A bannister that woggles.

They're promoting South Lanarkshire at Glasgow station. A poster by the ticket machines tells us the place 'Has it all'.  Delightful though South Lanarkshire might be this is possibly pushing things just a wee bit too far. 'All' is carrying a lot of weight in the sentence.

After the somewhat alarming modern hotel we stayed in the last time we've gone back to our old favourite. From a distance we see that the trees at the front are still swathed in lights from Christmas.  This gives it a rather welcoming - if seasonally confused -  look.

The hotel decor remains unashamedly eclectic. Tonight, the bathroom is  hidden in a dimly lit  an atmospheric basement accessed by a flight of stairs to the left of the door. At some stage someone or something has fallen, heavily, against the staircase railings which now 'woggle'. The downstairs shower is huge and has a stainless steel tray the size of  football pitch. The architect has presumably never tried to walk on wet stainless steel. Shampoo doesn't make things any less slippery. In combination  the staircase, the loose hand rail and the stainless steel shower tray shout out 'Caution!'. On reflection so does the central bath tub. 

To our favourite restaurant for dinner. There's probably a dozen restaurants in Glasgow where we enjoy dining but this is the only one we'd go to celebrate in. That I guess is ultimate praise. They do a tasting menu but it's sensibly only five courses unlike some other places where a dozen courses are offered. Tasting menus are great for the chef who knows exactly how much food to order but can make dining more of an ordeal than pleasure.

After dinner we pop next door to the old church that's become an entertainment 'hub'. 'Hubs' are the rage these days. We discover this place is owned by the same company that owns the new 'student drop in hub' back in St Andrews. Glasgow is a student city and it seems as if half the youngsters in town are out enjoying themselves. It is  Glasgow Comedy Week and the generally well mannered crowd are living life in a way staid East coasters don't. We leave late ( for us ) although I'm guessing from the queue of twenty year olds at the door it's way early for some.

If you try a ticket to Glasgow the railway company will direct you via Edinburgh and the glory that is Falkirk Grahamstown station. A much prettier route is the track that runs along the Tay to Perth and then onto Stirling with a change in Dundee.

We just miss the connecting London bound express at Dundee due to engineering works at Dunkeld. Within five minutes another train comes rolling in. It's the Aberdeen to Penzance express. The guard tells me that it's the lengthiest journey you can make on the rail network. 13 1/2 hours from start to finish.

If you only listen to one thing today -  Norway rocks :https://youtu.be/secqKvXwuXg?t=7

An interesting ( if lengthy ) insight from a professor at Kings on the background to 9/11 :https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lnlKceN4e9kPvP_NiDk26_9CAElc-RQY/view?pli=1

It's always good to have friends. Canadian heroism. How quickly some forget :https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/exhibit/rescue-of-the-canadian-six-n-a-classic-case-of-deception/

Thoughts on smartphones:https://post.substack.com/p/dumbphones-unstacked

An Oxford take on group chat :https://x.com/ArmandDAngour/status/1904947179208290596