You would think airport security personnel had more consideration for passengers and less for thieves. People are advised to choose non-descript bags for their laptops. Those Targus cases are easy to spot for someone wishing to make a quick buck. While you are struggling on the phone to find a hotel room, the laptop case is gone from between the legs and the only secondary memory you have left is that of your laptop. To avoid such mishaps, I had picked up a fabric bag which looked like a very innocent backpack. In spite of all the care, the security guy made me open and bootup my laptop. If I were a thief, I would just hang around the X-ray machine and mark my targets.

The flight to London was not so great either. My airline ticket was the cheapest and they proved it. In spite of being an international carrier, they were rude, the food was mediocre and the personal video screen did not work. An 11 hour direct flight from Los Angeles without movies is boring, especially if the guy next to you has a novel and does not seem interested in chatting. We did talk though when the flight was almost landing. He was returning after a road trip in USA. Jack showed me the Wembley stadium and the Fulham FC stadium. He had spent five weeks in US driving from San Diego to Vancouver and back. We discussed a few things about the differences between the freeways in USA and the motorways in UK.

London was...what can I say? Green? It did not have the skyscrapers, the beaches or the bright lights. London seemed to be a city built with a nice layout in mind and the look of a city built a really long time ago. The houses were all laid in nice patterns with red sloping roofs. The city was very green for someone from California. Los Angeles has a few palms but a lot of smog. After I landed, I had to drive to Glasgow via Cardiff to pickup my friend. As I headed out from Hertz in a Vauxhall, driving on the M4 and M5 reminded me of all the Bond novels that I had read.

I had received several warnings about driving in Britain. "You have to get used to left side driving," "The roundabouts are always tricky," "The lanes are very narrow." True, it was different from driving in US but, it was never really a problem. Especially motorways were not difficult at all. Get onto M4 and stick to a lane. Roundabouts were a piece of cake too once I followed the advice the Hertz shuttle driver gave me. The only thing to remember was to drive anti-clockwise at the roundabouts while watching the traffic on the right. If you want to turn right, keep to the right lane and "hang right" as the Hertz guy said.

The motorways have less number of service stations than the freeways in California. They are called the "Services" and have the same hotels, Travelodge and coffee shops in all of them. One every 25 miles or so. I had to remind myself several times that the fuel gauge had the indicator in liters and each liter gives much less mileage than a gallon. Gas is exorbitantly costly in UK and is about 4 times as much as in US. "We really pay through our nose to keep the Queen rich," one Englishman I met had commented.

The drive through the Highlands was my first drive in Scotland and all the poetic expressions about Scotland came back to me. I thought it was no less than the photographs I see of Switzerland. Rolling hills with greenery and cows grazing lazily. I was surprised to note that most Scottish cows were black and white like the Gateway boxes. All the cows in the Monterey and Carmel hills in California were mostly brown. My friend Ruth had said that the north is more pleasant the south. By Scot! they were right.

Driving during the Bank Holiday (long weekend in UK) was bad though. It seemed to be the last long weekend of the summer and we got delayed with all the traffic on the roads. We reached Glasgow in Scotland after midnight with no hotel reservations for that night. We were driving around in the city looking for motels. My friend said that he would not mind just driving to a Services and sleeping in the car. My mind reeled at the idea! An 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to London and a 17 hour drive to Glasgow without sleep and then sleep in the car! We finally found a place and convinced the night clerk to give us the room for a cheaper rate relating my sob story and student status. The bed was reeeeaaally comfortable that night.

I spent the next one week in Glasgow. The technical conference was mostly during the day with a good lunch break that gave an opportunity to walk around the streets of Glasgow. University of Strathclyde, where I was putting up, was very close to the city center. I could get a good sampling of the cuisine and walk around on the streets gazing at the architecture and the people around.

Glasgow city was found on the banks of River Clyde by a Christian missionary, St. Mungo. The majestic Glasgow cathedral was just a couple of blocks from the Business School Hotel of University of Strathclyde, where I was staying. Glasgow started out as a religious city and the current Cathedral is from the 12th century. St. Mungo, who was also called as St. Kentigern, is buried in the cathedral. Soon Glasgow also became a University city with the founding of the University of Glasgow close to the Cathedral. The University of Glasgow has since moved to the west end of the city though the University of Strathclyde is just between the Cathedral and George Square. Just across the cathedral on Castle street is the oldest house in Glasgow with a small plaque proclaiming its position in the history of Glasgow.

Places of worship have been the main source of architectural and artistic expression the world over. Cathedrals in the Christian world and temples in the Hindu world have served the locations for such artistic expressions. Glasgow cathedral was no less than many of the other cathedrals that I had seen in USA and Europe, including Notre Dame in Paris. The flow of light was heavenly and the stories woven into the colored glass panels were just as intricate. One of the locals (I guessed) started talking to me as if he was talking to himself while he explained the purpose of the glass panels. He did mention some things that surprised me. Not all glass panels and the stories engraved into the outer walls on most cathedrals were expected to be understood by the common folk. The Priests wielded some power of knowledge by being the only ones to explain the significance and interpret some of the biblical motifs in churches.

Like every city, Glasgow has its own charms and idiosyncrasies. The first thing that struck me when I was moving around Scotland was Aye. The quintessential usage of the word was really funny and pleasant. I do not know if the sailors Aye was borrowed from Scottish. In those few days I was in Glasgow, I tried to perfect my Aye to match the twang and the length of the Aye. The first time I understood the cute student receptionist saying Yes in the Business School Hotel elicited a big smile from my face. There are many similar words in Glaswegian language. Smashinintit and Whitasmasher were the common words used by my fellow students from the University while staring at Scottish girls (usually accompanied by a wink or a nudge). The other words like Geesa, Nae Borra, Gerra Bus, etc. are too complicated to explain.

The city coat of arms of Glasgow is one of the other charms. It is found everywhere from note-pads to lamp-posts. I really liked the lamp-posts as opposed to the drab modern ones in Los Angeles. The lamp-posts have four different objects that are referred to as

Here is the Bird that never flew
Here is the Tree that never grew
Here is the Bell that never rang
Here is the Fish that never swam

The stories associated with each of the objects are long. All the stories trace back to legends linked to St. Mungo who founded the city. An idea of the legends (possibly true) can be gauged by the story linked with the Bell - the original bell was supposedly given to St. Mungo by the Pope.

Glasgow won the 1999 UK City of Architecture and Design. I was fortunate enough to be around in the city in the same year. The city administration was totally geared up to present it as the city of architectural designs and ideas to the world. The Glasgow city chambers look drab normally. One evening I caught the chambers in the evening Sun. The building looked magnificent with golden reflection from its walls. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was from Scotland and made significant contributions to the architecture and design world. Of course, he also invented the waterproof raincoat. There were several posters of Mackintosh and other architects hanging from the posts in George Square. In fact the school of architecture in Glasgow School of Art is named after Mackintosh. Glasgow was also the city where J.L. Baird first transmitted the television picture over long distance. The design and building in Glasgow also extends to the ship building world. Glasgow is home to the Cunard line and Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and QE2 were all built on the Clyde river docks. (Trivia: QE2 is named using letters and not the full name because the queen with the same name is alive)

King George Square is the square opposite the city chambers that serves as the center of Glasgow city. There are even web-cams that provide live views from atop one of the buildings next to George Square. Walking around a few blocks next to George Square gives a great mix of views from museums, financial buildings, churches and large number of pubs. The architecture in Glasgow varies from modern glass and steel structures to Victorian architecture. As I walked farther away from the center of the city, I even found a house that could only be termed as cute in girls terminology. The house had a painting of Adam and Eve on the round corner wall. Bright pastel colors were evident on many houses that were not from the Victorian era. Most of the older buildings and churches were not painted to improve the outer walls. They had grey streaks from the oxidation and till date I do not know why such buildings around the world are not restored.

The interiors of the buildings were as varied. The city chambers was magnificent in marble. Glasgow city is headed by a Lord Provost. All the conference attendees were given a city reception by the Lord Provost. Wine and cheese was in abundance as the techie geeks feasted their eyes on the ornate interiors of the building. Ironically, the building was designed by a London based architect, William Young. The city coat of arms is inlaid in mosaic all over the building. The walls and floors were of marble and Scottish granite. One of the students from Strathclyde explained that the building actually had strong Italian (Venetian) design elements including the front lobby and several halls and offices. Our reception was held in the Banquet Hall where supposedly Nelson Mandela also received an award in early 1990s. Modern construction is evident in other buildings around the town. Buchanan street galleries is one such complex. It is similar in concept of huge malls in United States. Buchanan Street galleries were constructed at an expense of 240 million pounds. I hung around in the mall window shopping while Brooks (British equivalent of Savon or Longs super drugstores) was developing some of my rolls.

Princes Square with its six floors of shopping galleries serves as the contrast to the city chambers. Standing on Buchanan street, only a couple of blocks from George Square, it has glass walled elevators. The center piece of the lobby of the building is Foucalts Pendulum ala Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Brig O'Doon house in Ayrshire, with its wooden beams and rustic charm was at the other end of the spectrum. The food that they served was amazing. The best part was the dessert of Guava ice-cream. The colonial version of it tasted much better than similar ice-creams I had in India. A huge wooden wheel served as the chandelier high up in the dining hall.

Daniel Defoe had supposedly described Glasgow as "the beautifullest little city in Britain." I tend to strongly second that opinion. Of course my opinion would not hold as much water as Glasgow is one of very few cities I had seen in UK. However, one thing that I found was that Scotland was full of flowers! The Botanic gardens in the west side of the city are supposed to house some of the most beautiful plants and greenhouses. Unfortunately, I could not work the gardens into my trip schedule. But, I did not miss much. The whole city was full of flowers spread from the daily refreshed vase in my room to the potted flowers in George Square. Some houses were so beautiful with small gardens and window sills with flowers that I wondered if people would actually live there and spoil the aesthetic beauty. The rugged beauty of the highland marshes and hills was captured into a capsule in the rustic houses in the corners of the city.

I sometimes marvel at the power of marketing in United States. A glaring example is the Mirror Lake in Yosemite valley. If you have ever been to Yosemite valley or checked up on it to plan a trip, you would have definitely heard of Mirror lake. The Merced river flowing through the Yosemite valley is very stationary at one point before a rock and mud dam. The location in the valley prevents winds from disturbing the surface and provides a beautiful reflection of the surrounding mountains including the half-dome. However, only when I traveled in Europe I realized how over-hyped it is. Many lakes that I came across in Europe, including several in Scotland, were mirror lakes. However, people or tourist guides never really mention that as a selling point. I have seen marketing campaigns for every local scenic viewpoint in USA. Heck, even a farm water canal is marked as a viewpoint on Interstate 5 near Kettleman junction. My description would not be complete without Eileen Donan Castle. It is not in Glasgow but is a big landmark in Scotland. For Americans and others, it is easily recognizable as the castle used in the movies Entrapment and The World Is Not Enough (the Bond movie). For South-Indian moviegoers, it should be visible in that AM Rathnam movie Priyuralu Piliche in a song sequence. Eileen Donan (Isle of Donan) castle is supposedly the most romantic castle in Scotland and also the most photographed. There were many other superlatives associated with it. But, it was a pretty small castle and not architecturally impressive. It is from a different period compared to more impressive places such as the ostentatious Versailles Palace near Paris or Daulatabad fort in India.

Bagpipers were everywhere from street corner artists to Dinner accompaniment. Some looked like students who were trying to learn the rudiments of breathing and there was an 80 year old man who could still blow the bagpipe to fill the dining hall. Cricket was one passion that I could immediately share with my new friends. I was driving by the countryside and pulled over to watch a cricket ground one evening. Dusk was approaching and the kids were shouting at the top of voices after each ball and each hit. It brought back memories of those long summer evenings back home in India when we wouldn't stop playing till we stopped seeing our own hands in the dark. Shops on the street carried cricket posters on their glass windows and my friends had lot of information to share on how the English team was going to the dogs. Soccer was an equally enthusiastic topic at dinner and lunch tables. I used to sidle over to the tables with local guys rather than guys I knew from US at lunch and dinner. Scottish girls are also very pretty with great figures. A Scottish friend of mine from US joked after a couple of beers that Scottish Bonnie lasses are genetically better endowed than skinny American beauties.

Lunch and Dinner were always elaborate fixtures. The best spectacle was with Haggis. Haggis is the national dish of Scotland. The preparation itself is elaborate and grisly for vegetarians. Leftovers from goat meat and oatmeal are the main ingredients. They are stuffed into the stomach skin of goat (cut out from the body) and cooked in the over while in the stomach. The dish is then cut up and served to everyone. Of course, no Haggis serving is complete with a long poem of Robert Burns sung before the dish is cut up. Haggis was accompanied by neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes).

The most important characteristic of Scottish people that is relevant to tourists is their hospitality. The people are genuinely friendly and warm to greet and help you. The conference had more than 100 attendees from United States and many had similar experiences when we compared notes. The hospitality does not come from being reputed to be so. I had many exchanges and friendly banter with some of the student volunteers at the conference who were ready with help, directions and advice when I wanted something. The people on the street are as friendly. Everyone on the street looked happy and smiling and no one was in a hurry like New York. Scotland, and Glasgow especially, is one of the best places to be for a relaxed holiday with great natural beauty and friendly people.