A Day in Glasgow

We decided to head to Glasgow on a Tuesday so that there might be smaller crowds. This meant another train trip. The girls were excited. They were going to go on a bus, a train, and a subway all on the same day!!! This time, the train ride was only 45 minutes, which is much more manageable than the 3.5 hours to Inverness! We were able to get some seats around a table, and it was an enjoyable ride to Glasgow. 

Once there, we got to ride on a subway. This was the smallest subway system Cole or I have ever been on! The girls thought it was awesome and really enjoyed riding underground. On the way back, Katie did get somewhat concerned that the cars were bouncing around too much and might come apart. We assured her that the engineers had put a lot of thought into safety measures for the subway. She didn't really seem convinced, though.

After riding on the subway, we walked to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We tried to stop somewhere to get an early lunch, but most places don't open until noon. So, we ate at the museum. The walk wasn't very scenic. We did have one lovely view of a bridge, water, and a steeple in the skyline. I believe this was Glasgow Cathedral, but I'm not certain. While we stopped to take pictures, a ladybug landed on Katie's Ahsoka doll. Then, it flew up to her nose! We had to stop for a little while to let all three girls play with the ladybug. 

We finally reached the museum and ate lunch. The girls really wanted to go to the museum, because they had seen a poster of it that showed a room with animals down the hallway and cool things hanging from the ceiling. We found this room and the girls were excited to look at the things on display. Then, we found a room of ancient animals where they had some fossils. Katie thought this was pretty interesting. But, it was like herding cats watching Dani and Claire. We tried to see as much as possible, but didn't stay there long. It seems like a good place to bring kids that are 5 and older.

When we left, the girls had fun chasing pigeons in front of the museum. Then, we walked along the water to the Glasgow Science Centre. It was a bit of a walk to the science center. And, so far the day had been a bit of a letdown. But, once we went into the science center, our whole trip was suddenly worthwhile! The girls had a blast!!! They had so much fun that we stayed there until they kicked us out.

One of the first things we saw when we got to the science center were these large wooden paintings with cut-outs for the kids to put their faces in. This was obviously a huge hit!!! They loved sticking their faces in the holes.

We went up the stairs and found puzzles, magnets, mirrors, etc. They have just about anything you could want to play with, even a giant piano that you play by walking on it (as in the movie Big with Tom Hanks). A huge hit with the kids was a long pendulum that would go around magnetic plates. Dani just loved dancing and running around in front of a big mirror. (We're seriously considering how to install some big mirrors in her room!) Katie also learned how to play the Towers of Hanoi puzzle, and whizzed right through it while Cole was watching her!  (This is the first puzzle that Katie would see that afternoon, which Cole sometimes teaches in his University of Florida classes.)

They also had a large platform that spun around. Dani and Claire had the most fun on this! And, Cindy even enjoyed playing with them here. But, she did get just a wee bit dizzy!

There was a big explorer area for kids under 7 years old. It had a crane with foam blocks, a large table with cars on it, tunnels, a water table, etc. The girls loved this area. About this time, Katie and Cole went to a show and Dani and Claire stayed in this area with Cindy. After about 45 minutes, Cindy finally talked Claire into taking a nap. And, during that whole time, Dani ran around and played with all of the various projects! She was such a trouper!!!

Katie had a lot of fun during the show, which was called Bang or No Bang. Cole thought it sounded like a chemistry experiment where we'd have to guess whether or not something would explode. Turns out that it was a math class on probability. The first experiment needed five volunteers, and out of the dozens of kids that raised their hands, little Katie got chosen to go up on stage!

Katie was supposed to hold a card and not reveal it until it was time. Fittingly, she got a Queen. Later, we saw concepts of bell curves, fractions, and Cole's favorite probability puzzle, the Monte Hall game. Of course, they did create three wee explosions (bangs), just to keep everyone awake.

(If you care, the Monte Hall game is as follows. An object is hidden in one of three boxes. You choose one, say box C. The game show host reveals an empty box among the two remaining (say box B), and you get to choose whether you stay with your initial guess, or switch to the other one (box A, in this case). At this point, most people assume that you have a 50/50 shot as to whether the object is in A or C, but that is not correct. There is a 2/3 probability that it's in A, and a 1/3 probability that it's in C. If you switch, you double your odds of finding the object. Most people refuse to believe this, but it's true...in fact, the audience overwhelmingly -- and stubbornly -- decided to stick with C. The object was in A. They seemed surprised. The object was a helium-filled balloon that met a fiery end with a loud bang.)

After the show, Katie and Dani played in the 7-and-under area for another hour. They found a pretend boat with dress up clothes and puppets. Then Claire woke up. And, Dani dressed up like a shark and tried to eat Claire's fish puppet. Thankfully, this was met with much laughter from Claire! 

We explored the rest of the science center and found all sorts of other fun things that all three girls really enjoyed. Finally, as seems to be the theme of every outing.... we found a slide that they all loved!

After the science center closed, we walked through a beautiful park to get to the subway. At the entrance to the subway we met a nice lady with a dog named Duchess. The girls loved playing with the wee dog and received lots of kisses!

The subway took us to the city center. This area was so much more beautiful than the rest of the city that we had seen! It made us appreciate Glasgow a lot more. We found a really cool candy shop where the kids got to pick out all kinds of candy. This place had a statue of the Blues Brothers in the front along with an American flag. They even had Lucky Charms cereal! Then, we found a terrific Italian restaurant where the kids wolfed down their cheese pizza. 

Finally, after another train ride and a bus ride, we were back at our flat about 2 hours past the girls' bedtime. The day started a little rocky, but it ended as a wonderful day out with the kids. We were all exhausted and don't want to do this every week, but we're not as afraid of trying long day trips with the kids.