Today was a day of plants and portraiture, statues, snowdrops and some really gorgeous orchids. First off, though, our day was about ancestry and records.
On the third floor of the Mitchell Library an entire floor is given to the research of Glaswegian family trees. Van and D. took a trip up (while T. noodled around on another floor, inexorably drawn to children’s books) and found a sympathetic librarian who peppered him with questions, and in the end directed him to another building just down the street. Notes for those researching a family member’s history in Glasgow: know what they did for a living. There are registries that workmen paid to belong to in that era, divided by job, almost like union rolls. Those kinds of details can help you be successful in finding your search.
The wind has continued to be a real frustration, and today reached gale-forced gusts. Sometimes at the bus stop it felt like we were standing in a hurricane. Periodically the rain turned to slush, but we didn’t mind as much as we could have, because our destination was the Botanic Gardens.
The Botanic Gardens opened in 1817, and are made up of the Kibble Palace Glasshouse, which is a the main entrance and a huge 19th century affair, and three other massive glasshouses which are interlinked by passage ways. Though we wandered for the better part of two and a half hours through rooms full of killer flowers, cacti and plants from around the world, we ran out of time before we ran out of glasshouse. Our last one was the Palm House, which was full of towering trees, some of which are over a hundred years old. We visited an orchid house, with an anteroom filled with daffodils, nasturtiums, orange and yellow striped tulips, poinsettia, hyacinths, and more. The smell was overpowering and glorious.
Another room had dry, sweet air that reminded us surprisingly of the high deserts and mountains at home. The smell of “mountain misery,” or mountain laurel, brought to mind years of summer camp and a family Thanksgiving in the mountains, and T. had to restrain herself from snapping off a piece of plant. (Naughty!) To a certain extent, Glasgow is virtually flower-free… we hadn’t noticed how living in a city deprived us of everyday greenery. In all likelihood, things will change in the Spring, but city life isn’t suburban life. Though there are parks, manicured greenery isn’t quite the same as countryside … fortunately, there are indoor gardens and we now know where to find them.
A lunch of crepes at a local shop crammed with university students, and a quick stop at the bank and we were on our way to Kelvingrove Art Gallery for more statues and art. Of course, D. had to actually go to school and give his presentation, so he abandoned T. and Van to their own devices, but the Kelvingrove is massive and they were entertained for hours.
Favorite exhibits included the armor upstairs, the steam engine and the beautiful preScotland room, with all of the Viking artifacts. T. and Van couldn’t decide whether to be upstairs or down, and after much wrangling and mini-arguments and small tantrums from T., they did half of the downstairs, and half of the upstairs. Van is saving the other half for his next visit.
D. joined the dueling duo a little after three, and we decided we were a little head and heart-full with the artwork, and it was time to go home for our next little project — a homemade Scottish dinner. We braved the wind and rain to race home and popped the haggis in the oven.
Oh, yes. Really. Haggis by MacSweens, an Edinburgh company, only there’s a vegetarian version as well which contains kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, carrots, turnip, mushrooms and margarine; together with the traditional oatmeal, onions and our special blend of spices and seasoning. These are all cooked together, and filled into a plastic casing to produce the national dish of Scotland.
On the advice of our friend Holler, we paired our haggis supper with a creamy mushroom gravy, and added garlicky kale and “tattie mash” as side dishes. We were shocked by how absolutely tasty it was.
Wow! We’ve had haggis! It was good!
Van has, by the way, given us permission now to move to Stirling and has promised to visit again if we do… of course, he’s said the same thing about just about everywhere. Tomorrow it looks like Edinburgh Castle is on the agenda, perhaps with a stop at the Museum of Childhood, a place T. has been dying to go ever since she caught a glimpse of it her first visit to Edinburgh. The weather even promises to behave tomorrow and is forecast as being only “partly cloudy” — though no one actually believes that. Our party will be wearing t-shirts and sweaters over long-johns and carrying the usual array of hats, gloves, scarves, and sunglasses.
Only in Scotland.
– D & T
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Vegetarian Haggis sounds much, much more appealing!!! But is it really fair? 😉
is that a working organ in the Kelvingrove Museum?
I’m still suspicious of haggis….
Oh, yes. Concerts every Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., m’dear. And the haggis is lovely — it tastes like something my mother made, so I think I’ll try making it myself… only thing is I can’t figure out how to get it into the “gut.”
re you guys getting an understanding about why the British are obsessed with the weather ? ;0)
India
What a wonderful time you all have been having! I’m just catching up after spending the last few days in bed. I, too, loved Stirling Castle but didn’t get to Agryll’s Lodging because of lack of time. It is great that Van is hauling you off to new places!