Na rathaidean fada, lùbach tro Chuimrigh agus Alba

Today’s trivia:

• Historians theorise that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582. This was the year that France switched from the Julian calendar to the Georgian calendar. The new year no longer began with the spring equinox on April 1, but landed after Christmas on January 1.
• April Fools’ Day really caught on during the 18th century and spread throughout the UK. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event and even had it’s own name.
• It all began with Hunt the Gowk on April 1. The term “gowk” refers to a cuckoo bird and can be used to describe a fool. Hunt the Gowk was also often shortened to “Huntegowk”.
• Following Hunt the Gowk Day, the fun continued on April 2 with Tailie Day. This involved more physical pranks such as pinning paper tails on people’s bums or “kick me” signs on their backs – possibly evolutions of the paper fish.
• Sadly both Hunt the Gowk and Tailie Day are no longer common practice and have been replaced by April Fools’ Day.😭

No different today at breakfast, something left . . .

We took a hike to Glasgow Cathedral and along the way.  . .

and we were in luck with a tour, Bobby told us as he sipped his cup of tea. Asking when the tour started and where to met, he promptly put his cuppa down and said, Now, follow me. So off we went on a personalised tour which was free and lasted about an hour or so. Excellent guiding Bobby did. But halfway through he said needed to go and take some medicine! We were concerned he wouldn’t return, but thank god, he did and we continued on our tour. Feeling guilty at end of the tour I donated £6 to the cause.

We were going to go to the Necropolis, aka the cemetery but it was raining and a pit stop was in order so . . .

we went to the St. Mungo Museum Of Religious Life & Art that was also free, with three toilets too.

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was next in the to do list. The rain started again and it was a reasonable walk, so hailed a taxis down. £9 I thought was reasonable cost to stay out of the rain and have a bit of banter with the Scottish driver I could understand.

No such luck on walk back to hotel for our daily . . .

I don’t understand! It’s a 5⭐️ hotel and they don’t replenishbthe fridge, restock coffee pods, nor empty coffee machine of used pods and don’t remove rubbish. Been like that for two mornings now.

It’s hard to know when to cross the road and were to get the cue from . . .

Dinner was at Sarti, an Italian restaurant. Everything was good. I even think they’d make a good espresso. We’ll check it out tomorrow morning after breakfast and before our 12pm checkout time!

We were at entry doorway, so boss brought heater over to keep Annette warm. Wasn’t that nice!

Back at Hotel we utilised our free drinks voucher. Can have any drinks on menu except cocktails and double shots the waiter said. So I asked, I can have a Macallan 18yr old at £26.50 but not a Golden Jalapeṅo at £16? The barman looked at me blankly and shrugged his shoulders. I had a Glenfeddick 15yr old at £9.50 because I know I like it.

Today’s travels . . .