Wilfred's Great Scottish Adventure - Part III

Hello!  It's me, Wilfred, still in the UK with my two dads -- and Grandma!

Me and GRANDMA!

This past week, I had a lot of fun with Grandma.  We went on a boat trip down the Thames, we had a day at the museums and I took Grandma all over our neighbourhood in South Kensington  -- and even discovered some new things.  Did you even know there is a building on the Kensington High Street that has a big roof garden that has baby ducks and FLAMINGOS?!  Poppy took Grandma shopping and on a bus ride to Trafalgar and Dad took Grandma to see a show in the West End.   


This is a roof top, high in the air above Kensington High Street
-- see the spire of St Mary Abbott's?



Watch out for the baby ducks, Grandma...

...and the FLAMINGOS. Can you even believe it?

 

We also discovered they turned the ruin of Holland House into an open-air theatre...for OPERA!

 

"Million Dollar Quartet" in the West End had Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.
  Grandma was still smiling the next day.

But I want to finish telling you about what I was telling you before I got distracted by the royal wedding -- my big adventure in Scotland with Grandma!  Part III is in Glasgow.

We took the ScotRail train from Inverness down the middle of Scotland.  At Stirling, we headed west and we arrived at Glasgow's Queen Street Station late in the afternoon.



Glasgow Queen Street

In Scotland, the signs are bi-lingual -- English and Gaelic

We took a taxi to our hotel, which was called the Cathedral House.  It was in the oldest part of Glasgow, next to the Cathedral.  Dad said it had lots of character... and it did.  We had to check-in in the pub and then carry our suitcases up three windy flights of stairs in a turret (I helped Grandma up the last few).  The place kind of looked like a castle and had a view of a HUGE GRAVEYARD called the NECROPOLIS.  Dad said, "Did I tell you this is supposed to be the most haunted hotel in all Scotland?"  Uh, no Dad... you didn't...

Dad, Me and Grandma at Cathedral House



View of the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis by night from Poppy and Daddy's Room



Does this hotel look haunted to you?

The next morning, after a big Scottish breakfast in the hotel breakfast room, we began by exploring the Glasgow Cathedral next door.    The Cathedral is really called the High Kirk of Glasgow and it is from the medieval time. 



It is the oldest building in the city built nearly a thousand years ago over top of a church that belonged to Glasgow's patron saint, St. Mungo.  It is the last mediveal church in Scotland and is amazing inside.  There are windows dedicated to all the different trades in Glasgow, because long ago, when there was a reformation, the Scottish ministers said, "Tear it down -- it is too fancy!"  But the tradespeople said, "No!"  It was too much work to build -- so they saved it. 


The cathedral is the last medieval cathedral left in Scotland

Tradespeople saved the cathedral. 
Poppy's granddad was a mason from Glasgow

Very creepy is the crypt in the basement.  This is where you can find St. Mungo's tomb.

In the creepy crypt with Grandma

By St. Mungo's tomb

There are a lot of odd stories about St. Mungo.  One is about a ring and a fish.  Long ago, St. Mungo's mother was a good a lady, but she married a mean second husband who wanted to shame her and throw her out.  In secret, he threw her wedding ring in the river and then told everybody she gave it to a LOVER.  She asked St.Mungo to help her.  St. Mungo prayed really hard and then he told a fisherman to catch a fish from the river, and guess what?  His mother's ring was inside the fish!  Can you even believe it?  If you don't believe me, just look at the crest of the city of Glasgow.  It has a fish on it with a ring in its mouth and it is on top of every lamp post in the cathedral district.


Glasgow lamp post -- see the fish and ring?

After looking at the cathedral, we saw a hop on hop off bus and decided to hop on and see what there was to see in Glasgow.

The Gallery of Modern Art, Merchant City, Glasgow

Poppy on the bus, outside the People's Palace, Glasgow

Central Station in Glasgow

The Clyde Auditorium...what Glaswegians call the Armadillo

The "Squinty" Bridge, over the River Clyde

Leaning tower of Glasgow

The thing about Glasgow is it feels like they are always tearing something down and putting up something new.  They have buildings of every kind you can think of.  Some are very beautiful.  Some are kind of strange.  I guess they like change. 

We ended our tour at George Square, where we had lunch.  Most of the buildings around George Square -- the part of Glasgow they call Merchant City -- were built by rich merchants in the Georgian times.  Glasgow made lots of money building ships and importing and exporting to America.  They decided to build a grand square to honour the king, but before it was finished King George III lost America and Glasgow was mad.  So they cancelled the statue of the king and put up one of Walter Scott.  Today, it has the City Chambers and statues of great Scots, but no kings or queens until Victoria finally started making them money again.  There are nice statues there and a lot of sea gulls and pigeons.  And a lot of bird poop.


Robbie Burns...pigeon blond...

Me, Dad and Grandma in front of the city chambers, George Square, Glasgow

After lunch, we wandered around and shopped and looked at Glasgow's stores along their pedestrian shopping streets of Argyle and Buchanan. 


Rocking pipe and drum buskers at Glasgow's Buchanan subway station

Grandma and Dad listen to pipes and drums on Buchanan Street 

We stopped for tea in the Willow tea room -- famous because it was designed by a Glasgow designer named Rennie Mackintosh.

Me, Grandma and Dad outside a tea room designed by famous Rennie Mackintosh

Me and Grandma have tea in Rennie Mackintosh's Willow Tea Room

 After tea, we poked around for a bit and then we took the Glasgow subway to meet up with our friend, Rebecca and her family.  Rebecca used to look after me when I was a baby (and she was a student of Poppy's), but now she is married to Aaron, who is going to school in Glasgow, and they have babies of their own -- Gil and Magda.

They call the Glasgow subway the Clockwork Orange.  It is only one line -- well circle.

It is kind of small and kind of pokey -- but it's a train!   We rode on it from Buchanan Street (downtown) four stops to Kelvinbridge (near the university).


Me and the Clockwork Orange

We walked along the river from the Kelvingrove subway station to the restaurant, past some art that had been spray painted on a wall by a graffitti artists.  Very cool.

Graffitti art in Kelvingrove

It was great to see Rebecca and Aaron.  The food was really good and so was the company.

Me and Little Gil -- cutie!

Me and Rebecca and Magda.  I like babies.

After supper we took the subway back to Buchanan Street and then walked to our hotel.  By the time Grandma and I got up that winding staircase -- we were TIRED!

The next day was our last morning in Scotland.  We decided to take a closer look at some of the sites near our hotel and took a walk through the Necropolis to look at the amazing old stones of long ago Glasgow people.   Grandma is three quarters Scottish.  Her dad's family was from the highlands, but one side of her mom's family came from around Glasgow.  They were named Wardlaw.  And one side of Poppy's family came from Glasgow.  They were named Dalziel.  We kept look out for both.


The Necropolis



A distant Wardlaw cousin...Ralph?



A long lost Dalziel uncle?



John Knox... no relation



William Miller -- author of "Wee Willie Winkie"

After, we walked back past the cathedral to the St. Mungo museum and looked at displays all about different beliefs and how we are all more the same than we are different.  And then we went across the street to an old, old place called Provand's Lordship.  It is the oldest house in Glasgow, built by the Bishop in the 1400s.  They think Mary Queen of Scots maybe stayed there when she came to Glasgow.  It and the cathedral are the only things left of the city from medieval times.  I told you, they like to tear stuff down in Glasgow.


Us at the back of Provand's Lordship

By then, it was time to head to the train station.  We picked up our suitcases from the hotel and began walking.  As we passed the old Ramshorn Parish Church, Dad noticed a plaque on the wall that made him a wee bit homesick.
  

Plaque on Ramshorn Parish Church

At last, we reached the station.  Dad bought us a big picnic lunch at a bakeshop for us to eat on the train and soon we were on board headed south.  Returning to London felt like coming home.

Us at Glasgow Central Station

Grandma is now gone home to Canada and I have my room to myself again.  We are here for a little less than two months now.  Daddy and Poppy are making their lists of all the things we must see and do.  There will be lots more adventures.  I will write you about the next one next week.  Bye for now,  Wilfie