Day 2 wraps up with painting by Dali and restaurant dallying

Orange juice at Kelvingrove coffee shop… then museum tour…amazing building… just missed the organ concert …

We ended our day in Glasgow by going to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, an edifice in the Spanish baroque style completed in 1901. 

Here is Greg photobombing the museum.

A small museum visitor crawls up the entrance steps.

This is the spectacular entrance hall. Notice the organ pipes at the centre of the shot.

Greg dozed off while I explored.

Stained glass installation by Harry Clarke depicts the coronation of the Blessed Virgin, 

I was especially interested in going to the museum because it houses Salvador Dali’s Christ of St. John of the Cross, subject of a talk I gave for a course I took last winter at Huron University College.

An early photo of the painting

I was very eager to see what it was like in “real life.” 

Dali’s painting … very moving… a bit faded…

Apparently Dali used thin canvas and thin (if that is the right word) paint, so the colours have not stayed bright, but it was still a remarkable work of art:

noticed details … shadows on right hand like a nail…

overwhelming sadness…drooped head… yet amazing rejuvenation, strength in shoulder and arms.
Originally had more light around the edges of the shoulders.
Quite a number of people clustered around the painting while we were there. It still has power to draw viewers into its story.

Looking carefully, you could see the restoration after its vandalism.
In 1961, a visitor who thought the painting was sacrilegious, attacked it with a stone and tore the canvas with his hands. However, after a months-long restoration process, it was returned to public display: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_of_Saint_John_of_the_Cross

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We walked the three blocks back to the Argyll Guest House and later had a delicious meal at the Butchershop Bar and Grill, apparently the best steak house in Glasgow. Lucky us. We blundered in there because we liked the decor, and we simply couldn't walk any further. We didn't have a reservation, but we were early and agreed that we could easily finish our meal before 7:30, when our table was reserved for another party. 

The steak was succulent beyond belief, although the goulash soup and the salad dressing were a bit bland (as was a lot of Scottish food no matter where we ate). Just needed a wee squeeze of lemon or more garlic ... Nevertheless, it was a grand meal to celebrate our successful navigation of Glasgow.

We discovered an odd idiosyncrasy of Scottish restaurant service, which repeated itself over and over until we finally clued in.  When the waitress asked us if we would like anything more, Greg said, "No, that's fine, thank you.' We expected the bill. That 's what usually happens here in Canada.  But no bill arrived. We waited ... and waited ... trying to get the attention of our server. Finally  in some distress, she  came over at 7:15, reminding us tactfully that we had agreed we could be away from the table by 7:30. "Yes, please bring us the bill."  So she did. 

We eventually got into the habit of saying "no more thanks please bring us the bill" all in one breath or we might still be in a pub in Scotland waiting, with cobwebs around our ankles.

Back to hotel ... walked... two blocks ...Crashed!! took Ibuprofen for aches... Slept well 9:30 to 5:30 (set alarm too early!)