We are off this morning with our guide, Karen and Allen, to explore some of Glasgow. Our first stop was at Glasgow Cathedral, a constant place of worship for over 800 years. Founded by the cities founding monk, St. Mungo, whose tomb is in the underground church within the cathedral. The cathedral is home of a wonderful collection of post-war stained-glass windows. As we were early, before entering the cathedral we took a walk to the necropolis next door. Once in the cathedral you are overwhelmed by the enormity of the space. The ceiling was made of wood with carved images of bible scenes. There is a 400-year-old bible on display that had been lost for over 200 years. Below the main church there are two other churches. The lower one is where we find the tomb of St. Mungo.
Down the street from the cathedral is a statue of King William, of William and Mary fame. The unique feature of this statue is an articulating tail. Unfortunately, there was little wind so we did not see it wag.
From the cathedral we made our way to the Doulton fountain, a magnificent terracotta monument situated on the grounds of the People’s Palace Museum within Green Park. Gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton in 1888, it is a highly decorative five-tier fountain designed to commemorate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The fountain is a mixture of politics and history depicting soldiers, animals and people from the Queen’s empire: Australia, Canada, India and South Africa.
We drove by Glasgow University with its many 18th and 19th century buildings. Glasgow, we noted is a mixture of the old and new as 2/3 of the city was destroyed by German bombers at the outset of WW II. We then stopped for a walk through the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. There are many exhibits of both artists and artifacts throughout the building. One of the highlights is the painting “Christ of Saint John of the Cross” by Salvador Dali. Unlike anything else he had done; it is the image of Christ on the cross as seen from God’s point of view.
We wandered around through several of the galleries. Another interesting painting was of Anna Pavlova by Sir John Lavery, one of the so called “Colorists”. Because of its depiction of movement, it was considered scandalous at the time.
