Glasgow

Right now the UK is in a bit of a panic as news reports are talking about the Queen’s family gathering in Balmoral. She looked so frail on Tuesday when she met with the new PM, Liz Truss. It will be a sad day; she is a remarkable woman and the world will miss her when she finally passes.

1835 (6:35pm) OMG….they just announced that the Queen has died. My heart is broken!

It’s so hard to continue with this blog, but…

We spent our day in Glasgow, dropping the car at a park and ride then taking the train the short 15 minutes to city center. The sun poked out a little but the sky was mostly cloudy and it rained a little in the afternoon.

The train station is adjacent to George Square, a one-block square square in the center if Glasgow. The square was laid out by King George III but, oddly, there’s no statue of him in the square. The hop on/hop off bus guide said that when he “lost” the colonies, Glasgow lost a major trading partner as the city used to trade with the tobacco growers in the colonies. Apparently, he has never been forgiven.

There is, though, the only statue in the world of Queen Victoria on a horse.

We started our sightseeing at the Glasgow Cathedral, which looks like it could use a good power wash.

But the inside was beautiful.

The Cathedral is built on what are believed to be the remains of St. Mungo (real name Kentigern) who died in 614. He was a missionary and is the founding member and patron saint of Glasgow.

After the Cathedral, we got on the hop on/hop off bus and made a few stops. First was at this beautiful fountain, the largest terra cotta fountain in the world.

Across from the fountain is Glasgow Green, a 15th century park that is the largest park in Glasgow. A law still on the books is that any citizen of Glasgow can graze their cows and/or sheep in the Green. I looked but didn’t see any grazing. This was also the place Bonnie Prince Charlie gathered his army before the Battle of Culloden, which if you remember, didn’t turn out so well for them.

Then it was back on the bus and heading to an area near George Square for lunch. Of course it was Italian as, if you haven’t already figured out, Peter is not terribly adventuresome when it comes to trying new food.

Since it was starting to rain, we decided to to to the Royal Theater for a matinee performance of Bugsy Malone. The main characters were played by children and, while a little corny, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here’s a video of the curtain call. The kids had a ton of energy.

I can’t write anymore. I’ve got BBC on and am watching the coverage. God Save the King.