Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter weekend in Glasgow

The boy and I went to Glasgow this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We were supposed to go to London but the bus was fully booked. So Glasgow it was. It turned out a very pleasant surprise. I always envisioned the city as grey and industrial. It was actually luminous (we were blessed with good weather, a rare occurence in those lands) thanks to the sandstoned buildings reflecting the light in the most dreamy way.
We arrived there Friday afternoon and just walked around the rather surprisingly square city until dusk.
On Saturday, we started the day with The Barras flea market. We then climbed the eerie necropolis and sat down in the quiet cathedral for a while. Next was the West where lies the Kelvingrove Park, sheltering Glasgow's university and biggest museum. We walked by the students and the numerous rhododendron bushes, falling in love with the city deeper as the sun went down.
We visited the aforementioned museum on Sunday morning and witnessed the weirdest mix of exhibitions. My brain disconnected after seeing a Dyson vaccuum next to a china bowl. Through this shambles, I did manage to discover and appreciate two Scottish artists : George Henry and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell. We also made sure to stop by the star of the museum : Christ of Saint John of the Cross (Dali). This visit also made me want to learn more about the architect-designer Rennie Mackintosh, the brain behind Glasgow's allure.
We then took the subway to the south. The trains look like the tiny seventies tube you sometimes get in London. It was kind of an adventure to be packed like sardines in the middle of a Rangers crowd (well to me anyway, I think the boyfriend was actually scared for his life).We visited the Scotland Street School Museum set in an actual school (designed by Rennie Mackintosh.) There you can find reconstructions of classrooms from the sixties, WWII and the Victorian era.
On the last day before taking the bus back, we went to the Botanic Gardens and the Glass house. We did some charity and dvd shopping as well. There was a Fopp (i thought they all closed down!) and they had a brilliant (and cheap) selection of japanese films. As for my charity finds, I got this cross-stitching book covering about 500 designs : loads of corny stuff but the section on houseplants is incredible. I can't wait to start my next stitching project. Also, I got a biography on Diana Cooper. I dont know much about her apart from her being mentioned quite a lot in Cecil Beaton's diaries. She did seem to be quite the company.



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