Last Day in Scotland: The Loch Ness Monster!

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Oh it was a creepy day to go to this monsters home! It was rainy and the fog was so thick you could only see about 3 feet in front of you when you were on the lake. This didn't prevent us from taking a ton of pictures near the lake hoping to catch a glimpse of Nessie. Unfortunately she didn't make an appearance and doesn't that often. We walked around the little town a bit and there were tons of quaint cottages that were so lovely. Although I don't know if I would want to live next to a lake with a monster in it. Because it was such bad weather and drizzling when we traveled to the lake we headed back early and had a chance to squeeze in tea time at one of Charles Mackintosh last tea houses left The Willow Tea Rooms. This was my first formal tea time and it was spectacular in such an famous one in Glasgow. The chairs had really high backs and there were influences of nature everywhere. We had English tea with a few rectangular shaped sandwiches and a shortbread cookie afterwards.

When tea time was over we strolled over to take a tour of the Glasgow School of Art that was designed by Charles Mackintosh. The building itself was really neat. A student took us on a tour and we were able to see the multiple floors, where the studios were, the library, and the attic which overlooked the entire city and such a lovely view. There was also a place that used to be a greenhouse and because it was on the top floor it was really neat to see all of the glass windows that beheld a view over the city. The school was finished being built in 1909 and has been used as a school ever since. They also have a separate display of the furniture Mackintosh made over his lifetime and he really does have some interesting pieces, especially the really high backed chairs for people who held high and prestigious positions. There were a few particular structures in the school that grabbed my attention and the first thing was the clocks. All of the clocks displayed in the building were wired to a master clock so whatever time that master clock said was displayed on all of the clocks throughout the school and they were never off from each other. This was done so no student could ever have an excuse of being late to class because his clock said the wrong time when the master clock was in the presidents office. Another structure was a lantern that was near a stairway. It looked like a large closet in the middle of the stairs that circled around it as it went around to other floors. Although it was located on the main floor it didn't have a floor inside of it or a ceiling. That way when the lamps were put on the wall shelves inside of it, it would look like a floating Japanese lantern. In another room we were told that there was a circus that used to be across from the school and when ever students wanted to do art work of exotic animals there was a large door in the basement in the gift shop that animals could walk through and that is where they would place them as they were being borrowed to do artwork. Although this has never been proven true it is a good belief.

On our last night in Glasgow we went to dinner at a Chinese Buffet! The food portions are much bigger in Scotland compared to London. I have never even seen one buffet in my stay so far over here and it was so exciting to finally see one! This buffet had a lot of delicious sea food, especially the crab but also had other things like ribs and chips (french fries) or chicken wings. They also had shelled shrimp and the waiter was kind enough to show me how to take the thing apart. It was great to learn something new while in Scotland! Being full after eating a meal is something I haven't really experienced on my stay in the UK, but after Scotland I have finally eaten enough to be stuffed. On Monday we started our long journey back to London but not before we stopped in Lancaster and walked up to see the outside of the castle and had a delicious Italian Calzone from Bella Italia where they gave students a 50% discount on Mondays. 😊

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