Glasgow: first impressions

In no particular order:

Goodbye, Rose's money. Everything -  cabs, meals, services, clothing/misc goods - seems to be about 30-40% on average more expensive here than in the States. Factor that in with the travel plans I am making and 2014 is already looking to be a bleak financial year for my savings account. But the unexpected kicker atop all of this? My corporate apartment is located about half a block from the Glaswegian equivalent of the Magnificent Mile. In the span of five minutes I can walk to Topshop, LUSH, the Body Shop, and a plethora of other stores that like to party hard with my credit card. I keep glancing at prices and thinking "Oh, that's quite reasonable" before realizing it's all in pounds, not USD. Also, my UK laptop is trying to convince me to spellcheck realizing with "realising".

I am surrounded by stunning architecture. It is a wide-angle-lens-owner's wet dream. 

Wet with rain, that is. So far it has rained about 50% of the time I've been outside. The threat of precipitation seems to loom above the other 50% of the time. There were a few glorious hours of sunshine and blue sky this morning which left me jonesing for more. Overall I'm pleased with the weather here and prefer it much over to the Chiberian tundra whence I came. 

Everything is smaller. Most noticeably, the portions, and second-most-noticeably, the people. (Though I suppose it would make little sense if that didn't hold true.) The cars, the homes, the street lanes all seem a fraction of what I'm used to in the States - especially since I lived in Texas for the better part of two years, where all of the above are bigger even by US standards. 

Also, Glasgow in general feels much, much smaller than Chicago - in the span of a day and a half I think I already have formed a somewhat good idea of the city and can orient myself fairly quickly using local landmarks. The boy and I also went on a run today to explore a bit; you can see that we covered quite a bit of the city ground with 5 miles.

People are extremely kind and I keep suspecting they want money from me when they really don't. Examples include the immigrations officer at the airport, waiters & waitresses at restaurants, and random Glaswegians I ask for directions from on the street. They are all incredibly helpful and polite. Even the people who do want money from me - cab drivers, beggars - are extremely cordial. I'm feelin' the love, Glasgow!

Glaswegians aren't workout fanatics...at least not in public. On my run today I saw a grand total of 3 other runners. In Chicago that number would easily have been 30. I also don't see people wearing sneakers, yoga pants, North Face, and other athletic/lounge wear which are pretty much ubiquitous in the Midwest. People here seem to dress for appearances rather than comfort, which I can certainly get behind. The boy, on the other hand...

That's it for now. I have a few more photos to share but unfortunately the internet in my unit isn't the best for uploading. I'm hoping to get my hands on a 3G dongle to fix that issue. More soon!