After busting our bums to get to the train station on time, literally running from the bus to the station and then finding the nearest railway station employee, who ran with us to our bus that was leaving in five (5!!) minutes, we caught our train and then slept like babies.
Still shaken from the close call of catching our train, we decided to take the morning slowly once we arrived in Glasgow. Our hostel, where we had booked a private room, was less than a few hundred meters from the train station, so we went there to find some information-primarily a map, and where we could keep our things until check in time. Fortunately the hostel had a really great locked room option for an extremely fair price (I think it was £0.50?), and we were able to drop everything off before we headed to the tourist information centre.
After a quick stop at Starbucks for the most reliable internet ever, we went straight to the Glasgow Cathedral. We planned on maybe an hour or two there, and ended up spending over 4 hours walking around the building and the grounds. Apparently it is one of the most complete original cathedrals in Scotland, since it was protected by the Glaswegians during the reformation that damaged many of the other Scottish Cathedrals (including St. Giles). After exploring a bit by ourselves we decided a guide would be nice, so we asked one of the many volunteers to show us around. She was a dream, a wealth of information, and thrilled to see our interest in the cathedral. Nearly 2 hours were spent with her walking us through the building, telling us all of its secrets, pointing out special components, and explaining how the cathedral would have functioned in its prime operating period. We truly enjoyed her company. I particularly enjoyed the incorporation of many Green Men into the architecture, which gives special clues as to who the construction workers were during the cathedral's earliest years. Steven loved the views from outside the cathedral which overlooked Necropolis, the huge cemetery hill behind the cathedral. We never got the chance to actually walk around the hill, but we did view it from the cathedral grounds, and the crypts were incredible-you would think royals were buried there.
A walk across the street took us to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art where the religions of the world are documented, noting each of their significant rites and passages, customs, leadership, etc. The art pieces collected by the museum included mummies, ancient stained glass, significant Victorian aged wedding gowns, Asian tribal wear, armour, prayer rugs, etc. We really enjoyed seeing how each religion marked the aging process, specifically noting when a child becomes an adult.
Across the street from the museum we visited the Provand's Lordship, which is the oldest house in Glasgow and was originally built as housing for the caretakers and religious figures associated with the cathedral. Since its construction the house has had a variety of functions; for example lodging for Mary, Queen of Scotts, when her husband was cared for in the Royal Infirmary across the road to the north, and a candy shop in the 19th or 20th century.
As we were trying to enter the house we got a little lost around the outside of the building and as a joke I said we should enter through a little door in the back. Jokingly I pushed on the old doorknob, and suddenly the door swung forward. I poked my head through to see a very surprised pair of volunteers who then welcomed us both into the house to look around. To keep the joke running, we left through the same door-which was not a common entrance or exit.
After the Provand's Lordship we decided to run to the National Piping Centre, getting lost along the way. The museum housed some of the oldest bagpipes, but was smaller than we expected, good thing the worker let us in free because we only had half an hour. Our favorite part were the stories that accompanied the bagpipes on display. Steven was keen on a story that took place during WWII at a POW camp. The imprisoned Scottish/UK soldiers convinced the German guards that they should be able to celebrate their king's birthday by playing their pipes. As the bagpipers were piping away with all of their heart they distracted the German guards while the other POWs were able to escape!
Armed with a DIY dinner from Sainsbury's (our favorite grocery store from the trip!) we headed back to the cathedral, where we tried to enjoy dinner despite the dropping temperatures as a storm rolled in. The rain picked up fast, so by the time we were done eating we were fairly drenched (keeping our food dry was a nice trick).
We were freezing cold, but our traveling hearts said to keep going so we found our way to the city center called George Square to view the memorials. The architecture of every building seemed to be something we could contemplate for hours, however the weather sent us back to our hostel fairly quickly. We did luck into finding a local tv station playing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, so we had to watch 2 episodes of that before we hit the hay! We do love our 90's television shows!
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