“Aye
she’s that lassie that loves Glasgow."
or
“Yeah, she’s that wee ginger lassie from the Gorbals.”
or
“Yeah, she’s that wee ginger lassie from the Gorbals.”
I’ve
had Italian, British, and EU passports and also have ‘residency’ In Deliceto, Nella Provincia di Foggia but I have never contemplated declining my origins. Tonight we're off to The Citizen; I've already had a look at the menu and decided on the Meat Pie. I am a plain lassie and like my pie with steak, on a plate and cod with batter but here they've attempted to fancy it all up a bit. Cumberland sausage is not my favourite but it is in my favoured dish here so I need to eat it up. My No.1 sausage used to be Italian but now I'll take what I can get. Know what I mean?
I also like white, preferably china plates, because you can see exactly what the food looks like but there's a trend now for coloured, rustic looking plates. I cannot wait for it to pass because not everything goes with blue, especially steak pie. My food arrived on a hipster, wooden board and to tell you the truth I'm bored with that also. I asked for a dinner plate and you would have though I'd shit in the lassie's handbag. Felt like I was 20, back in the Gorbals, having a face-off with a 'hairy' in the toilet.
When
I turned 18 I voted Labour because my dad told me to and the only newspapers I
was allowed to read were the Daily Record and the Evening Citizen. My dad bought the News of The World on a
Sunday but was made to read it then throw it out before we could see it. My mad Maw called it ‘The Whore’s
Gazette’. I used to fetch it out of the
bin and wondered what all the fuss was about.
My dad’s favourite 'Red Top' is still available and I think it is a
dreadfully comical ‘rag but I miss the Citizen.
I
was an avid reader and as there were no books in the house I read the
newspapers from cover to cover, adverts and all. The Citizen was founded in 1842 was a great
read. My pals used to think I was dead
clever when I was talking about current affairs although The Mary says I always
talked a ‘load of shite’ and she never really listened; just looked and me and
imagined I was a gold fish with my mouth opening and shutting at regular
speed.
In
1889 the Evening Citizen was housed in 24 St Vincent Place which was one of the
very first buildings in Glasgow to be constructed from red sandstone. At that time the paper was owned by the
Beaverbrook’s group who ceased publishing in 1974. By that time their operation had moved to
Albion Street which was later, 1980, became the home of the Evening Times andThe Herald.
These days the building, which used to be a hive of current affairs, has become a classy
dive of possible affairs. Last night, as
I looked around, I could spot a few couples rendezvousing and others who
looked as if they could murder each other.
I knew my evening would be fun because I was there with my bestie and we
always 'find the funny', no matter where we go.
All we could talk about on the way in were the toilets and they did not
disappoint.
Months
after The Trading House closed the doors have reopened and the venue has been
rebranded as The Citizen Bar and Dining Room.
As far as I could see there were no structural changes and that is how
it should be as it ia a Grade A listed building. To my delight the lavatories were practically
untouched. We have always had an
affinity for them and used to take turns of sitting in them before the food
arrived. They are up there with my
favourite WC’s in the world, along with the ones in Bryant Park in NYC.
Although
they were being renovated when I was there in April and that’s made me a wee
bit anxious for my next visit and hope they
don’t alter them too much. Toilets are
important to me because they are something that I definitely sample more than
once in any venue. I mean, I have been
to La Lanterna, one of my favourites, numerous times; I've never had
spaghetti and probably never will, but I always sample the cludgie. Very excited about La Lanterna West by the way
and I’ll update you on the lavvies there later in the week.
Back
to The Citizen; service was good, staff were pleasant, drinks were prompt and
the food was what I expected. Nothing
more, nothing less. Good Pub Grub at a
reasonable price. Will I go back? Two doors along, at Anchorline, they have my
favourite fish and chips and the staff engage in conversation. Not sure what was missing from the new venue;
maybe just a wee bit of everything. I wish them every success, oh, if they
could just not serve ‘Seabass in
Batter’ then, then like Arnold….
I’ll
be back and bring some fairy dust to sparkle round and cheer everyone up!
See
you the next time.
Me
and The Mary
Mx
I love these toilet signs and just bought one for The Mary for her Christmas because she's always complaining about the weans coming into the toilet when she's n it and there's never any paper!
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