Glasgow in the rain

We came up on the train for the weekend hoping to catch some of the atmosphere of Celtic Connections, the yearly festival of Scottish music and its links with music from around the world. Tonight we are going to see Beth Neilson Chapman.

As it was raining when we arrived, we made hastily for the Willow Tea Room on Sauchiehall Street. Lovely lunch surrounded by Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed architecture and furniture. And that made us book for a tour of the Glasgow School of Art, which is his masterwork and a place I have always wanted to see inside.

A brilliant tour guided by a student at the School. What a place! Light and airy in one bit, like a dungeon in another, and continues to fulfil its original purpose as a creative institution, with currently 2000 students. Of course there was the blanket ban on photography, so this is a surreptitious, and not very good, picture of the fabulous library. It gives an idea though of the wonder of it, with its balcony, huge windows and magnificent lights. Here is a better picture of the library.