A church, a museum and a house

First of all, check out the update a few posts back...I added photos!

Today was a busy day of touring. Brandon got up early and went to practice at the piping centre and when he got back, and when I finally got up out of bed, we headed out into the rain. After a really good lunch at a place called Maggie May on Argyle Street, we made our way over to the Merchant City area.

We started at the Glasgow Cathedral and it’s now my favourite place in the city. I can see myself spending time there – just to be. It’s so old and so beautifully built. It’s truly gothic in the way I’ve always pictured a gothic cathedral: dark, a little damp, all arches and stone and wood. It’s decorated and there are statues and tombs, but nothing obtrusive or too in your face. It doesn’t feel like a museum, it feels like a church. I loved all the angles and the way the light came through the arches in different ways. You could stand and look at something head on and love the view, but then you could move just an inch to one side and it would be completely different and just as lovely. I can’t go on enough about it.

 

There was a spot in the bottom of the church under the main cathedral that to me was perfect. I can’t say exactly what it was about it exactly; it was just an empty spot under a point where multiple arches met. But it just felt like it was the centre of something…a place to be still and quiet and just know that you were in the presence of God. My heart was quiet here. It is a Place for me.

 

After that we went to St. Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life. It’s just in front of the cathedral and it houses artefacts and exhibits from all the major world religions. It was an interesting place for sure and I think we learned a little bit about many different things. We sat down at their café for a warm drink and called our parents for a quick visit since it was about time they were waking up back in Canada!

And finally we went to Provand’s Lordship. It’s the oldest house in Glasgow and it’s one of the only medieval buildings left in the city. It once served as a house for the clergy of the cathedral but it’s also been a place to help the sick and poor, it’s been an inn, a stopping point for royalty and much later, a candy shop. It’s restored now to show what a house would’ve looked like in the 1700’s and it’s very interesting.

Then we made our way back through the Merchant City to the hostel, stopping to window shop a little along the way. We also got some stuff for supper but neither of us felt like cooking so we bought microwavable dinners! We’ve planned out our day in Edinburgh tomorrow, or well, we plan to get on the train, go to the castle and then take a tour of the hidden vaults under the Old Town. Should be great!