This past weekend was the spring Bank Holiday here in the UK so it was a three day weekend. One of the study abroad professors, Dr. H, and a group of ten US students traveled up to Glasgow, Scotland for the weekend to see the sights and experiences a city new to all of us! We left bright and early Saturday morning for a three and a half hour train ride through senic England and Scotland.
On Saturday, we visited the Cathedral of Glasgow. At first it doesn't look too big or impressive but once you get inside and see the full scope of it, it's pretty awesome! There was also a gallery on the premises and a Japanese wishing tree that we all tied ribbon "wishes" to. Then, the group of us wandered through a hillside graveyard; by the way putting tall gravestones and pillars on a hill was a bad choice. We hopped on the subway and went to the City Centre to stroll through St. George Square and the pedestrian/shopping areas. That night, the nine girls (lots of bonding!) and one guy (Ollie's a trooper!) headed out for dinner and then to a bar to get in on the local nightlife. Four of the girls and myself stayed at a hostel for the weekend and it was a new life experience for me; as my dad said, it makes me appreciate a good hotel room and bed!
Sunday, we all met at the Kelvinsbridge Museum and it was beautiful and had very interesting/educational exhibits. The museum building, along with the buildings of the University of Glasgow which was right next door, honestly resemble what comes to mind when you think of Hogwarts (think Victorian/Gothic architecture)!! I'm usually not one to enjoy and spend hours in museums, just ask my family, but we spent about two hours there and I could have stayed a little longer. Our group jumped into taxi's and went to The Willow Tearoom for afternoon tea and lunch. Then, we checked out some Scotland stories and I found the Smith family tartan. And, as we were wandering in a shopping area, a group of Scotish drummers and a bagpipe player played three very intense and awesome songs! I got a short video of it that I'll post on Facebook to showcase their musical and kilt wearing skills. Sunday night, seven of us went to a pub for dinner and dessert then strolled around the west side of Glasgow for a while.
Finally, on Monday, we visited the Burrell Collection; basically Lord Burrell collected a bunch of art and artifacts during his lifetime then donated the collection for a museum in his name. The drive to get there was rather long because Burrell specifically said the collection had to be housed in a building 16 miles from downtown Glasgow and it is surrounded by lots of land/parks. By then, we headed back to the City Central to Glasgow Central train station. On the train ride home, I was the one among my three friends who was assigned the task of staying awake while they snoozed, so I got lots of reading done. Overall, a great weekend in Glasgow; we all had a blast, took tons of pictures, saw all we wanted to see, and got back to Ormskirk exhausted!
