, both of us trying different angles and viewpoints to get that elusive perfect composition. I was nearly there with a couple of shots, but nothing that would be posted to Flickr just yet.

When we walked back through St Enoch Square I found my PoD which was a bloke gazing out of a bay window with an advert for a Thai Massage parlour below him. I’m not saying it told a story, I wouldn’t dare!

Lunch was in Paesano as usual, a quiet Paesano for a change. Usually around midday it’s full to bursting, but not today. Maybe because it’s midweek or maybe folk are being more careful with their spending as we near Christmas. We both enjoyed our lunch. Alex time to pay.

Light was beginning to fade a little when we walked around George Square but we managed a few more shots before we headed up to the bus station, only to find that there were barricades preventing us from getting near the bus station. After checking with one of the many council workers milling around we found it was because a ‘suspicious package’ had been found and there would be no buses running for quite some time.

We turned tail and walked down Buchanan Street, Alex to Central Station and me to Queen Street. A phone call to Scamp got me a lift home from Croy. Thanks again, Scamp!
Alex did the same and got a lift home from his station with Carol.

Just after 10pm there was an announcement that 3 men were ‘helping police with their enquiries’ and a controlled explosion had taken place, but no dangerous materials had been found. Wild place Glasgow on a Wednesday night.

No dancing tonight as the teacher has a heavy cold and doesn’t want to pass it on to us gentle souls.

Hopefully going to the Town Centre tomorrow for some relaxing shopping.

Off to the Far East – 24 October 2024

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It was a fairly early rise for me, well, for us. I was meeting Alex at 11am in Glasgow to catch a bus to Edinburgh. £16 return to take the train and £0 to take the bus. A no brainer … or so we thought.

We did meet up in the bus station and got seats in the bus without any problem. I thought the bus would only stop at the bus station in Edinburgh, but as it turned out you could press the button to request a stop anywhere. We got off at Haymarket and walked up to Ladyfield and walked through the ‘canyon’, where Alex got his first taste of the architecture that had appeared in the last twenty odd years. We spent a fair amount of time investigation photographic opportunities.

After I managed to drag him away, we went and had coffee in the wee Nero that Scamp and I use regularly. Next was a walk up to the Grassmarket where a lot of green and white flags were waving. There was also a lot of singing and banging of drums signifying a football crowd. As it turned out, it wasn’t Celtic, but a team of football supporters from Cyprus, Omonia Nicosia who were making all the noise. A good natured crowd.

We walked up the steep West Bow and marvelled at the amount of people happy to wait in a queue on the street to gain entry to the Harry Potter Museum. We weren’t all that interested in Harry, but we took a few photos of the crowds. It was there that I got today’s PoD. I spotted two girls on a high walkway above West Bow taking photos of the crowd. That was an easy PoD.

We continued on up to the Royal Mile and St Giles which Alex wanted to see. I had never been in St Giles and it was a well lit building, but surprisingly, noting great to photograph. We left there and waked down the long Playfair steps and finally got somewhere to eat in the National Gallery of Scotland’s restaurant. Maybe I’m getting more critical of eating places, but I wasn’t that impressed with it and maybe a bit overpriced. Foodies!

We decided we’d done a fair bit of Edinburgh, so we found the bus station and got on a bus to take us to Glasgow. The journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh took about an hour. The journey back to Glasgow took just over two hours. I think there might have been problems on the motorway because the road was jammed solid with traffic just crawling. When we did eventually get to Glasgow it was another 40 minutes to get home.

In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to pay the price of the train tickets, rather than sit in a bus that was crawling along the motorway. That would have been £16 well spent.

Prompt for the day was Expedition and it turned into a childish sketch of an expedition of aliens preparing to take off to Earth from a distant planet. A poor prompt deserves a poor sketch.

We have no plans for tomorrow, other than not going to Edinburgh on the bus.

Connections Connecting – 24 April 2024

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There wasn’t much to say about today other than it all went smoothly … for once.

Breakfast in the hotel and then with our bags already packed we signed out and walked down the hill to catch a bus. And that’s where I saw The Beast. It’s a Ryker Trike with either a 600cc or 900cc engine and the meanest looking accessories you’re likely to see anywhere. I saw it first on Monday when we were climbing the hill to the hotel, but I wanted a few more shots of it today when I knew we had time in hand. Time in hand, yes. Money in hand for a 900cc trike? I think not. With prices starting at £10,000 plus delivery, it’s a bit out of my league, but it is a smart looking piece of kit. We walked on.

Found the place the Ember buses call home and waited for our bus to arrive. It didn’t take long and after the driver had done his visual check to make sure there were no fivers stuck in the seats, he allowed us on. Now we knew the routine. Scamp went first and scanned her phone then her card. I just needed to scan my card and a few minutes later we were on our way. Another comfortable journey and were dropped at Cumbersheugh bus stance where an X3 filled the space the Ember 3 had just vacated. That got us home and the sun was still shining.

Scamp walked down to the shops to get dinner which was a strange concoction of Hasselback Potatoes with rosemary, Masala spiced chicken breast and Peas, Courgettes and Leeks. All cooked in the oven except the greens which were done in the microwave. I don’t think I liked the veg, but I can’t say why. Scamp said it was ‘alright’ but her chicken was tough. Maybe we’ll get back to auld claes and purrich tomorrow and we’ll feel better for it.

We did go dancing tonight in Kirsty’s class, but it was all a bit of a shambles. Too many folk who hadn’t practised since last week’s class (and I include myself in that group), trying to dance on a floor that was far too small. It was a disaster waiting to happen that turned, instead, into a shambles. I must try to put this Tango together before next week and that will mean practising.

PoD was The Beast. Just a dream for me, but for some lucky individual, a bike to turn heads!

That was it for the end of the belated birthday present. A really good three days away in a place we haven’t been to in a long while.

Tomorrow I’m out in the morning to go to Larky to get my eyes tested.

Happy Birthday to Me! – 8 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Another year older and deeper in debt.

Well, another year older at least. Not a bad day, though. Sunshine in the morning shading to clouds later and finally rain at night. Still, let’s start with the first word, Sunshine … for a while.

We took the X3 in to Glasgow and although I didn’t think it possible, it took even longer to travel the route. Due to some roadworks the bus was forced to perform an almost complete circuit of Moodiesburn, then manoeuvre itself around a country road between Moodiesburn and Muirhead before taking another detour through the delights of the Muirhead housing estates and finally returning to the normal route. For once I felt sorry for bus drivers.

In Glasgow we walked down West Nile Street and out on to Buchanan Street, then into the Apple shop where I wanted to look at the new iMacs, because this seven year old iMac I’m typing on is running on borrowed time now, I think. That doesn’t mean I’m expecting it to croak any time soon, but I’m just thinking ahead. It no longer runs on its internal hard drive, but does all its work on a couple of SSDs and I knew they won’t last forever. We had a look at the specifications of the shiny new plastic things and they look possible, but looking deeper told a different tale, like the additional price for greater storage and the exorbitant price for more memory. I put them on the back burner for now … and turned the burner off!

We went for lunch at Wagamama and had a feast!
Starters to share were: Pork + Panko apple Bau Buns, Bang Bang Cauliflower and Ebi Katsu Butterflied Prawns.
Mains were Shirodashi Pork Belly Ramen for me and Prawn Raisukaree for Scamp. All were scoffed in double quick time and were as delicious as usual.

We walked down Buchanan Street listened to a bloke playing Despacito on one of those strange violins with a metal cone that gave the music a strange old fashioned sound. We walked on to Argyll Street and heard a man and a boy playing The Sound of Silence on real violins. I don’t approve of kids busking in the street. Let them be kids for a while. They will grow up soon enough and won’t have happy memories of their earlier life when they grow older. We walked along to M&S, but couldn’t see anything interesting to buy so we wandered back to Nero entertained by The Sound of Silence. In Nero I grabbed a shot of a Chihuahua sitting on a seat in front of us. It became PoD.
When we left Nero, about 20 minutes later The Sound of Silence was just finishing again. We guessed at that point that it was the only tune the two could play. Further up Buchanan Street, the man with the trumpet violin was starting what must be his umpteenth Despacito. So that’s what they do. They only play one tune. People are not stopping to listen, they just walk on and throw a coin in the hat. By the time the audience has passed on, the fiddler can start the same tune again to a new stream of people, and so it goes on all day. One tune, one backing track and some money made.

First Bus tried to completely spoil our day when we got to the bus station. When we got there, the bus and a fair crowd of folk were waiting for us. But then a driver got in and drove the bus away and parked it. 20 minutes until the next one. No explanation. And the bus companies wonder why folk aren’t using public transport.

Instead we got a bus from the other side of the bus station that took us up to Cumbersheugh, almost non-stop. Got off and went through the underpass and got the grumpiest driver I’ve ever had who took us past our stop and dumped us at the shops. Walked back and moaned about the state of the bus companies until we realised nobody was listening.

A large glass of wine later and we were both a lot happier and planning our next outing together.

Spoke to Jamie later and we had a laugh about birthdays.

That’s enough for now. “I’m tired and I want to go to bed” as a very old song goes.

No plans for tomorrow when it will be some other lucky person’s birthday.

Flying Home – 11 March 2024

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It always comes to this.

Today we had breakfast and then it was time to drag those cases out, but not before we had a last wee dose of Vitamin D. Then we lugged the cases over to the pickup stall in the hotel where a lovely lady from Jet2 checked them and checked that we were who we said we were and with the minimum of fuss the cases were gone to be loaded on to the plane at the airport. The next time we’d see them would be in a cool Glasgow. Would that all companies were as helpful as this.

About fifteen minutes later our coach arrived at the door and we were taken on a mystery tour around, what seemed to be, all the hotels in Caleta de Fuste. From there, through the roadworks, to the airport where we could legally bypass check-in and advance to Security where I did remember to remove my belt before passing through the terrifying scanning archway with no alarms sounding. Scamp had to be scanned twice. Each time she triggered the flashing lights and the beeps. When she set off the alarms the second time, the security man shrugged his shoulders and waved her through!

From there it was an easy walk to the gate and we boarded ahead of time. Four hours later we arrived to a rather cool Glasgow. The flight was only slightly longer than the wait for the baggage carousel to fire up, but for once our cases were in the first lot to arrive.

Drove home after making a wrong turn exiting the airport and arrived home safely, crossing the Kingston Bridge without stopping. A most unusual occurrence. Back home just about 8pm.

PoD was the standard view from an aircraft window looking down on Puerto del Carmen on Lanzarote.

An early bed tonight and tomorrow will be unpacking day.

In the big city – 7 March 2024

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We got the ‘Cooncil’ bus to the big city of Puerto del Rosario.

A slow trudge through roadworks, then an unnecessary detour through a satellite town on the outskirts of Caleta where nobody got off the bus and worse still, nobody got on, but the driver was doing his job and covering the bases. Then out to the airport where one person got on and a host of hopefuls asked if this was the bus to Caleta and were told in no uncertain terms that this was the bus to Puerto del Rosario and the next bus, also a Number 3 would be going to Caleta. I don’t think he was believed, but it turned out to be the truth.

We stopped at the big central shopping centre and walked down a hill hoping to find something interesting. We found the church with the bar in the grounds, but although the church was open, the bar was securely shut. We found a three storey building whose gable being treated to a black and white mural of someone. Then we found a street cafe we’d been to the last time we were in Rosario.

There was a street market in the pedestrian area, mainly because two cruise ships were in the port. A fairly large P&O Azura and the enormous Aida Cosma. Not for the first time I marvelled at just how big these ships are. We walked down to the port and took some photos of them because that’s going to be the nearest we’ll get to a cruise this year, then went on an expedition looking for a fountain with models of dolphins round it, a line of hand painted benches and a big white Puerto del Rosario sculpture we’d photographed ourselves at. Despite our best efforts, we found none of the above, but went back up the hill to the cafe and had lunch. Scamp had Spanish Tortilla and I has Serrano Ham and Tomato in a baguette, both walked down with a beer.

We walked down through the street market and the further I went the more sure I was that we were on the track of the tree missing items. Sure enough at the bottom of the hill we found the big white 3D sign and the painted seats, but alas, no dolphin fountain. Maybe the next time we come this way DV.

After a seat in one of the painted benches we walked back towards the town and found another missing item, not dolphins, but a massive mural of Time Square NYC. Now looking a bit worse for wear, by still impressive. We went in to the big multi-level shopping centre looking for somewhere that sold power adapters. We found one, exactly like the item Scamp was looking for. Bought it and headed for the bus stop. Just got to the stop and the No 3 arrived, our bus to Caleta. No available seats. The bus drove away. Next one was about 10 mins later and it was a rammy! Folk shoving other folk out of the way and an opportunity for us to sharpen our elbows for a change.

A long journey through more traffic works and we got dropped outside the Atlantico Centre where we bought some stuff and went from there to the hotel

We had a Gala Dinner to look forward to except:

  1. Service was slow and without a smile
  2. Some of the starters were baked on to the plate because they were under heat lamps. Fillings were tepid inside.
  3. My entrecôte was as chewy as my walking boots and my roast potatoes were actually baked potatoes.
  4. Best of all, Scamp’s Mango Sorbet was actually a Blackcurrant Smoothie.

Gala Dinner showing off what the hotel can offer? I think not.

We did get to dance salsa again to Tina on the sax. Great fun for us and we got two rounds of applause!

Long day, some disappointments and some highlights. That’s what it’s all about.

PoD was a beautiful sunset over the hills.

As usual, no plans for tomorrow.

A Day in the Toon – 30 January 2024

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Our ‘unofficial’ anniversary.

As planned it was going to be a wander round town and then lunch in Wagamama in West George Street. Before that there were prezzies and a card to give out, but I’d been wearing my prezzy for about a week already, a pair of photographer’s gloves with the tip of the index finger and thumb able to fold back to allow a better grip when focusing and also to ensure that the ‘shutter finger’ actually pressed the shutter! Scamp’s was jewellery, because I know she loves shiny things. She had to wait until today to get her’s!

We got the bus in to Glasgow and just wandered. Mostly window shopping although Scamp did manage to pick up a new dress for a bargain price. I got a paint brush, but not for painting. It’s going to be a sensor cleaner that can be charged up with an air blower and will pick up the tiny little bits of fluff that get caught in the corners of the sensor. It’s much smaller than my big sensor cleaner and will be perfect for what I’m looking for.

As usual, we started out in a Nero with a coffee, then down Buchanan Street along to Cass Art to get the brush then along to Jamaica Street which led us down to the Clyde. Next stop was on the Clyde Walkway for me to photograph the new graffiti that had appeared. This isn’t gang tags although there are some, this is artistic painting on a grand scale. A 10 foot high wall is covered with artwork. Always worth a look. We walked back towards St Enoch because Scamp thought she’d get a holiday bag there. She didn’t. What she did find was a dress shop called Klass which had been recommended by one of the Tea Dance ladies. That’s where the dress came from. We walked back on to Argyle Street and listened to a Rock ’n’ Roll trio called, ‘The Best Bad Influence’, playing in the street. They were good and Scamp put some money in their box.

I was heading for Waterstones to see what books were new. On the way I took some photos of reflections in a big puddle and the best one got PoD. A little bit of jiggery pokery needed, but it looked good when it was finished. From there it was up to West George Street for lunch in Wagamama. Starters were Bang Bang Cauliflower (lovely, but spicy!) and Ebi Katsu (Butterflied prawns coated in panko breadcrumbs and deep fried – delicious). Mains were Prawn Raisukaree (mild curry with prawns and veg with rice) for Scamp and Chicken and Prawn Yaki Soba (noodles with chicken, prawn, egg and peppers) for me. All washed down with a glass of wine each.

We walked up to The Counting House a Wetherspoons pub on George Square. G&T for two, then the X37 back to Condorrat and walked home.

Really a quite excellent day. The rain stayed off and the sun shone. Who could ask for more?

Tomorrow looks windy and wet. No plans for it so far.

A quick visit to Glasgow – 25 November 2023

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It was just as cold as predicted with a temperature of minus 3ºc when we woke.

We were a bit late in waking this morning after a late night last night. Rather than sit about and have cup of coffee first, before driving in to Glasgow about mid afternoon, we decided to take the bull by the horns and just go out and get the X3. At least the bus was warm.

As usual, the bus crawled through Moodiesburn and Muirhead before entering the motorway and driving at a heady 50mph into town. We did some shopping in Buchanan Galleries and then had a coffee in a new Nero, Alex and I had spotted on Wednesday. Then we went to see if the Christmas Fair was open in George Square. It wasn’t, so we swithered about going back home on the train and getting a bus from there to take us home, or to get the tried and tested, but slow X3 back. The bus won. Cheaper and less hassle.

I’d grabbed a few shots in Glasgow of the mob of shoppers in Buchanan Street, and one of the Palestine Liberation Front, or the People’s Front of Judea or whatever they were, chanting around Donald Dewer’s statue outside the Royal Concert Hall. I wondered what my namesake would have made of the rabble. However, I thought there might still be a chance to add more photos to my SD card in St Mo and so it was that PoD went to frosted mare’s tail water weed in an icy St Mo’s pond. I didn’t risk my new lens by resting the camera on the ice. Maybe tomorrow if the ice is thicker … only maybe!

Dinner tonight was paella. A house speciality as neither of us wanted to venture out into the cold to collect a take-away. Scamp had made some syllabub for yesterday’s dinner party and we had a glass each tonight as a dessert. Lovely stuff!

The cold snap is set to continue for a few days according to the weather fairies. Some photo opportunities there perhaps.

Out on the town – 11 September 2023

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We were going in to Glasgow today for lunch.

Scamp had given me an Itison voucher a week or so ago, and today we were using it to have lunch in Cafe Andaluz in St Vincent Place. There was no way I was driving in today, and we weren’t taking the X3 either. Instead we got the number 435 Canavan’s bus from outside St Mo’s school to Croy station, then caught the train in to Glasgow. Scamp wanted to get vacuum seal bags from a shop in the town and I wanted to get new pens to encourage me to prepare for Inktober. We ended up getting a few more things, but we did get the bags. Then we walked down to Argyle Street to get the morning coffee in Nero. While we were in there I saw a print on the wall of a mechanical technical drawing, a stepped section, it’s called too awkward to explain and of little interest except to me who had to teach folk how to draw it, but more important, how to visualise it. High flown stuff for a Monday morning.

We wandered round M&S with Scamp trying to encourage me to get a new jersey, but nothing took my fancy. Walked up Queen Street and, while Scamp went looking for shower gel and fancy chocolates, I bought a couple of Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens and a book about sketching architecture from Cass Art. Then we met up again in Buchanan Street and wandered around Buchanan Galleries until it was time to go the Cafe Andaluz.

We had a glass of Sangria each as a starter. The food was lovely 5 tapas dishes to share, I think my favourite was the prawns that Scamp ordered, my next best favourite was Albondigas, which is spiced pork & beef meatballs in a tomato sauce. Unfortunately the Spanish black pudding with apple chutney we were both going to have was finished. However we did enjoy the meal and then Scamp noticed two mojitos going out to a table and decided she’d have one. I asked if they could make a barraquito and the girl taking the order just said “Yes!” Would it be the same as I’d had in Tenerife, I asked myself as I waited. It certainly was, in fact it was in a bigger glass and tasted even better. It’s an alcoholic drink made with layers of Condensed Milk, Licor 43, Espresso and Foamed Milk with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. It honestly seems a shame to stir it up and drink it. Scamp’s Mojito seemed a bit of a disappointment, being not as alcoholic as some she’s had.

We walked back to the station and realised we’d just missed the train home, but Scamp sat and waited while I went out to take some photos. As I was walking out of the station a woman stopped to ask me what the building was in the square and I explained it was Glasgow City Chambers and told her my brother says it’s beautiful inside and if she gets a chance to visit it, she should. She and her friend were going on a Hop On – Hop Off bus the next day and she said she’d ask the driver. That was my good deed for the day. PoD turned out to be a photo of the inside of the busy station which might have taken a long to build, but is so much lighter and airier than its predecessor.

We got the fast train to Croy, walked across the road and got the bus back to St Mo’s school then walked the rest of the way. 10,171 steps so far today and counting. For some reason, typing doesn’t generate steps. The old Fitbit did record key presses as steps!  We did record some steps in the evening with a practise session of the new Wednesday night waltz. Mystifying and confusing steps for me. Apparently devised by an Australian, which might explain everything.

That was a quite excellent day in Glasgow. It did rain today, but not very heavy rain and thankfully it waited until we were in the restaurant.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but apparently hoovering may be on the cards.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes – 12 August 2023

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And a Paesano pizza!

We took the bus in to Glasgow today to watch the second last road race in the cycling world championships. Today it was the turn of the Men’s under 23 group. Weather was mixed. The first place we tried was under the Buchanan Galleries bridge where riders were coming from the light into the dark. It wasn’t ideal, but it gave me some shelter to get my settings the way I wanted them. The Sony kit lens was acting up again, just refusing to focus. The only way I’ve found to fix the problem is to focus manually and sometimes that kicks some sense into the lens and it begins to work properly, but not today. Far too many opportunities lost to a lens that I just don’t trust any more.

We had just left the shelter of the bridge when the rain started. It just got heavier and heavier and luckily I found a tree on Nelson Mandela Place to shelter under. Scamp had been browsing in a shop and appeared round a corner holding an umbrella. I wished I’d brought one to shelter me from the rain that was coming straight down!

After the rain stopped, we crossed the road to the other side of NM Place and I found a spot I’d been taking photos from last Sunday. I grabbed a few there of small groups of riders splashing through the puddles caused by the rain. Got fed up with that and walked on to where Renfield Street met St Vincent Street and caught a nice tight group rounding the bend and that made PoD.

We were actually inside the circuit now with cyclists riding clockwise around where we were standing. This gave us the opportunity to see groups heading out to the West End and others on their way back into the city centre. It was at that point we saw one heart stopping moment when a dozy marshall allows a man and his son to cross the road in front of two cyclist rounding the corner. The chief marshall in charge of the gave the bloke such a bollocking I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel! Luckily both father and son survived to tell the tale, but I don’t know if the marshall will will be working the ladies race tomorrow!

The other interesting place we saw was the feeding station with helpers holding out bottles and food sachets for the riders. One man walking down the street with his wife seemed to want one of the water bottles as a souvenir. I heard his wife say “Just do what you must do” as he bent to grab a used bottle. I think the hidden message was “I’m not with him!”

Not long after that the feeding station was being closed down, so that must have been the last lap. We walked back down to the centre of the town and saw the leading group heading to the finishing line, but it wasn’t until later we heard it was a French rider who had won.

We went for a late lunch in Paesano. A number 1 (tomato sauce, no garlic and no cheese) for Scamp and a number 3 (anchovies, garlic, olives and basil) for me. A Prosecco for Scamp and, since I wasn’t driving, a half pint of beer for me.

Got the bus home and were able to watch the rain clouds breaking over the Campsie Fells. That was a busy and interesting day.

It’s the Women’s road race tomorrow. Weather looks worse than today. I may go in to see it, but I think we’re both almost ‘Raced Out’ by now.