Doors Open Day

This weekend was Doors Open Day across Renfrewshire. For those who don't know about it, it's basically a couple of days where you can gain access to various buildings, tours and events that aren't usually available to the public for free. In addition, museums, art galleries and restaurants/pubs usually take part in promotional events too. It's a good wee day out doing something a bit different, and the fact that it's free is a huge bonus! The Glasgow version will take place from the 15th-21st September, and I'll leave a link to that at the end of the post for you all to have a look at and see if anything takes your fancy.

 

There were lots of events across the county, but we just spent the afternoon in Paisley as that was where the main attractions we wanted to see were. We started off at the Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, which I've never been to before but was definitely worth a look. The Glasgow museums are better, but I really enjoyed the exhibits about the history of Paisley and about the Coats family, who were the aristocrats of the area. It finally clicked why so many things in Paisley are named after them!

 

 

We then walked down the street to the Thomas Coats Memorial Church (see the Coats theme?!), which was stunning inside. We had really gone there as there was a photography exhibit on, which gave me loads of ideas on improving my photography skills. Then we popped into Hamishes Hoose for a bite to eat as they were offering a free dessert with every Doors Open guide but the main courses were so big we actually couldn't manage a dessert! I had steak pie and my boyfriend had haggis, neeps and tatties and both were super tasty. All mains were BOGOF too so the bill ended up coming to £13- we would have been the same price if we'd went for a McDonalds! I'll definitely go back, but might skip lunch that day so I have room for dessert!

 

The last attraction we wanted to go to was the re-opening of the Grand Fountain in Fountain Gardens. This was the event I was most excited about- don't ask me why, I've just got a thing about pretty fountains. The fountain has just gone under restoration and looks amazing. There was a gazebo with a display depicting the restoration process and the difference is astounding. I just hope it stays that way!

Glasgow Doors Open Day: http://glasgowdoorsopenday.com/

Do you have anything similar in your area? Will you go to the Glasgow one?