More from Scotland

2 July--I spent the day in Glasgow. The main attraction was seeing Ibrox--for more see my Facebook or the post below. After completing that pilgrimage we traveled to the city's Cathedral district. The Glasgow Cathedral is one of the many pre-reformation churches in Scotland. Originally a Catholic church, the fevor of the Protestant momvement in the 1570s led many to destroy most of the insides and convert it to comply with Protestant teachings. It's a beautiful building, both inside and out. Most notably, it houses the tomb of St. Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow.

Overlooking the cathedral is the amazing Necropolis. It's kind of creepy, being a graveyard and all, but the structures are amazing. It's bulit on many levels, up both sides of a large hill. Most of the monuments date back to the 17 or 1800s. However, the largest structure, and the most important, is the monument to John Knox, the famous Scottish Reformer. Scotland is very proud and haunted by its Protestant past and this is yet another sign.

3 July--Today we were taken out into the city of Stirling. First we toured the Church of the Holy Rude, an ancient medieval structure, whose past is similar to that of Glasgow Cathedral. It was built as a Catholic church, burned down accidentally, rebuilt, ransacked, and converted to its existing Protestant form. Most notably, the church is the site of the crowning of King James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots.

We also went to Stirling Castle, the ancient fortress used in Braveheart--the historical events, not the actual movie. It's a brilliant and royal structure which today commemorates all of those battles and other events which led to Scottish independence in the 1200s. More on all of these to come.

Cheers!