Tuesday 9 September 2014

An Unexpected Afternoon

We walked back to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow from lunch in a Rioja a tapas bar that had been recommended to us and which lived up to the recommendation.  As we were passing the bowling greens which had been used for the Commonwealth Games and which used to be the home of the Glasgow Croquet Club I saw one of the members whom I know playing but with no opponent.  I went over for a chat and discovered that there was a likelihood that the Club would return to these lawns.  I ended up playing for a few hours.  I discovered that I can still play!  The backdrop for the lawns is the spectacular Kelvingrove building. 


24 comments:

  1. Kelvingrove! One of my favourite places. And the view of my old alma mater - from the back steps of the Museum - is glorious. Lucky you. I, on the other hand, spent today in Aberdeen. Which is not one of my favourite places... Ach well... at least one of us had a lovely day.

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    1. Yvonne, Kelvingrove is almost like a drug to me. I can't keep away and now that the croquet is back beside it... I'm sorry your day wasn't so good. It's years since I was in Aberdeen and it'll probably be years before I'm back there.

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  2. Wow, your favourite sport with a favourite building as backdrop! :)
    I remember you posting from inside the museum before, but not this magnificent view of the exterior!

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    1. It is a magnificent building Monica and it's rather remiss of me if I haven't posted its exterior before.

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  3. At your age, Graham, every afternoon is unexpected.....some are just better than others.

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    1. David one day you will arrive at my advanced years (I hope) and every time you wake up in the morning you will think it's a Good Day (I hope).

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  4. What a great and serendipitous find! Sounds like you had a wonderful afternoon. xoxox

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    1. DeeDee it was a wonderful afternoon. I discovered that I can still hit the ball straight (most of the time).

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  5. What a wonderful bit of serendipity. And almost anything would be worth doing with that fabulous building in the background.

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    1. Jenny I love the building and it's contents. I never tire of going there and now that the croquet club has moved back there it's a sort of Mecca for me.

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  6. Ahh, the delight of unexpected pleasures!

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  7. That is a gorgeous photo. I hope you will pause sometimes in your croquet to take more of that setting. Kelvingrove is still a vivid memory for me from a visit from Australia a couple of years ago. Jean

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    1. Jean I'll doubtless have some more posts on Kelvingrove because it's one of my favourite places to be.

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  8. Great picture, and it sounds like you had a good time there. Like Pauline says, the delight of unexpected pleasures! A bit like RJ and myself last Saturday; we had been eating out in a nearby smaller town and just wanted to stroll up and down their high street before getting back to the car and home, when we heard fireworks not far away. We found a spot where to watch it from, it was romantic and beautiful. And after that, on our way back to the car, we came past a dance venue that had opened only recently; it looked nice, the music sounded good, so we went in and danced for a while and had a drink. (Dancing wasn't easy with our normal street shoes, but we still had fun!)

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    1. Meike when I'm in my car I always travel with the kitchen sink so I'd probably have had my dancing shoes with me.

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  9. It's a superb place in a great city.
    I'm surprised they let anyone walk on that grass. It looks very expensive.

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    1. Adrian it's very expensive grass and one has to wear appropriate flat soft-heeled shoes. It's 'ironed' almost daily.

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  10. It's not that long since you last played, is it, Graham? I'm so glad you had a good time.

    I should know by now, but am I right in thinking that your New Zealand days really are over now?

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    1. Frances it's over four months since I picked up a mallet but I could still hit a ball accurately enough for it to roquet another ball 40 yards away.

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  11. What a gorgeous building! Beautiful surrounds too.

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    1. Liz it's a beautiful setting altogether and absolutely perfect lawns.

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  12. I think I may fancy a game of croquet on those lawns with such a beautiful backdrop....

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