Hello from Listening Live! This is Ingrid and I am currently a junior at Luther. Although I am not a musicmajor or minor I am involved in varsity band and take flute lessons. I am an elementary education major and music has always been a part of my life. Enough about me, moving to the trip, today has been another music filled day. We spent the day learning different traditional folk instruments and attended another concert associated with the Celtic MusicFestival, Celtic Connections.
This morning we woke up and had a great breakfast in the bar of our hostel. We were offered the traditional Scottish food, Haggis, but many of us decided to stick with toast and cereal. After eating a delicious breakfast we headed up to the lounge to discuss what we thought of the concert the night before. Many of us enjoyed hearing traditional Celtic music, but at times we couldn’t figure out what was going on because most of the concert was in Gaelic. After class we headed over to learn some traditional folk instruments including fiddle, mandolin and ukulele.
I had the opportunity to learn fiddle. It was so fun. We learned the make up of the fiddle and spent time learning how to hold the instrument and what note each string was. We started out learning how to play hot cross buns and then when we became more “advanced” we learned twinkletwinkle little star. I loved being able to play a new instrument and take a class with people originally from Scotland.
After the class we ventured out in to Glasgow to find some lunch and do last minute souvenir shopping before heading back to the USA. We found the oldest pub in Glasgow and settled in for some fish and chips and a bacon buttie. I love the atmosphere here and Glasgow and although it is pretty close to London, the culture here is definitely different.
We met up with the class later to head the People’s Palace Museum. It showed the history of Glasgow from the war, to home life to what the people of Glasgow do for fun. We spent a while here learning about what makes up Glasgow and seeing what has changed over the years. The museum also had a conservatory where many of us took a chance to warm up and relax before heading back out into the cold.
Tonight we went to a concert called “Scots in the Spanish Civil War.” It consisted of many different artists who played songs that were either dedicated or written about the war in Spain. I enjoyed the enthusiasm from the audience and the excitement from the performers. The audience was very involved in the performance and it was fun to see how important this concert was to the Scottish audience.
And now we are sitting and reflecting on another great day in Glasgow. I am not looking forward to going home on Wednesday. It has been such a fantastic trip.
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