Goodbye Britain

Day 16

I really didn't have much on my plate for the date and I was really slow at getting my act together in the morning. When I finally did get going I didn't go far, only about 10 minutes to the Hunterian Art Gallery. This is on the University of Edinburgh campus.

The first part was called the Mackintosh House. I didn't really care for it. The Mackintosh's were architects and designers that were very much ahead of their time. For some reason the staff was following me around and it made me very uncomfortable. What did they think I was going to do, stick a dining room table in my back pocket?

The museum also has a large collection on James McNeill Whistler. I've always wondered why most of his stuff isn't in the US. It turns out that he spent much of his adult living living in London and Paris. The large collection in Glasgow is attributed to his wife's Scottish heritage and a large following by a group of Glaswegian artists known was the Glasgow Boys.

I regrouped at the hostel for lunch and decided to walk to the Fossil Forest. Apparently there are about 2 dozen fossilized trees in a park. I walked and walked but never seemed to get anywhere. After about 2 hours I decided that I didn't even want to look at a bunch of really dead trees anyway and headed back.

People say that you are either an Edinburgh or Glasgow person. For tourism I would definitely pick Edinburgh. It's just beautiful and there is so much to see and it is very easy to take a large amount of day trips from there. If I had to pick one of them to live in I would choose Glasgow. Its a bit like New York with its diverse areas and I like that.

I'm very glad that I begun my trip with the UK. I'd been to 3 of the 6 cites I used as bases and it was all quite familiar. It was really a good way to get in shape for the trip. I'm very much looking forward to visiting Ireland. It will be almost completely new territory for me!

They Can Never Take My Freedom!

Day 15

I woke up early despite the slightly late night the day before. I was on the hunt for William Wallace and was headed to Stirling to find him.

I got a bit confused when I got to Stirling. The bus stop is in a mall and I couldn't figure out how to get out. I ended up wandering by something called the Bastion and Thieves Pot. Turns out that the oldest building in Stirling was a prison and to save it it was incorporated into the mall when it was built. I checked out the signs there for a bit before finally finding my way out of the mall.

Stirling is a cute little town with two or three main streets that wind their way up to the castle. The town has been fortified since prehistoric times, the current castle dates to the late 16^th century. William Wallace would not recognize the current structure at all. The castle as we see it today was built by James VI for his French wife and their son he hoped would be king of England after Elizabeth I's death. The castle was the first renaissance building in Britain.

One section of the castle concentrated on the Unicorn Tapestry. Apparently this is a seven section tapestry that was made for the castle. I thought it odd that not only were they reweaving each one, but that the originals were familiar to me. It turns out that someone sold them to the Rockefeller's who then donated them to the Cloisters in New York City. New York doesn't want to give them back so the castle is recreating them.

The whole castle was in the middle of a big restoration project. Many of the rooms were really just gutted shells. Only the cathedral, the kitchens and the great hall have been restored so far. They are working on the royal chambers next. It was really cool to see how they were researching and restoring the rooms.

The views from the castle were spectacular, I couldn't stop taking pictures the whole time.

I meandered my way back to the bus station. Along the way I checked out the Holy Rude chapel, but it was closed. I also spent some time wandering around the hauntingly picturesque Stirling Cemetery.

I had just enough time to check out the William Wallace Monument before it closed. The castle is nothing like it was when William Wallace would have visited and I wanted to find him somewhere.

The monument was built on Abbey Craig where Wallace rallied his troops before the successful Battle of Stirling Bridge. This battle was his first big victory. The facts were very much like there were in Braveheart the movie. The English killed Wallace's father and wife. Wallace, in turn, killed the English. Eventually it became clear that more support was needed and Wallace left for the continent to ask for help. A few months later he returned, having failed. In 1305 one of his friends sold him out and handed him over to the English. Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered. He has become a symbol of courage and bravery for many people throughout the world.

The museum has a massively huge sword that is thought to have belonged to the 6'6 Wallace, but cannot be proved.

The next floor had busts of famous Scots such as Sir Walter Scott and John Knox. The next floor described the process of building the monument and other Wallace monuments around the world. There is even one in Baltimore. By the time I reached the top it was growing dark and cold. I took some pictures of the countryside and headed back.

Stirling was a cute little town and I should have allocated more time there. I missed out on several museums and about 6 more Wallace sites.

Goin' To Glasgow

Day 14
My early night allowed me to get an early start on Glasgow. I had been here before, but just for a day and I was sure that there was more to the city.

My hostel turned out to be in a really cool little area full of ethnic food and used book stores. Even though I had taken the bus there, I elected to walk back to the city center. My first stop was St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Art and Life. It was a neat little place. It showed the differences and similarities of world religions and how they affect Glasgow.

I decided against checking out the cathedral and the necropolis because I had been there before. If you come to Glasgow I would recommend visiting them.

What I would not recommend is the Tenement Museum. Agnes Toward moved into the apartment in 1911 and did not leave until 1975. Much of the apartment was as she had kept it in 1911. The place was advertised as small, but it was larger than my NYC apartment. The actual apartment itself was pretty neat to look at. The small museum downstairs concentrated on the role tenement buildings had played in Glasgow through history and their evolution. There was also a section on Ms. Toward. Apparently she was a pack rat and even her WWII ration card was on display.

The museum is sort of interesting, it is just beyond tiny. I think I read every bit of information in there and I don't think I was there for more than 20 minutes. Due to the price (£4) I would recommend not going. If they lower the price to £2, maybe, but even then it seems high.

I was hanging out in the common room when a whole bunch of Croatians came in. It turned out that they were the majority in the hostel and were all there for a Croatia v. Scotland football (soccer) game. Before I knew it there was a party on. Everyone was very nice and spoke great English. I hope to see them again.