Yesterday was very wet. After blogging quickly visited Dunblane Cathedral, opposite the Chimes, before grabbing our umbrellas and coats for our walk to the station in the rain. There are no local taxis in the village. Fortunately just as we turned the corner the local bus came by so hailed him rather than walking 10 minutes in the rain. Once again he didn't charge. We caught our last train to Edinburgh and a lady on the train said you were at the pub last night. She was actually the violinist in the folk group so it was great to have a chat. apparently it is just a loose group that turn up on a Tuesday to practice. She is classically trained and the older guitarist and flautists have been professional player and the singer with the beautiful clear soprano voice had studied music in Glasgow and also conducted a choir in Dunblane. This was just another of the wonderful occurrences on this trip. Our day in Edinburgh familiarized us with Scottish Mists and we required our rain coats and umbrellas for most of the day. this prevented us doing the Botanic gardens. We had a gallery day. We decided not to leave our cases at Waverley as it was £7 for each case. This was a wise decision as there was a free cloak room at The Nat Gall of Scotland. After our soup lunch in a lovely bright cafe overlooking Princess St gardens. The permanent gallery had some famous paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Monet, Seurat and Cezanne. We also saw more works of the Glasgow Boys. We then walked a block away to catch a bus to the two modern galleries. At Dean Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art there was a special Surrealist Exhibition- Another World: Dali, Magritte, Miro and the Surrealists. This was very comprehensive but Roger's energy levels had waned. I was interested to see a number of Max Ernst's frottage works ( rubbings) as well as Dali's later works. It was very densely hung and the whole gallery of several floors contained this exhibition. It also revealled the influence of Surrealism on later artists. We then walked over the road to another part of the Modern Gallery which had an exhibition celebrating the 50th birthday of this gallery. There were many works by well known modern artists including Rouault, Leger and Lichtenstein but probably didn't do it justice as we had both run out of energy. Caught bus back to near the other gallery. Had afternoon tea with the most delicious lemon drizzle cake. Collected bags and wheeled our bags to station. Had not checked train times but the information guy said one was leaving in 5 mins. Had a fantastic trip with a lovely couple from Lincoln. Newcastle is not the place to visit despite articles in travel mags. Our Bently hotel was a bad choice. It was clean but very tiny and in a very ordinary area. It was also up two flights without a lift. I must have had a bad day when I selected this, hopefully York will be better. It wasn't even close to the station. This morning caught a bus to Central station - no Tourist Information so had to drag our cases to the centre of town. Got a bus to Gateshead and took photos of the Millennium Bridge and the mini Sydney Harbour one and The Sage Concert Hall, a stunning modern building. The Baltic Summer Season has centred around artists and music. Once again we encountered Cornelia Parker and her Perpetual Canon which features squashed brass instrument which are in a circle and cast interesting shadows. The other works were confusing but the gallery was worth a visit and was the source of this freeInternet. Now we have a train ride to York for two nights.
Having a great time
Love to all
Jo and Rog
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