vacation day three

Thursday, August 4

The idea for this trip to Glasgow had been hatched in the middle of pandemic lockdown when on a Zoom call one participant said that she was planning to take a sabbatical in Scotland in the summer of 2022 and another - Dana - said that she might be going with her husband to a conference in Glasgow at the same time. So I chimed in and said if they'd both be there, I'd come too. And amazingly, it actually happened!

So this was the day that Dana and I had arranged to meet the third member of the scheme, Liz, in the Victorian resort town of Pitlochry. We visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the morning, bought some sandwiches for the train, and headed north. Liz had two groups of friends visiting from the U.S. and we all met at Hettie's Tea Room for various combinations of tea, sandwiches, soup, and treats. I had not sat at a table with so many Americans since...maybe 2015 when we went to our 20th college reunion in California? It felt Very Odd. 

The Clyde, on the way to meet Dana at her hotel in the morning.

The Kelvingrove Organ. I'm not a huge organ-in-church person but I could get used to organs in museums!

The collection labels at the Kelvingrove are written in large print and in simple language. This one reads, "The thistle is Scotland’s national emblem. It has appeared on clan badges, coats of arms, buildings and coins for hundreds of years. There are many different kinds of thistles growing in Scotland - this is just one of them." I was confused at first - was this section especially for kids? But no, it's an accessibility thing. I'm a fan.

Fields of heather (?), as seen from the train to Pitlochry.

Pitlochry Station. I believe the appropriate term is "twee."

I'm going to out myself as a snob here but Pitlochry was too touristy for me. I walked up to the next village, Moulin, and briefly tried rambling back down but lost the trail immediately (I couldn't figure out what sub-station this sign was talking about, and the sheep weren't being forthcoming with information) so had to give up and use the road.

More beautiful landscape, heading back to Glasgow.

Public service announcement: do not I repeat DO NOT ever order nachos in the UK.