SECC Main Concourse on Thursday morning

Keith Stokes' Scotland Trip  Day 5 - Glasgow and first day of the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention

I spent the day, Thursday, at the convention center. Programming didn't start until midday, but there were hundreds of people milling around, planning their schedules and visiting with friends. In the afternoon, I enjoyed some authors' readings and took photos for the MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive. 

The Dealer's Room was a bit smaller than I have been seeing at US World Science Fiction Conventions (WorldCons), but still had a pretty good selection of books. Since my luggage space is very limited I wasn't going to buy anything unless I really wanted it and it was a real good buy. I even turned down the free books offered, since they didn't look that interesting.

I collect the works of Wilson Tucker in all editions, and thought I was in trouble when the first book stall that I visited had three Wilson Tucker paperbacks in editions I didn't have. I had to snap them up, since they were all in decent shape and only £1 each. Fortunately for my packing, I found no other Tucker books that I didn't already have.

Lunch and supper were at the convention center. Lunch was nothing special, but the Gallery Bistro's daily special of lamb's liver sautéed with wine sauce was very good. I lucked out there. They erased the special from the board right after I ordered it.

In the evening, Tim Miller and I went to George Square for the Secrets of the Merchant City walking tour with Journeyman Tours. It was cool and rainy and we were the only ones on the walking tour. This was the only time during the trip when it was cold enough for me to wear the heavy sweatshirt with hood.

The took about an hour and covered a few blocks to the south and east of the square. Sadly, Glasgow didn't respect its history and most buildings were replaced in the Victorian Era. I don't regret taking the tour, but it didn't measure up to ones I have been on in London.

On our way walking back, Tim suddenly shouted "Tardis!" He is a big Doctor Who fan and our stumbling across it was one of the highlights of his trip. Though he did wish it was blue.

Then back to drop things off at our room and make the round of convention parties at the nearby Hilton.

Several of the parties had good snacks and drinks, though the rooms being used were crowded and much too warm. The hotel was only willing to waive its corkage fees for the function rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors. The meeting rooms were a bit sterile and despite the larger rooms, the parties didn't seem as much fun as other WorldCons.