Glasgow

This morning the tour group is dispersing and I am moving to another hotel. I have a full breakfast at the Radisson and leave my suitcase with the concierge while I do a little wander on one of Glasgow’s biggest shopping streets. I found it amusing they also have a dollar store, only they call it the pound store! I come back to the Radisson and sit awhile in the foyer and soon Claire from New Zealand comes in and sits down to chat. She is off on another tour and will be coming through Vancouver for a few days in early July and will look me up. Next in blows two of the guys from the tour....one is going home to Oregon and the other is off touring for an indefinite period.  We all say goodbye for the third time at least. I collect my suitcase and the concierge calls me a “hack” . I thought that was a New York term but I guess they use it here also.  I’m off to the Argyle Hotel to be near the Kelvingrove Art Museum for the exhibition I’m going to tonight.  I check in early as my room is ready, I make a cup of tea and unpack.  I decided  I would go over to the Museum and check out where exactly to go this evening.  The Art Gallery and Museum is in a magnificent old building and I go to information  to find out about tonight. Good thing I did, as it is outside in The tents and the museum will be closed.
I start my own tour and find a room dedicated to a group named The Glasgow Boys, I think possibly the last died in the 1940’s.  They were beautiful Painters  (20 in number ) and I will have to read up on them. There was also a group called the Glasgow Girls, although there were not as many of them and they were not as well known. I found another room with French impressionists, there were quite a few paintings I had not seen before of Monets, Van Gohs, Coret, Morriset.  I was about to leave when I spied a room with Scottish Painters, getting tired and wanting to go back to my hotel before returning for the evening I went to information to inquire is they had any John Petties. Indeed they did said the volunteer at the desk! She directed me back upstairs to my ancestors painting. I was able to take a photo this time.  I am thinking that each time I visit an art gallery in the UK I had best ask if they have any John Petties!
I walk back to my hotel which takes less than 5 minutes and have another cup of tea. I had planned to dress up for the event but due to the weather which was drizzley, I decided to stay in my jeans. When I arrived my name was NOT on the guest list! After a short discussion the fellow not allowing me in decided he would go speak to the Dancing Light Gallery who had sent me the invite....then he changed his mind and said ...oh go in. Geez! It was about 6:20 by now so I thought I’d better go first to where I expected Julie to be in case she didn’t stay for the duration. I helped myself to a glass of Champagne and I was off!  Julie wasn’t there yet but the Dancing Light girl seemed delighted to meet me. (We had conversed by email). After chatting with her for awhile I set off around the rows to check out the art. It was extremely crowded.  Time went on and Julie had not appeared, we were starting to get concerned as she had said she was on her way. To make a long story short she never arrived, she had gotten lost driving to Glasgow from her small town of Langholm. She was upset and frustrated and ended up going home. Dancing light girl felt very bad for me and a couple of other girls that had come especially to meet Julie, so she insisted of taking my photo in front of Julie’s large painting to show her I had been there. It was disappointing but on the bright side I discovered a lot of interesting art, spoke to several artists about their work and picked up quite a few artist cards.
I walked back to the Argyle in light rain........end of evening! Tomorrow I will be with my cousin Helen and her husband and will maybe see some other cousins. I will be taking the train from Glasgow to Waverley Station in Edinburgh then getting a second train to Dumfermline.
 Cherrio the noo!