First impressions of Paisley, Scotland

How to begin...well, at the very beginning...

 First: This is Amber.

Amber and I have been friends since we were toddlers. I remember the day we met. She was wearing gumboots and a diaper. She figures that's how we will be when we're 80. It's partially her doing that I am here. She gave me the subtle hint that I should go traveling, by purchasing a ticket for me the minute she got wind that I had even the notion of traveling.

It actually all started with a dream I had. Often, I will experience super strong vision-like dreams. Vivid, bright, memorable... The kind I wake up from and say "Wowee what the hell was that about?" This particular dream will come back into the story later...when I get to Germany...I digress.... 

So yes, Amber bought me a ticket and got my ass moving. So I gathered all my things into storage and high tailed it over here to Scotland....Paisley, Renfrewshire to be exact. Just outside of Glasgow.

So, here I am....I have landed on the moon...which is not made of cheese, but of Haggis, and everyone talks like 'grounds keeper Willy' from the "Simpsons". So when I got off the plane, things were immediately hilarious. We took a cab back to her flat from the airport, and slept for a bit due to retarded case of jetlag.

When I woke up, I went on a picture taking frenzy of all the stuff I LIKE about Paisley...you only get a few pics...so there.     

Here is the place I am staying. It's pretty cool, and the people are swell. And every morning I get to hear the dulcet tones of children yelling expletives at each other on the way to school, and at night the operatic coherent gibberish of drunks threatening to punch each others heads in. That's entertainment...specially for a gal like me who lives in a Siddhartha bucolic place like Nelson, BC.

This is the view from the back/kitchen window. It's on to a street called "Ferguslie Walk" or as the locals call it "Figgy Walk"...apparently a good place to hang out if you like breaking into cars and  hanging out of windows yelling incoherently. I admire the pale sandstone qualities of the architecture....and the strong vocal abilities of the tenants. There's no talk of '2012 prophesies' here...I noticed. Also most people here have never heard of 'gluten'. An allergy to beer in this neighbourhood would be tantamount to a Shakespearean tragedy.

So, for the first few days I walked around snapping pictures. It's a very photogenic little town with a rich history, some of which you can read here:     http://www.paisley.org.uk/

So here is a few of the pics I snapped of my favorite areas of Paisley:       

This is a building that is down on of the main-ish streets. I like that it's red. I think it's red sandstone, so it looks quite stunning against a blue sky. A lot of these spaces are for rent as offices apartments and studios, and are close to all amenities....blah blah blah...I dig it.

Here is what a typical Paisley street looks like with shops on it. I like. Often there will be loudly dressed females with big hair teetering about on high heels around with prams (baby strollers). How they do this on cobblestone is a nationally held secret.

Here is "Hogwarts School for Young Wizards". I didn't see any students lurking about when I slunk by, but I'm sure they're in there...the dirty little buggers. 

Here is one of my favorite alleys.Super steep, and fun to walk up.  There are so many strange hidden places here. It would take a while to discover all of them...So if you get a chance to come here...walk around aimlessly as much as possible. Aim for high ground, because you get great views of the town below, from a quiet vantage point.

     

 

I noticed that this lovely maiden holds an artists pallet in her  left  hand. So I adopted her as my patron saint...I call her "Saint Awesomeness".

This was an old water mill, and next to it is a small waterfall. It was super cute, but a wee bit polluted. The swan didn't give a turd about that though...he seemed pretty chill about stuff. Also, there were people fishing for stuff there...not sure what lures they were using, but I am going to assume that old tires and shoes will be on the menu...woooooweeee.

Here's what is so nifty about Paisley. A place where super awesome buildings are totally available for renting to do weird projects. The red one to the right in the picture was totally boarded up but totally ready to rent. It was a fair size building. I looked at that one for a while, fantisizing about options.  There are so many fun buildings here. I can see why folks would want to stay. Also, I appreciate the fact that there are no hands on the clock at the top...that's my style for sure!Here's a bit of flag fer ya!

OK! So that's the first installment of photo's. Next up is...."Doing chores, and meeting the neighbours"...then after that...the "TOP SECRET" project.....oh gosh, there is so much to see here...I just couldn't show it all...

Love you peeps

~K