October 7 & 8, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

October 7 & 8, 2009

 

            On
Wednesday, we did not do very much. 
Susan caught up on email and facebook stuff, I tried to catch-up the
blog, get laundry done and just rest. 
The highlight of the day was breakfast, both the food and the
company.  Two of the other guests here
were Church of England Clergy.  As it
turns out, we had mutual friends and we had a great time talking with
them.  They were headed toward Iona.

 

            Today,
after another wonderful breakfast provided by our hostess, Jane, we headed for
Paisley and Glasgow.  Paisley Abbey is
where Iain MacPherson, who has sung tenor in the St. Paul’s choir for 23 years,
began singing in the Boys Choir at age 7. 
The Abbey was founded in 1163.  It
was where Robert The Bruce’s wife died in the Abbey infirmary in 1316, but the
child she was carrying survived, becoming Robert The Bruce II, from whom the
present Queen Elizabeth is descended.  The
people at the Abbey were very welcoming, including the minister, the Rev. Alan
Birss.  Last Sunday was “Scout Sunday,”
celebrating 100 years of scouting at the Abbey.

            They are
in the middle of a huge Organ restoration project (Don, it could be us).  Music is a large part of their ministry.  Picked up a brochure recruiting young people
for the choir. The headline is: “Are you COOL enough to be different?”  Apparently Iain MacPherson was!

            Side
note:  it took awhile to get to the Abbey
because of street construction.  We could
see it, but couldn’t get to it.  Our GPS
lady kept shouting at me to make u-turns, etc. 
Let me say that the GPS was well-worth the $41 we paid for maps of
Europe.  Without her, nick-named Nelly,
we would probably still be in Germany somewhere.

            After
the Abbey, we went into Glasgow to see the Burrell collection of art, etc.  It was given in 1944.  The wonderful museum that houses it now was
built specifically for it in 1983.  There
is lots of light, for the stained-glass, and it is very easy to move through. Some
of the glass came from a Church in Boppard, on the Rhine.  We passed through there just last week!  The collection includes stained-glass, sculpture
(Rodin), art (Degas, Manet), tapestries, armor, three entire rooms from the Burrell
Estate and more.  We had lunch at their café,
and wandered through the museum for hours.

            Tomorrow
we head for jolly-old-England, and start a search for my ancestors (Hugh, b.
1642 in the Lake District).

Peace,

  Bob