Glasgow to London

I've had a bit of trouble getting my laptop connected to wifi over the past couple of days, hence the gap between posts...but trust German efficiency, I'm now on a German train heading from Brussels to Cologne and the wifi has connected AND accessed the internet straightaway!
Glasgow is a really great city to visit! Throwaway any preconceptions you might have, it is a truly interesting place and much less touristy than Edinburgh. I only wish I'd had a little more time there, and that the weather had been a bit more pleasant.
I arrived there on Friday afternoon having travelled by train from Dundee. The train was fully of happy Scots, many dressed in bad Christmas jumpers (including the conductor) and tee shirts, some already drinking at 11am. Trying to work out where the bus stop was, I had a mild panic when Google maps wouldn't respond (poor connection!) even though I had good 4G connection. Wandered around where I thought I should be for a bit and tried again and this time it worked. It made me realise how dependent I am on the phone working. After further experience it seems to be a peculiar Google Maps black hole as it happened whenever I was in the vicinity of Glasgow Queen St station.
Once I found my bus, the 77, I had no trouble getting to the Airbnb. Once again I had downloaded an app and purchased my ticket on the train. My host, Jill, is very nice, hobbling on crutches with a damaged ankle. She makes mozzarella cheese which she sells to local businesses, cafes I guess. She delivers it each day.
The room is great. At the top of the house (two flights) it is large and bright with a stunning bathroom - better than our ensuite, even when it’s finished (which I believe it is, finally!). There is a very large world map on the ceiling. 
I set off for Kelvingrove park and museum. This area of Glasgow seems more like London than Edinburgh although admittedly I didn’t spend much time in the new town. Lots of four storey terraces, like the one I’m staying in, lots of churches and other grand buildings, Kelvingrove among them. On the way there was frost still on the ground (max temp today was 3) and a frozen pond with a “danger thin ice” sign. I had a quick squizz around the gallery, mostly at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh section. From there I went on a long walk, down to the river and all the way along to the city centre. This would be fun on a bike.
Woke up Saturday morning to discover it was snowing. The snow continued for a couple of hours but then turned into rain. Once it was light the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground but there were still piles around the place, particularly on cars. I walked into the city centre to meet up with the Glasgow walking tour I'd booked which was led by Caron, a true Glaswegian, red hair and all. There were 13 in the group - three local women, three men from Edinburgh and northern England, four Germans (two couples) a couple from Russia...and me. The tour was great despite freezing weather. Today was the first time I did the two coat thang and I definitely needed it. I could also see the value in a hat today, but two hoods do the trick, particularly when it rains which it did, quite a lot.
Highlights of the tour:

• Murals, several by Glasgow-based Australian Smug. Those depicting the story of St Enoch and St Mungo were particularly good.
• The poem that all good Glaswegian children learn that tells the story behind the Glasgow coat of arms (and the tree, bird, fish and bell can all be seen on the light to the right of the cathedral in the top picture):

There's the tree that never grew, 
There's the bird that never flew, 
There's the fish that never swam, 
There's the bell that never rang.

• Glasgow cathedral and necropolis - good view of the city, although would be better on a clearer day. Lots of snow lying around
• The Barrowland Park album pathway. This path commemorates the performers and performance dates that have sold out the Barrowgate Ballroom since 1983 - a fascinating list of well-known and not so well-known (to me) names including Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, INSC, Crowded House and many many more​
• People’s palace and Wintergarden more on that later
• Statue of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art - he has a traffic cone on his head, apparently this has happened regularly since the 80’s and these days the council doesn’t bother removing it. Reminded me of the statue at the university in Coimbra with the bottle of wine in its hands

After lunch I headed back to the People's palace for a proper look at the museum. It  was very interesting - a social history of Glasgow, about day to day life over the years, exactly the kind of thing I find interesting when travelling. Amazing that the “steamies” (local community clothes washing facilities) were still in use until the 1990’s, and that even into the 80’s many homes didn’t have their own bathrooms. My accommodation was in Anderston which is where Billy Connolly was born. His banana boots were on display.
I had a number of frustrations with buses that afternoon and it took a stupidly long time to get home in the cold and dark (it was 4.45 when I started off, pitch dark already and nearly 6 when I got there, I could have walked in less time but I'd already walked nearly 15km by then) but I'll spare you the detail. Suffice to say I totally get why people don't like buses!
Yesterday (Sunday) was sunny and clear so it was a shame I had to leave already. I had time to walk to the new Charles Rennie Mackintosh statue that was only unveiled recently before making my way to Central station and the train to London. All quite uncomplicated (trains are good!). Interesting watching the world go by. The first section we must have climbed a little because there was a lot of snow about, and lots of black-faced sheep. Of course it was dark by the time I got to Euston station. I walked to my hotel and shortly after headed out for a walk, only to discover it had started pouring with rain. Exploring in the dark is one thing, exploring in the dark and rain is quite another so I opted for an early dinner and early to bed.