Glasgow part 2

[vampyresheep]

Sunday we awoke to wet miserable weather - rather unfortunate as our plan was to visit the Necropolis that day.  Well, we've done Kensal Green and Pere Lachaise cemeteries in the rain, so why would this be any different!

Checked out of hotel and went back to the Baby Grand for breakfast.  It was difficult to get motivated to leave due to the miserable weather and as a consequence missed the train that would have taken us across the city, closer to the Necropolis.  Instead of waiting 35 minutes for the next one, we decided to walk it and by the time we reached the cathedral precinct we were thoroughly wet, miserable and lacking in enthusiasm.

Decided to visit the cathedral first to get out of the rain for a few moments.  Of course it being Sunday morning, there was a service taking place but we were allowed admittance to the rear part of the cathedral.

Whilst we were sitting there, one of the verger's (? - can't recall the exact term but a person who volunteers in the church to assist people) came over to speak to us.  A very interesting gent and after learning that I was an archives student, took interest in us and gave us a concise history of the cathedral.

We eventually braved it out to the Necropolis.  The approach is just fantastic, crossing a bridge from the cathedral to see the memorials loom over you, piled on top of the hill.  A stunning place, however once we reached the summit, the pristine quality of the place (immaculate lawns, not a weed in sight) and lack of trees did make us feel it wasn't as atmospheric as other cemeteries we'd visited.  Regardless, still a stunning, unique place.

Lack of trees/shelter did mean that there was only so much windswept rain we could take, so we didn't stay too long as the pub at the bottom of the hill was calling to us.  thankfully by the time we got there it had opened for lunch, so we peeled off our wet layers and had much needed hot drinks and whiskey (was recommended the Auchantoshan - OK but not as good as the ones I'd had the night before)

Plotted where to go next and the Provands Lordship, just down the road (and indoors!) sounded worth checking out - the oldest residential building in Glasgow (the cathedral itself being the oldest building overall).  The rain had started to subside by then, typical!

St Mungo's museum of religious life




Provands Lordship

Free to enter and well worth a browse.  A three storey 15th Century building, with 17th Century furniture donated by the Burrell Collection, to give an idea of the types of owners over the centuries.



not sure why the turnip...........




badly drawn (but well endowed!) lions and unicorns


from here we were led out to the pretty St Nicholas Garden, reconstructed as an example of a medical/herbal garden.




around the cloisters were the Tontine heads, a series of stone masks collected from around the city










Strolled back to town but still had a couple of hours to kill before our afternoon tea booking, so we decided to head over to the south of the city, Trongate, to find a vintage shop I'd spotted online.  It was a bit of a walk and a shame we hadn't known of this area sooner, as it had the type of quirky bars we would have enjoyed the night before.  Only had time for a flying visit, so Rob checked out the vintage store Mr Ben and I popped into the goth shop next door.

We then had to make a dash for it back north to Saucihall Street for our afternoon tea at the Willow Tea Rooms.

This is the more renowned of the Mackintosh tea rooms, as it was designed inside and out by him.  We had a table booked in the Room De Luxe.  It was surprisingly quiet but service was excellent, so friendly!  Our afternoon tea consisted of sandwiches, massive scones, shortbread and our choice of cake - I went for the meringue, as this is what they are known for.  It was mahooosive!










all gone!


By the time we'd finished eating, the restaurant was closing so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  it was great that they didn't pressure people to leave at all.

















nipped upstairs to the bathrooms and discovered the Gallery room, which had been preserved as a small exhibition space










the downstairs mezzanine cafe area






and then downstairs from the shop (where I may have spent a fair bit on souvenirs!)








This was a perfect way to end our trip however it did leave us with another 4 hours before our train home!  Went back to hotel to collect luggage and after collapsing in the lobby for a while, decided to do something more constructive for our last evening and headed to the Pot Still pub, conveniently on the way to the railway station.
Not as busy as the night before and we managed to squeeze in to a little table between some friendly groups of people.  A few hours to kill, I may have had a little bit to drink!







They had a gorgeous ale on tap (I forget the name, something like Claverstone) but I had to have a final couple of whiskeys too!  Was recommended to try the Glenfarclas by the lady sitting next to me.  It was rather nice, quite a sweet one.




after that I went for a Tomatin, another familiar one from our last trip

(is it sad that i ask to take photos of my drinks so that i can remember what i had?) :-)

not squiffy at all!


9pm came too soon and we had to depart to the station.  I grabbed myself a battered haggis from the chippy outside the station, much to Rob's horror, but i needed something savoury!

Settled into our train carriage for the night

We popped to the bar for a final nightcap.  I hadn't had a gin all week and wanted to try a Scottish one!  Possibly one too many as I struggled to sleep that night - rather amusing to get on a train in Glasgow, go to bed in Edinburgh and wake up at 3am to find yourself in Preston!  Got our wake-up call at 6.30am just outside of Watford, giving us an hour to breakfast and freshen up before departing at Euston.

We were pretty much wiped out on the Monday, so much for the sleeper train being a relaxed way to travel.  Still, it was an adventure and one I'd be happy to do again.

Full gallery of photos for the day here: http://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/Glasgow-Sunday