Thursday, July 1, 2010
Today we headed up another hill in Glasgow….one straight up from Pete and Jess’s flat to the Strathcylde University Architecture building where Pete goes to school. After we got to the top of the hill we got to climb some steps. We went to see Pete’s prize winning project. Pete won the Royal Town Planning Institute prize for student excellence prize recognizing one of the two most outstanding student projects in Scotland. One is given by the University of Glasgow and one by Strathcylde. We even won a nice cash prize with it. His project took a section of Govan which is a neighborhood in the city of Glasgow with the River Clyde running through it. He took the neighborhood and designed bridges, green spaces, new buildings, museums, shops, and activity areas to restructure the neighborhood and to incorporate the ecosound building principles in which he believes. The council members told Pete that they hoped his plan could be carried out. It is a most impressive design. Congratulations Pete.
After that Pete walked to St. Mungo’s Cathedral with us. St. Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow. The building of the Cathedral was started in the 13th century. There were cathedrals before this date, but they were destroyed. Old is old… The cathedral is unique because of the upper and lower sanctuaries. Mungo’s crypt is in the lower church. His real name is Kentigern, but apparently everyone called him Mungo. The masonry in this church is unbelievable. In the lower sanctuary, where several smaller worship spots also exist, the upper building is not supported by just plain old columns. The columns are arched like a “V” at the top, called a vaulted arch. The building is awe inspiring. It, like many other historical buildings, is partially covered with scaffolding to make necessary repairs. The cathedral is being cleaned of the old coal stains from Glasgow’s industrial age, mortar replaced, and even stones where necessary. Pete said they had to actually train craftspeople in the old skills in order to repair it. Before we left we took a few pictures of The Necropolis, the city of the dead, which is the cemetery attached to the Cathedral. We are saving a walk through for another day.
After the church we walked across the way to the oldest house in Glasgow. It is called the Provand’s Lordship’s House. It is apparently a medieval building from the 15th century that exemplifies “Scottish domestic architecture.” It is a three storey (English spelling) building that served as a religious home, a hospital, and again as a home for the Master of the Chapel. Behind the house is a cloistered garden filled with roses, bushes planted in beautiful symbols, and paths.
The rain begins to fall.
We decided to walk to Chippy Doon the Lane for a nice fish and chips lunch. How do I explain this? I, who really believes that fish is eaten only because it is healthy, really like the fish over here. Something about not being frozen. When you get a haddock fillet here, the thing is cut about an inch thick….it has flavor and great taste. Anyway, it was good. The Chippy is also one of the few places where you can get a cold drink with more than one ice cube.
After lunch we walked back to the flat to get some laundry done and to get packed and ready to go on our Highland adventure.
Steps: 10,640 approximately 4.5 miles
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