Tuesday 22nd August 2023
A walk over Dundee Law and through the city with Anne (5.3 miles).
Anne and I have not had a holiday since my surgery in April. At first my recovery stopped us doing so. Now it is trying to fit things in between blood tests and other clinics. I feel really well but there are cancer cells somewhere as my PSA blood tests are not dropping to zero. My times are in His hands.
We arranged to stay four nights in the Travelodge on Strathmore Avenuein Dundee. We came down on Monday the 21st of August and returned home on Friday the 25th. It was a lovely wee break. From our window in the Travelodge we could see Dundee Law.
Wikipedia – Dundee Law is a hill in the centre of Dundee, Scotland, and is the highest point in the city. The Law is what remains of a volcanic sill, which is the result of volcanic activity around 400 million years ago. With a large war memorial at its summit, it is the most prominent feature on the local skyline. You can believe all that malarky about 400 million years if you want.
We set off at 1.50 and headed down Laton Road almost across form our accommodation. There were all sorts of paths marked on the OpenTopo map on my phone but some were very wild. We took a likely path and ended up going up over scree and rock! We found two young chaps out on electric bikes. They looked like ‘neds’ but were delightful and helpful young men. They even led us to where we could get onto the better track. Here the Tay Railway Bridge is coming into view. There were steps to the left and we headed up them to the top.
The war memorial started to come into view as we got near the top of the steps.
Anne on the steps we had just come up. She was taking photos and probably took much better ones than I did.
At the top there are superb views.
That is the Tay Road Bridge.
That is the Tay Railway Bridge. We are very familiar with the other end, at Wormit, as Aunt Jay lived on Bay Road. We often looked out to Dundee and the Law from the upstairs sitting room in her house.
Our Travelodge is showing through the trees as that white building.
We headed down the steps and then down a lane which went almost in a straight line to Dudhope Park.
We bought chocolate and a drink in the Wellgate Centre at Home Bargains and sat and ate it here. We look very happy! We were on a comfy sofa that was placed near the bottom of the escalator.
We went to the McManus, Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum. It was a lovely small museum and art gallery; very doable. I came on a huge and interesting painting called “Descent from the Cross”. It depicts the awful scene of Christ’s body being taken down from the cross. John, the disciple, dressed in a scarlet cloak and with one foot on a ladder is the primary figure supporting the weight of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea is positioned diagonally across from him to assist him. Nicodemus is shown above them on the ladder, while two men leaning over the crossbar are lowering Jesus’ body, with one holding the winding sheet between his teeth to free his hands. Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Clopas kneel at the foot of the cross. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is standing, her sorrow and anguish expressed in her pale face rather than her posture. It is a copy by the Flemmish artist Louis Farasyn of Peter Paul Rubens masterpiece which is the central panel in the great altarpiece in the Cathedral of our Lady, in Antwerp, Belgium.
I love Nicodemus. He was the first to hear Jesus say – For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3: 17)
Nicodemus helped take these cruel nails from Jesus’ hands and feet. He helped take his blood encrusted body down from the cross. He had eventually come round to loving Jesus!
Nicodemus also donated 75 pounds of expensive myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus’ dead body. The AV has it as 100 pounds. That was the quantity of spices you would use to prepare a king for burial. And that is who Jesus is. That’s who Nicodemus sees Jesus as. He is King.
We had a look round some charity shops and Anne bought trainers and a handbag in Shoezone. We had a burger tea in McDonalds as well as a McFurry! I love McDonalds. Then we had to climb all the way back up to our lodgings on Strathmore Avenue arriving at 6.15. We were both very tired, but what a lovely time.