July 20 – Up to the Top

** I have not posted in a while because I had a very busy (eventful) weekend. I did not have a weekend to rest and after Sunday’s excursion, I had to read for physics. The content this week was harder than previous weeks so I didn’t have time to write during the week as well. As such, I will only be posting about my big trips for a while.**

The City Centre

I started my journal to the Cathedral by going on the Subway to the city centre. From there, I walked for about 20 minutes until I reached the Cathedral. Along the way, I passed by George Square, where Glasgow’s City Chambers are located. In the center of the square is a tall pedestal upon which a statue of Walter Scott stands upon and it looks very gallant, as if he is watching over the city center. There is also a memorial in front of the city hall that commemorates the soldiers of World War I and World War II. The square felt very stoic, yet at the same time, very jubilant. It was sunny and there were many people chatting and sitting in the grass. There were even some people wearing pride attire, which gave me the impression that the pride parade was today.

After passing city hall, all the buildings seemed to become very ornate and majestic. The sides of the building were very ornate and there were grandiose arches that towered over streets. As I continued on, I walked past many different stores and restaurants, with many of them being Asiancentric. For example, I passed by a few Chinese grocery stores (of which I went in to check it out), and also some Japanese sushi and curry restaurants. I also passed by the City of Glasgow College, where some of the tall buildings had murals on their sides. One of them featured Nelson Mandela giving a speech in Glasgow and the other showed a lot of students sitting in what looks like a lecture room. Most of the students were painted in black and white but a few were colored in. I wonder what the significance of that mural is?

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The Cathedral

I soon approached the Cathedral and it looked huge. It might have been taller than St. Giles’ Cathedral, but don’t quote me on that. There were no picture or entrance fees so I ended up taking a lot of pictures of the interior. As you walk in, you’re able to see the very end of the Cathedral and its great stained glass windows. The ceiling was probably at least 60 feet above me, making everything feel super spacious. Lining the walls were more stained glass windows on the bottom, with stone arches above. The whole thing just looked very amazing. As I was walking around the Cathedral, the craftsmanship of the stained glass windows caught my attention. They looked like the real deal and the detail of the faces made me feel like I was in a 1600s Scotland. I was seeing in real life the artwork I had only seen in videos or read in my textbook. I tried taking pictures of the windows but the lighting made it hard to really capture the elegance of the art.

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After walking around the front and back of the Cathedral, I learned that there was an underground part as well. When I descended the stairs, the lights got dimmer and the stone walls seemed to encroach upon me. When I got down to the bottom, I was greeted with arches upon arches. It looked like the Chamber of Secrets in the Harry Potter films. I made a quick loop through and before leaving, I saw three tapestries that had some rather abstract looking designs on it. I assume that they are at least a hundred years old and were put up for some interesting purpose. The only things I knew for sure were that it looked prehistoric (like a cave painting) and that it was trying to tell a story of which I knew nothing about.   

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Climbing the Necropolis

Located behind the Cathedral was a cemetery, also known as the Necropolis. The cemetery was built on a hill, and at the very top was a tall post with a statue of a man on top, overlooking the hill. It was very similar to the Adam Smith statue in George Square. When I climbed to the top of the hill, I found out that the statue was a memorial to John Knox. John Knox is actually buried in Edinburgh right by St. Giles’ Cathedral. However, he was such a historic figure in Scottish history that the Glaswegians also wanted to honor John Knox. As such, the largest monument on the Necropolis is of him, which is placed at the highest level of the hill. As I looked through the different gravestones, I was in awe to see that many of them dated back to the 1800s, with a few people being born as far back as 1802 and 1806. Many of the graves were also family plots, with parents being buried with their children, and even their grandchildren in some cases. I felt a very strong sense of history and tradition here.

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Some of the tombs were very elaborate, most likely to show the deceased’s wealth and influence when they were alive. There was a grave that had a statue of the person on top of its tomb, and another that featured an elegy honoring that person’s life. That tomb was very ornate and featured the faces of tragedy and comedy in the corners, with the words taking a spin off of acting, describing how life was that person’s stage and that they played the role of husband, father, and friend in an exemplary way.

A World of Diversity

Before leaving the Cathedral and Necropolis, I visited the St. Mungo Museum and walked through an exhibit or two. One of the floors featured religious from all over the world, including Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The city has a large amount of diversity for it’s population size so I wasn’t too surprised that they had a global religion exhibit. Nevertheless, I was a bit amazed at their message of tolerance and accepting diversity because of all the turmoil happening in U.S. about race and religion at the moment. I commend Scotland for being so welcoming to people of all backgrounds, and hopefully many other countries in the future will do the same.

A (Spicy) Night Out

Amabella’s friends from the Dublin program visited that day so I got dinner with their group at Ramen Dayo! I ordered the devil this time, which was their spiciest tonkotsu broth. Robert and Richard got it last time and while it seemed spicy, it also seemed enjoyable. Unfortunately I misjudged the spicy level and it was a bit painful to eat the entire time. I thought a side of rice would help cool it down but the rice was hot so that didn’t really help. 

After dinner we got the regular loop and scoop for dessert. I got the chocolate churro loop with vanilla and mint ice cream and it was a very refreshing end to the day.