THURSDAY to MONDAY

We left Inverness by train for Glasgow.Another ride and another look at the Highlands…fields of sheep and cattle.Once we arrived we took a taxi to Nicole and Phil’s place in Crossmyloof ,on the south side of town.According to local belief the name is derived from a location taken on the route by Mary,Queen of Scots to the Battle of Langside.A fortune-teller offered to tell her her fate if she would “cross her loof(hand) with silver.

Their apartment was another top floor apartment and no elevator.But over the 3 months we have improved our stamina…so up we went.

It was wonderful to see them,share their space and their day to day life for a couple of days.Phil works at home some of his week and had finished a tool for helping some song writers with cord identification and progression( I apologize Phil,if I have it all wrong).

Nicole currently has two jobs…one as a costume assistant on the set of Outlanders and the other a repair of cashmere pieces of clothing from clients.

Friday they were both working,so Michael and I headed into the city.There was yet another threat of a train site,and we wanted some guidance.The train folk were not hopeful,but recommended coming back on Sunday.Off we went to the bus station to find there was a 12 hour milk run bus trip to Oxford…..From there we walked in the area of the Merchant City.Within the are a are designer shops,cafes and art.

We visited an Art Gallery featuring the works of Billy Connelly AND Bob Dylan.This is his new marketable skill and both Michael and I were impressed with the quality and subject matters of his art.There were several pieces ..one of them was a black and white drawings and hand written words to a song.But the price was outside of our travel budgets.They were all limited editions.

We spent some of the afternoon with a Hop on Hop off Bus tour.We often do this in a new city to get a better overview than we ever could walking about.There are 3 universities in Glasgow and a huge student population.There are many Museums and Art Galleries..all free to visit.

It is an industrial city and the south side (where they live) was seen by Michael and Nicole as reminiscent of the Pier. We headed out to the Pubs for supper,some pints and a walk through the neighbourhood.

We also visited some off license stores that sell alcohol as well as the usual corner store goods.

Guy Fawkes Day was November 5th,so we enjoyed a great deal of fireworks into the night and revelry.

Nicole took us on a walk in Queen’s Park.It is not far from their apartment.It is a large public Park and we climbed the hill for a better view of the other side of Glasgow.

On Sunday we took a long walk to visit a local art gallery that had Iza Tarasewicz’s work.She created clusters of sculptures that represented three dimensional drawings of agricultural material.

Nicole took us to an Organ Concert at Kelvingrove Art gallery and Museum.It was an hour of entertainment,with screens showing us his pedal movements and another screen that showed his hand movements.amazing.

Phil joined us at Kelvingrove Park and we walked to see The University of Glasgow,situated on top of the hill with a multitude of buildings and quadrangles..sites of graduations( missed by Nicole due to Covid-19).University is free to students from Scotland at Glasgow University

Michael had requested Fish and chips and a meat pie.After a wee pint at a university bar,we found our way to the small restaurant.The pie was lacking,but we knew Oxford would be first rate!!It was time for some Scottish music.We went to another pub/bar with a Song writers circle on Sunday evening.It was guitars,an accordion and several fiddles.Toe tapping for sure.

A visit to an off license shop once more for some whiskey.They braved a 7 yr. old Scotch with fear and trepidation.We went home and the 3 felt it acceptable indeed.

So,one more evening of packing.We did get a reprieve from a bus trip,as the strike had been cancelled for tomorrow!We got up early in the morning to have some final time with Nicole,as she leaves quite early…before the sun is up.

TILL CHRISTMAS Nicole….thanks for the hospitality