Day 9: Magic Carpets
Burrell Collection
We took more public transit through a sketchy side of Glasgow to get to the Burrell Collection. The bus actually dropped us at the entrance of a park and we had to walk by a river, through a parking lot, and down a long winding road to get near the building which housed the Burrell Collection. It was really hot and I was about museum-ed out, but it was our last day so we had to power through! When we arrived, there was about an hour before the next tour and about two hours before the story time we were slated to see. Kelli grabbed a bite to eat, others wondered around, and the Dean and I headed to the Pollock House.
|
Pollock House
On the way to the house we got see some highland cows just hanging out in the 85 degree heat in the middle of the city. I will say they looked much more like the grain fed cows I’m used to seeing at home and not the grass fed ones we saw on the Scottish countryside. The Pollock House has a large collection of Italian paintings (collected by Sir William Stirling Maxwell), has a restaurant, and can be rented for events. The Dean bought a guide book for us to share. I’m a slow reader so I skimmed the booklet in hopes that she wouldn’t notice that I was only reading 10% of it. The house was really interesting, but I couldn’t handle reading any more literature about paintings or artifacts, I could barely read the signs pointing the way in the park. There were a lot of paintings of the Hapsburgs, which if I had enough money back then to have a portrait painted I would have paid them to paint me prettier and healthier than these people looked (it’s like the original Photoshop). In the dining room there were two paintings at one end: one of a creepy kid and the other of a scowling lady. I said it must be the dieters end because the kid made me lose my appetite and the lady looked like she would judge me for having seconds. The worst painting was at the top of a winding staircase and was of a baby that may or may not been alive when they painted it. I still see it when I close my eyes! By the end, I think the Dean caught on that I wasn’t really reading anything so she read some highlights out loud, which was fine by me. We headed back for our tour and resolved to come back later for tea.
Tour and Story Time
We made it back in time to see most of the tour and here are some of the highlights. My favorite was the painting of Judith because I definitely feel that way some days.
The story time was very entertaining, and for a little while we were the only ones there so she was able to tell us about her story-telling experience. She said that she doesn’t use books when telling stories because they are a barrier between you and the audience.
Without a book, you can use your whole body to tell a story. She used the carpets in the museum and giant flash cards to help her tell stories about different animals and catered the stories to her audience. A good teacher engages with the listener and having the audience participate is the best wait to involve them. Here is a simple story she challenged us to memorize and tell each other later on using actions and words to grab the audience’s attention.
Three Blind Men in a Garden
Once there were three blind men who thought they heard an elephant. Since they had never met an elephant before, they decided to make their way over to the creature, who happened to be in a garden. After finding the garden door, they went over the elephant to see what he felt like. One man found the elephants tail and said, "This feels like a rope. An elephant must be like a rope." The second man had a hold of the elephant's ear, and said "No, this feels like a carpet. The elephant must be like a carpet." The third man had found the knee and said, "No the elephant is neither of those things, it feels like a pillar. The elephant must be like a pillar." They argued back and forth, "NO! The elephant is like a rope!", "NO! The elephant is like a carpet!", "NO! The elephant like is a pillar!" The men argued from sun up until nearly sun down. Finally, the elephant grew tired of their bickering and walked away.
|
I don’t think anyone actually did this, but I often do story time at Barnes & Noble and would be curious to try to tell a story without a book, however I think since we are a store promoting books to buy I don’t know that the managers would like this idea.
Mussel Inn and Pub Trivia
Our last night together and I had the best meal ever! I think I could have brought 3.5 ounces of the buttery goodness home in my carry on! We had a great time, but I think everyone was ready to go home or tour the rest of Europe. I wanted to try whiskey before we left, so we stopped at a little pub near Mussel Inn called Pot Still. The owner was so nice and let me smell the whiskey before I bought it, gave me advice on how to drink it, and even gave me brochures on the distillery located just outside of town. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the pub had American themed trivia. We won the American categories, but lost the others, and so didn’t win. All in all we had a great time, but we were sad to say to good-bye.