Friday - the school of architecture
Ok, so it's not raining this morning. But the forecast isn't good so let's take waterproofs, just to be sure, eh!
Glasgow's a bit flatter than Edinburgh so walking is much easier. Of course, walking is a better option when it isn't raining. So we bought combined train and subway tickets, £6.60 each to travel between 100 plus stations, all day. That's less than a return from Chandlers Ford to Winchester. Brian, stop banging on about it - Southampton has the most expensive bus prices in the UK, get over it and just hope that bus passes still exist in a couple of years time when you become eligible.
On the topic of bus passes, what definition of United (as in United Kingdom) is it that means Liz's bus pass doesn't work here in Scotland?
Oh, and a funny thing happened in the way to the train station. We were about half way from the campsite when an elderly lady called out to us from her doorstep. Her voice was quite weak and with the accent we couldn't work out what she wanted but she pointed to her garden gate so we opened it and went to see how we could help. All she wanted was a firm arm to help her walk the length of her garden path and a few further yards up the road so she was ready and waiting for the Asda bus. Good deed done for the day and it's not even bob-a-job week.
I digress, stop one of today - the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. Another one of those all day places that we couldn't do justice to in half that time. Highlights were the Rennie Macintosh and Glasgow School exhibitions - some stunning works, and a personal bucket list tick for me - Dali's Christ Of St John On The Cross. That painting was the first painting that made me realise art was something more than just capturing an image. Stunning! Lots more including some interesting sections on design and how to appreciate art. Lots of famous paintings, Constable's Hampstead Heath, Lowry's VE Day (although a non-matchstickmen Lowry seascape proved what a great artist he was) and Strang's portrait of Vita Sackville West to name but a few.
We missed quite a bit of the art as we wanted to get to a second museum. But a slight delay, leaving the Kelvingrove, it was, once again, slashing it down. Fortunately there was a Brewdog bar directly across the road that made an ideal half-pint shelter before braving the slightly less rain back to the subway and on to Scotland Street School Museum. The school was designed by Mackintosh (after much arguing with the School Board to build the building he wanted - subterfuge meant he got many of the design ideas in but not the rich tiling he had planned for the interior). Still interesting architecture with stunning windows giving huge amounts of natural light. A slightly disappointing museum (not fair, it was probably good but the previous two - the Kelvingrove and National Museum had been outstanding). Still, once again we were leaving almost right on closing time.
The Good Bear Guide let us down, both pubs we looked in were just too crowded to be any good for our meal so we settled on an almost as crowded Wetherspoons. I don't think the crowding is a result of fewer pubs in Glasgow, just more clientele.
Our final port of call was the West Of Scotland Radio Club - not many members tonight but we were made most welcome and watched an interesting presentation on Chinese kits including a £20 oscilloscope I've been thinking of buying just for the fun of building it. Most interesting and some good ideas.
Oh, and it had stopped raining and was a nice, but cold evening steel back to the station.