Recently had a couple of days on the mainland in Glasgow. Thought it would be nice to have a wee break so we decided to book a room in a hotel in the city centre for a couple of days.
Now as some of you will know my health isn't too good so we rarely go off island these days; just too much to manage but I figured we could do with a break so we went for it.
By the time we had got the bus into town, waited for the ferry and then crossed to the mainland, struggled up from the ferry terminal to the railway station to wait for the train (which was departing from the far end of the station due to station redevelopments) I was shattered!! Didn't help that there were no seats to sit on whilst we waited!!
Anyway, things went from bad to worse. The hotel room was cramped - not good for anyone with limited mobility. We couldn't change room as they were fully booked. The hotel was right beside the main railway station (Glasgow Central) and our room overlooked the main road and every time a bus went past, which approx. every 30 seconds, the whole room vibrated.
After we had checked in we went for a short walk around.
Reality check time - what did people do before I-pods and mobile phones??
So many people charging around, not looking where they are going, staring into tiny machines that seem to control their lives!
Crossing roads, walking into and out of shops, no one talking to anyone else apart from those of them who are talking so loudly into their mobile phone that everyone can hear them - apart from those who have their I-pad earphones plugged into their ears!!!!
Maybe living on this wee island for the past 13 years has meant that I've become accustomed to the slower way of life - things move very slowly here at times but it just seemed like people were charging about like the white rabbit from Alice In Wonderland - you could almost hearing them screaming "I'm late, I'm late!"
Sadly the weather turned wet and windy and the forecast for the day of our return didn't look to good and as the ferries are prone be called off at the slightest gust of wind we made the decision to come home a day early.
To be honest, I think it will be a long time before I go back there. To busy; too much traffic; too noisy and full of people rushing about who don't even have the time to say excuse me or sorry when they barge into you when they were the ones who were charging about staring at their mobile phone!!
Much prefer the slower pace of life here on the island; where you can get on the bus and the driver knows your name; you can walk around town and stop and chat to people you know and where you can go into a proper cafe and get a decent cup of real coffee.
Yes, you can keep your city life and the hustle and bustle - its the quiet life for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment