Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis!
- Elena Sieverding
- Mar 3, 2019
- 4 min read
Hello readers! Welcome back to another weekly update from my time abroad! This week was pretty chill, meaning I didn't leave the city. I did spend a lot of money it feels like...haha don't worry I didn't go on a shopping spree. I ended up booking a lot of future travels, including my trip to Amsterdam in a couple weeks to see one of my close friends and my trip to Iceland then home with my family at the end of my semester. I am in the process of possibly booking a trip to Croatia at the end of April and Ireland in the beginning of May. If anyone knows of any good student deals or cheap tour groups, please comment either on this post or my Facebook post! I am all about saving money (please, I need cheap adventures)!
This weekend I explored the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis! Of course the one day I decide to explore these outdoor attractions, it starts raining...I really shouldn't be surprised I guess--it is Scotland. Fortunately, the Cathedral is only about fifteen minutes from my housing, so it's not like we were super far. The Cathedral was very big and very pretty. It was built in the twelfth century and was the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to survive the 1560 Reformation. It is thought to be located where the patron saint of Glasgow, St. Mungo, built his first church. Located in the lower crypt is St. Mungo's tomb. It is free to the public, so I definitely recommend visiting!
Located right next to the Cathedral is the Necropolis, which is a very big graveyard. I didn't necessarily know what I was looking for when visiting, but I ended up finding some very interesting mausoleums. They had bright, colorful gates, which I thought was interesting. I didn't know if it was "appropriate" to take pictures in front of them, but I figured if you made your gate interesting and colorful, you maybe wanted the attention? I know they were repainted, but still. If you all wanted a little more background about the Necropolis, here's a short excerpt from their website! "The Necropolis was one of the few cemeteries to keep records of the dead, including profession, ages, sex and cause of death. In July 1878 the visitors book shows that 13,733 people visited the Glasgow Necropolis – 12,400 citizens and 1,333 other visitors. In 1966, the Merchants’ House gave the Necropolis to the Glasgow City Council which now administers and maintains it. The benches and grave surrounds have been removed and most of the area put to grass for maintenance purposes. There are monuments here designed by major architects and sculptors of the time, including Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, Charles Rennie Macintosh and JT Rochead, in every architectural style, created for the prominent and wealthy entrepreneurs of the ‘Second City of the Empire’." (Here's the website I pulled that from: https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/history/)
Another thing that I thought was kind of funny was that we found a headstone with the last name "Scotland". How cool is that to have your last name be the country that you live in? My exact words to Rachel were, "Woah, that's lit. His last name is Scotland, what a boss." I'm too hip for my own good, I know (LOL).
After getting thoroughly soaked, Rachel and I decided to go for some early dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I know, not very authentic, but I was feeling some classic American food. The rest of the night was for my workouts and working a little more on homework. My assessment due dates are sneaking up on me, so my goal is to finish the first round of papers before the month is over! For today's adventure, Rachel and I went to church at Harvest Glasgow. It has pretty similar characteristics of my church back home (Cornerstone) in Ames. The people there are so nice and friendly--we always spend like an extra hour after just talking to people. One thing that is kind of tough is that the preacher talks really fast. I've found it's a Scottish thing. It does make me listen more closely so I can absorb what he's saying (LOL).
Every morning I listen to a gospel centered podcast to prepare me for the day. Today I listened to one that talked about goal setting. I know I can get into the mindset that things will just workout the way they're supposed to, so I don't have to make a lot of effort in a certain direction. I always asked myself "how do I know that what God wants me to do?" I mean, things will workout, but I need to have a clear direction for my business or the things I want to achieve in life. If God doesn't want me on that path, then he will make sure that he closes that door. If I never try to walk through the door, then I'll never know. Long story short, I was inspired to create a vision board. I included pictures of the business and career paths I want to achieve, staying focused on God and having him the number one person on my heart, and different life goals like living in Florida, getting married, having children, and learning to surf! I placed these images on my laptop lock screen, so I see them everyday. I challenge you to make clear goals and apply them to a vision board! If you see it everyday, you'll be more inspired to achieve those goals! Until next week, I'll leave you with some pictures from yesterday and my vision board example! Don't forget to comment some cheap travel guides for Ireland and Croatia, or honestly anywhere in Europe!
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