Museums – Travels with Ali

~ Glimpses of Glasgow ~

The journey from Bilton to Glasgow took around four hours and with Anthony having a cold, he was extremely glad to check in to our hotel. The Clayton Hotel had been recommended to us and we had booked for a two night stay. Pleasantly surprised to find we had been upgraded to a larger room on the 16th floor. The views were amazing over the river, city and railway.

After a good rest we headed out for dinner and were going to try a tapas place not too far. We found the restaurant was actually in Prince’s Square Shopping Centre, beautifully decorated with glass and iron balconies with a massive glass dome. As we were heading to the restaurant, a man popped out of a French restaurant and tempted us to eat there instead! He had a good sales technique for sure and we had a gourmet meal.

Billy Connolly Mural
by John Byrne

The next day I suggested taking the hop on and hop off bus so we could see all the major sights Glasgow had to offer. We waited ages for the yellow line route to take us out to Pollark Park, in the end gave up and took the red route. As the weather turned progressively worse through the day, we did spend most of the time on the bus and I don’t think we did Glasgow justice. This is why the post is called Glimpses of Glasgow!

We did enjoy The Hunterian Museum in the University of Glasgow. There were some amazing exhibits on display.

University of Glasgow

The entrance and inside the museum

Patterned Window
inside the University Library

Walking under and through the Cloisters with their fluted columns and impressive archways was amazing.

Roman shoes made of leather
for Man, Woman and Child

“Wives of Fishermen” 1914 – Pierre Braecke
This sculpture was probably inspired by the death of Braecke’s cousin, who had
seen a fishing boat sink in a storm in 1869. It focuses on the grief and anguish the women must have felt as they watched their husbands drown. (As described on the plaque)

Why we stayed on the bus!

It was a dreich day, completely plowetery! A wee bit of Scottish slang for you.

Dinner that night was in a Tapas restaurant within walking distance of the hotel.

And just like that it was time to check out and onto our next destination before heading home.

Linking to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share and Public Art

~ A Trip to the Claremont Museum ~

This little outing was taken during the last school holidays and it’s also just down the road from me. The Claremont Museum is somewhere I’d never visited even though we’ve lived here for 20 years. I thought I would check it out with my two munchkins.

The building was actually a school once upon a time, called Freshwater Bay School opening in 1892. It was subsequently used for a place of worship, a boarding house for young men and also a police station.

There is no entry fee which was surprising and when we entered the kids were given clipboards by the lady in charge with photos of tiny lego men which were hidden all around the museum.

After spending a good hour in here we wandered down to the small river beach and as it was a hot day, they decided to have a paddle and build sandcastles.

Sand and water provide endless entertainments for kids.

After I had taken this photo I zoomed in and was taken aback at how creepy and ugly these mini sculptures were!

“Kids, hallowed be thy youth. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
― DON SANTO

Oh! to be young again is many a lament you often hear from old people, but I’m not sure I would want to be a child again. I’m very happy I don’t have to go to school anymore, especially not hundreds of years ago anyway.

“No matter if you’re 14 or 90 years old, you’ll never be this young again.”
Matt Purcell

Tina from Travels and Trifles is the host this week for Lens-Artist and the topic if you haven’t guessed is “To be young again”.

~ Postcard from Perth – July 2023 ~ Museums, Movies and Meanderings

This week was the last of the school holidays and I went with Elena and the munchkins to the WA Museum, Boola Bardip. I’ve never been before so was interested to see what was there.

Boola Bardip means many stories in Whadjuk Nyoongar;
the Country on which the Museum sits.

A fantastic museum for all ages and takes visitors on an enchanting journey through the ages. There are many exhibits to see and also interactive displays and games for the kids to enjoy.

We all had the best time, especially as naughty Ninny said yes to a stop in the gift shop!

The rest of my week was spent shopping, a zumba class, dinner with friends and of course Bridge.

I was surprised that Anthony agreed to accompany me to see Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning. What a hectic ride of a film, so many car chases and implausible stunts, I read Tom Cruise does his own! Anyway I enjoyed it especially the scenery, set in Venice and the Austrian Alps. By hook or by crook, I will visit Venice one day. The film went for so long that we missed our restaurant booking but managed to get a table at the next door Indian, Bollywood which was delicious.

Today (Sunday) Anthony suggested a winery in Bickley Valley. About a 45 minute drive from our house and it has been a beautiful sunny day. I chose Plume Winery which has amazing views over the hills and vineyards.

Vista and Views

Inside the restaurant

Posted for Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share, Weekend Sky for Hammad and Pull up a Seat for XingfuMama

Last look at Ubud – Art and Sculptures at Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA)

It was our last day in Bali and after a wonderfully relaxing facial for me we walked to the nearby Agung Rai Museum of Art. It takes approximately ten minutes to walk from our hotel along the busy main street to the hidden museum. There is also a hotel located at the back of the museum which was a surprise to us.

Intricately carved sculptures set amongst the tree roots of a large banyan tree.

ARMA is more than just a museum, it is a centre for performing and visual arts and it holds many theatre, dance and music performances. There are art classes for all ages, workshops and demonstrations.

As we entered the museum itself, this is the first thing we saw. I just took a quick glance before going to look at the paintings behind. It was only when I turned around that I realised the person was also a sculpture! So glad we were the only ones in there as I jumped back in surprise.

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” – Pablo Picasso

This particular painting was amazing, as it was made up of tiny grains of painted golden rice.

Painted by Stephen Bennett, an American Portrait artist. Over the last twenty years he has travelled to over thirty countries seeking out indigenous people.

I did have to stop myself from going to give him a pat, beautiful wooden sculpture.

The Story of Agung Rai

Agung Rai was born into a poor family which led to a difficult upbringing. Even so he loved art and found a job selling paintings to foreign tourists on the beach. It took a while but he eventually managed to accumulate enough money to convert three rooms of his home into a homestay. This allowed him to offer rooms to tourists in Ubud. In 1978 he was able to open the Agung Rai Fine Art Gallery. ARMA was opened in 1996 and has many paintings not just by Balinese painters but also famous foreign artists.

A literal work of art that has been two years in the making. It will soon be ready to hang and view. The artist showed me minute details in the painting of weddings, funerals and other kinds of ceremonies.