Our Scotland and England Adventure: Day Seven (23 August)

We said goodbye to our gracious hosts at Penrith train station,

the comfortable two-hour trip raced by,
and we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. Animals still caught my eye, although instead of grazing fluffy sheep, it was a cast-iron peacock that hypnotised me: It didn't take long for the Art Nouveau genius of Charles Rennie Mackintosh to make an appearance, and we popped into The Willow Tea Rooms, designed by Mackintosh (right down to the cutlery and the servers' uniforms) in 1903.
The tea rooms themselves were so crowded that I couldn't even get a photo, never mind a seat! From the centre of Glasgow, we made our way east toward Glasgow's oldest house, where we came across this group of pipers and drummers practising in the parking lot:
(It was the first time I heard bagpipes in Scotland, but definitely not the last--the sound was surprisingly common!) Provand's Lordship was a church manse and is now the oldest building in Glasgow, dating back to 1471.
Before we toured the interior, we had a nice picnic lunch in the formal back garden, where we were kept entertained by bagpipes (and annoyed by especially pestering wasps, something that we soon learned was an unfortunate norm throughout Scotland--why, I don't know).
The house is dark and low-ceilinged (but stretch as I might, I still couldn't bump my head), with many interesting artifacts.


It felt strange to exit into the hot sun afterwards, but it was easy to keep the 15th-century mood going by merely crossing the street to Glasgow Cathedral.
Scotland's only mainland cathedral that predates the Reformation, parts of the cathedral date back to 1136, but most of the current building is from the 15th century. It's a magnificent place.





A group of tourists ruined the thoughtful mood somewhat, as their tour guide shouted her information about the church over the general low hum of everyone else in the cathedral, effectively turning the dramatic mood into more of a carnival, and we found ourselves exploring the opposite side of the cathedral to get away from the noise. The group more than made up for this later when they entered the main church area and spontaneously burst into beautiful song, captivating all onlookers with (what I think were) German hymns.
The lower church is also quite the sight:
When we exited the cathedral, I noticed this touching stone practically underneath my feet:
From the cathedral, we headed up to the neighbouring Necropolis, the scenic graveyard of Glasgow's wealthy. Here's Glasgow Cathedral from halfway up the Necropolis:



By the time we left the Necropolis, it was finally time to check into our hotel, so we walked across the city, back to the centre. During our walk, this strange contemporary building seemed worth a photo or two!

Our room was perfectly comfortable (thanks again, Priceline!) and we spent about an hour there, freshening up (today was the hottest day of our trip so far) and relaxing for a bit
before heading out to the Gallery of Modern Art:
Ian Hamilton Finlay and Pia Simig's The Patriot's Room contained many needlepoint axioms that idealised the French Revolution, including "Don't put all your heads in one basket,"
to which Finlay and Alexander Stoddart's Three Heads responded with the darker side of the revolution:
Overall, I enjoyed the gallery space more than the exhibits on display, but the gallery was still worth a visit.

Afterwards, we wandered through a few neighbourhoods trying to get a feel for the city, and passed by Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art, first opened in 1899 (the oldest Art Nouveau building in Britain). We planned on returning tomorrow to take a guided tour, but one night in a city isn't really enough time to fit in something with a schedule, so we never did end up seeing the interior--a shame, since the exterior was very interesting.


On our way to find a picnic spot for dinner, we passed by an abandoned building with a large, stern face gazing down at us.
West Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park turned out to be the perfect picnic spot; we joined the throngs picnicking in the twilight, and enjoyed the fantastic views

before leaving the park to explore the nearby neighbourhood, which was full of imposing buildings, including this one which was undergoing an ambitious change:
Some of the small lanes contained mews that were more our style,
and even this streetlamp had a pleasing verdant touch.
Can I just say: best alarm company logo, ever!

We spent the rest of the evening wandering in the general direction of our hotel and here's what we saw: sneakers,
tempting food,
a billboard without a message,
a man without hands,
a yelly pumpkin, eerie greenhouses,
a regal library,
and a dangerous pedestrain overpass.
The walkway starts out with a railing, which quickly disappears as the pedestrian path curls over a very busy highway. We looked for a sign that the walkway was closed or under repair, but it seemed to be open as usual. Bob asked if I wanted to walk across and I responded with a resounding, "No way!"