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Anabel 1996

Let’s deconstruct the name Glasgow Gallivanter back to front!

Gallivant: to go around from one place to another in the pursuit of pleasure or entertainment. I think I can tick those boxes! I love wandering both in my home country, Scotland, and (less frequently these days) abroad. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I was little, I always said “an author”. I filled notebooks with stories and poems which I was sometimes asked to read to the class in primary school. Writing essays in secondary school and university seemed to knock that creativity out of me and I modified my bookish ambitions to becoming a librarian (sorry to say, I was under the impression I could read all day). Now, in the wonderful era of the world-wide web, anyone can be an author and here I am writing again in my retirement. I want to create a record, current and retrospective, of my gallivanting before I get too old and forget it all! If other people enjoy reading my posts then that’s a bonus.

Anabel 2015 – spot the difference!

Glasgow: Scotland’s largest city. I’m not a native Glaswegian, but I’ve been here since 1986 and can’t imagine living anywhere else now – it’s a great city with lots going on. Edinburgh might have the biggest festival but, in normal times, we seem to have one every month or so, my favourites being Celtic Connections (music) and Aye, write! (books). Eating out is excellent, especially if you like curries as I do (although I admit my first Glasgow curry brought tears to my eyes and I couldn’t speak for some time). Another feature of Glasgow is that it’s a very green place with a high number of parks which we enjoy visiting, and we’re also really well placed for getting into the hills, both up to the Highlands and down to the English Lake District.

And who is “we”? My companion is nearly always John, my husband of over 40 years. When we gallivant together, I do most of the planning before we go, but he’s much more practical once we get there, finding his way around with ease while I trail in his wake without a clue how to get to where I want to be (no sense of direction). He also takes most of the photographs for the blog – and all of the ones that are any good. We make a great team. So please – come along and join us on our journey and, if you want to get in touch without going through the comments, use the form below.

84 Comments »

  2. Hello Anabel, It’s wonderful to finally meet you. I’ve read your lovely comments on several blogs I follow, and realized we actually have quite a bit in common – in a six-degrees-of-separation sort of way. My husband, James and I come from a small town named Glasgow in Kentucky USA. We must have had similar inspiration on the titles of our blogs. And we were just in your Glasgow last autumn – falling head-over-heels in love with it. Although we’d lived in London 30 years ago, we never made it to Glasgow. Our loss for sure. I’m looking forward to perusing your beautiful blog. All the best, Terri

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  4. Pingback: A walk up Seat Sandal | Down by the Dougie

  5. Hi Annabel,
    Nice to meet you here.
    Gallivanting was a word my late irish mother (Donegal/Fermanagh border) often used in reference to me. I think I could write a chapter on that topic Anabel.
    I look forward to reading more of your posts.
    Please accept my apologies for my ‘all over the place’ blog. I lost my About section and it reappeared in the middle of my blog. Gallivanting again I suppose you could say. 🙂

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  6. (I came here from Yeah Another Blogger.) You have a nice-looking blog. I’m American, but our daughter and son-in-law moved to Milngavie last year. I’ll be visiting in a few weeks, for the first time. I plan to backpack part of the West Highland Way. Any tips on good pubs in Glasgow, maybe with live music? Also, how should I dress when I walk the trail? Thanks!

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    • Fabulous! I hope they are enjoying life in Milngavie. We live in the West End of Glasgow and so usually go to the pubs there (Byres Road). We like Oran Mor, the Curlers and the Ubiquitous Chip – all do bar food and the Chip and Oran Mor also have very good restaurants. Oran Mor does live music, but ticketed gigs in the venue downstairs. City centre pubs tend to be very busy! If you like whisky, the Pot Still on Hope Street has an amazing selection. Other traditional pubs are Sloans, the Horse Shoe and the Scotia Bar. The last named sometimes has music (free) and 13th Note on King Street is another pub / music venue. It serves veggie food. The Clutha Bar has live music – not ticketed – check the Facebook page for details (https://www.facebook.com/Cluthabar/), it also does bar food including pizza. (NB be aware of sensitivities at the Clutha – a helicopter crashed on the roof a few years ago with multiple fatalities.) These are all places I have been and can vouch for – there are many more!

      What to wear hiking, hmmm. People joke that in Scotland you can have all four seasons in one day. Except it’s not actually a joke. My best advice is to wear lots of layers that you can take off and on regularly, including a good waterproof layer. Even in a dry spell, parts of the path will be wet and boggy so have sturdy footwear. Finally, an essential is to have copious supplies of bug spray because peak midge season is coming up, though I’m not sure anything is 100% effective against them. The fashion used to be Avon’s Skin So Soft, the smell of which they apparently hate – I didn’t find that worked for me. Better is the latest go-to product, Smidge (https://www.smidgeup.com/). You can buy both in outdoor shops such as Tiso on Buchanan Street.

      Hope this helps and you have a wonderful time in Scotland!

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  8. Unfortunately, I have never visited Glasgow. A number of years back, while studying in Liverpool for one semester, I made a journey to Edinburg, which I loved. But if I ever return to Scotland, your home town is definitely on my list of must-see destinations.

    Meanwhile, I look forward to learning more about it from your blog.

    Greetings,
    Tanja

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  9. Ooooh – Glasgow! I imagine then that you are close to the Great Highland Trail and are probably well acquainted with it. It is on my bucket list and have had to postpone a trip there twice.

    Glad to ‘meet’ another adventurous wandering spirit 🙂

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