Before we headed off on Thursday afternoon, we were very
grateful we could attend Jessie’s celebration funeral along with hundreds of
other mourners. It was the biggest funeral I have ever attended & very
inclusive, with lots of immediate family involved in the Requiem Mass. Later we
were amazed to be given a gift bag from Jessie with a framed photo of us with
her, an imprint of her hand with a special message for us, a bookmark & a
hand-made necklace.
We drove to Strathmore so we could park our car at Leanne’s
place, where she will look after it while we are away. The Emirates car whisked
us away to the airport in no time at all & after a brief stop to order
spirits to collect on our return, we relaxed in the Emirates lounge with Moet
& smoked salmon!
We had three long flights of about 7 hours, stopping in
Singapore & Dubai, where we were able to have a very welcome shower. We both
caught up on some films – I saw On
Chesil Beach, Mary Shelley & Edie & enjoyed all three. Wes also saw
Mary Shelley, a spy film & some
documentaries on WWI.
We arrived at Glasgow Airport, were greeted warmly by
Immigration & collected by Emirates to be driven to Glasgow, where we are
staying until tomorrow morning. We had booked into a brand-new hotel, next door
to the Central Station (where we stayed last time). The location is great, the staff
excellent & the room small, but well-designed. We had intended to have a sleep that
afternoon & go out, but we slept through instead, waking briefly for cups
of tea.
Yesterday we found a delightful vegan cafe called Picnic, (the owner had heard of Smith & Daughters – Melbourne’s
premier vegan restaurant) & enjoyed breakfast before catching the Hop On
Hop Off bus for the tour of Glasgow. We did the whole thing before getting off
at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall to collect our tickets for our concert last
night.
Wes at Picnic
The afternoon was spent at the People’s Palace, which is a wonderful museum of the history of
Glasgow & its people, including a Winter Garden under a glass roof.
We came home for a rest before donning our best clothes
& walking to Mussel Inn for
dinner. This was halfway between our hotel & the Concert Hall & a great
choice for a meal. Wes enjoyed haggis rolls followed by mussels & chips
& I had oysters & pan-fried King scallops.
Wes about to tuck into
mussels & my King scallops are shown below
The concert was stunning – the first half was excerpts from
Grieg’s Peer Gynt plus Ravel’s Scheherazade. The second half was Rachmaninov’s
Symphony No 1, conducted by Thomas Sondergard & played by the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra. I had booked our stalls seats online & we were
very delighted with our choice of Saturday night entertainment.
The rain has stopped
& we are looking forward to breakfast out followed by some walking & a
visit to the Glasgow Modern Art Gallery.
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