Yesterday was conference day. The presentations were excellent. I met a lot of great people and got lots of new ideas. Dundee (and Scotland in general) is moving aggressively towards a more equitable traffic infrastructure. They have a lot of dedicated people working on it.
Today I got ready at a leisurely pace and took the bus to the Museum of Transport. It was like a hobby shop for a bunch of old guys. There were guys with museum t-shirts on having a wonderful time just polishing the cars and talking to visitors. The even had guys put in the back refurbishing old cars right in the museum. This place was really. Labor of love. And I don’t have to ask for the senior discount in the museums here. The clerks give it to me before I even ask.
Then I hopped on the bus to go the rest of the way into town. I went in and took my seat, expecting the conductor to come by and collect my money. All of a sudden the bus drivers asks me very politely if I wouldn’t like to buy a ticket! I told him I was sorry , but I thought there was a conductor. He lamented that his bus line WISHED that they would get conductors. So I paid and rode to the next museum, the RRS Discovery Museum. This is the museum attached to the ship Discovery, which I visited yesterday. I got in for free because the guy gave me the free year’s pass yesterday. This museum told the story of the shop, emphasizing the journeys it took to explore the Antarctic. I spent a lot of time in there. I sat down in the little theater inside the museum to watch the movie about the ship. It didn’t start for another 19 minutes so I took a quick catnap! How refreshing. After the museum, I went to the train station and got my ticket for Glasgow tomorrow. They give you seat reservations and everything. I’m sure I’ll be taking naps on the train again tomorrow too.
On the bike ride onday, one of the guides mentioned the Dundee was famous for jam, jute and journalists. I had already heard that the museum about the jute industry was fantastic, so I got directions from the ticket master at the train station and took off for Verdant Mills Museum. By now the day was a little dreary and drizzling and I had to walk about 20 minutes. I was glad I had on my warm sweater underneath my jacket. The old stone factory building and the machinery itself is all well preserved. Previous owners were clever enough not to destroy the inventory. Some of the machines are 200 years old and still function. A guy and a lady came and gave us a demonstration of the machines. You could tell they were really passionate about it. And this was all such a big part of Dundee’s history.
After I was done there, I stopped at Lidl to pick up some tea and cupcakes for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll need something in my stomach before I take off for Glasgow. Then I can get a proper breakfast when I get there. After Lidl, I was going to head to the bookstore and then across the street to the Mexican restaurant where I wanted to have dinner. But, since McManus art and history museum was on the way, I said, why not? I took a quick look at everything then went quickly to the bookstore and over to the Mexican.
I know that Mexican is interpreted differently in every country so I didn’t know what to expect. What was surprising was that the spicy sauce on my enchiladas was made with chocolate. I had to adjust to the unexpected taste and pour a lot of hot sauce on the chocolate sauce. I had a side of refried beans which was excellent.
So, I walk out of the restaurant just in time to see my bus pull away from the bus stop. I wait 15 minutes for the next one and get one. The conductor comes to collect my ticket and tells me this bus doesn’t stop at Carnoustie. So I had to hop out at the next stop and wait another 15 minutes before the right bus came.
So now it’s about time for me to get to bed because I have to get up early for Glasgow tomorrow.
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