"I saw you walking with 2 older Americans, I assumed they're your parents"

Three weeks ago my parents came back from Dublin with me to spend the week in Glasgow! We explored the city and also went to Edinburgh for a day to see the sites over there. It was really great having them here and being able to show them around.



On Monday my parents came along with me to my bagpiping lesson. After that I had my sociology class, we all went to dinner and then walked around my end of the city.

On Tuesday we got up early and went to breakfast at the Hidden Lane Tearoom (one of my favorite places and now one of my dad's). We sat on the second floor so the view out the window was of the colorfully painted buildings along the hidden lane. After some amazing scones and porridge we walked through a park before I had to go to class again. Stupid classes...

On Wednesday we went to Edinburgh! First we went to the castle which is always fun because we get to learn about the history and stuff. It was here that my dad started to realize that he doesn't know that much about Scottish history. After the castle we went to lunch at The Elephant House (the birthplace of Harry Potter). I introduced them to the amazing caramel shortbread. Then we kept walking down the royal mile towards the palace. On the way we found Morrison's Close! When my mom and I went to Edinburgh the first time she was here we looked for it but didn't find it, so it was very exciting when we did this time.


I love the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It is definitely one of my favorite places to go in Edinburgh. It was a lot of fun to show my parents also, if not only because I enjoy it so much. Again, my dad realized how little he knows about the Scottish monarchy and all of that drama. After a lot of research and wikipedia, I've figured some of it out, but not completely yet. Another cool part of the Palace is that it is connected to a ruined abbey.


On Thursday I met up with my parents in the afternoon to go to the Willow Tea Rooms (a famous set of tea rooms designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh). After lunch we wandered around the city center area for a bit before I had to go to my bagpiping class. Again, stupid class....

Friday was my mom's birthday! I don't have classes on Fridays so I was able to spend the whole day with my parents and celebrate. The day started out with an assortment of Isle of Skye related gifts (magnet, calender, and magazine). After breakfast we went up to the University and looked in one of the little museums there. The museum is the collection of stuff that this guy Hunter had. He was a scientist and collected deformed animals and intestines in jars. Exactly what my mom wanted to look at on her birthday.

After that we went to this old converted church for lunch. They do a lunchtime play series called A Play, A Pie, and A Pint. We watched a little musical tribute to James Joyce, ate some pies, and drank some pints (my dad actually had beer, Mom and I had soda). After lunch we went over the Glasgow School of Art (also designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh) for a tour. It was a very cool building with a lot of neat, artistic pieces that you wouldn't always notice without a tour guide pointing them out.

For dinner we went to this nice restaurant called The Ubiquitous Chip. I had beets, my parents had haggis (Mom loves it). Towards the end of the meal we ordered some drinks and toasted to my grandfather. For those of you who don't know (which is probably most of you) my grandfather passed away while my parents and I were in Dublin. He had been sick for a while, but it is still never easy. His father was Scottish and from Glasgow, which is why I decided to come here. It was hard to lose that link, especially since I never got to talk to my grandfather about my experiences here. I know that he read this blog and loved reading about the adventures I've been having, but still... My mom got to visit him before they left for Dublin and he told her to have fun and to have a Scottish drink for him. My mom got something called Drambuie and my dad got a whisky called Laphroig. I tried them both (for Granders) and I'm sure he was laughing at the faces I made.

On Saturday we went to this huge library, the Mitchell Library, to look at their family history section. They have an entire area dedicated to tracing your Scottish heritage. We picked up a bunch of pamphlets and hopefully I'll have time to do a little snooping next week. Then we went back down to city center, picked up some things, and then came back to my room to get organized. Instead of that, my dad decided to play with my toy catapult.


I'm so glad that they came to visit. It was great to see them again and to show them around. Yay!


In memory of Donald Morrison Jr.