We missed it.

There was music at lovely Grey Friars pub Wednesday night...but we missed it. And we leave for Aberdeen at noon, so no more chances. That's the problem/joy of traveling: you might find delightful people and places but you don't have them very long. Perth will celebrate its Bronze Age heritage the whole month of June..but we won't be here. We will be in Scotland on June 2nd when Queen Elizabeth II will be feted for 60 years of royal service to the United Kingdom...and begin our travel home as Poland and Ukraine begin the Euro 2012 games of futball championship. When we watched championship games in France in 2010, they were twice as exciting than if we'd been in the US.

Several things in Perth have name of Grey Friars. They were the Franciscans. And the White Friars were the Dominicans. There was even a Carthusian abbey here for a while. I'm not sure how similar the Church of Scotland is to Anglican church that was created in 1500's by infamous Henry Tudor. There is also a significant Christodelphian community in the UK. But few of our American hundreds of Protestant churches. And Salvation Army. It was interesting to hear in the Ukraine about the splits in the Orthodox church that have happened there, mostly since and because of the political changes in 1991, as they were achieving independence from USSR. After all, the Orthodox have changed little in 1500 years. The Patriarch of Moscow Patriarchy had been in coma for several weeks after pneumonia episode; since his presence is required for major business, they were in a tiz the week we were in Kiev when he awoke a few days before we arrived, finally able to convene the Synod and do business. Our Dr Bruce Rigdon had been a friend during Cold War days, helping the ecumenical church to stay alive and as well as possible. The Patriarch made time for a visit with Bruce in his hospital room, even delaying a medical procedure just to have some time with him. Because of his illness, we didn't get to meet him, but it was very dear to us that he obviously treasured Bruce's efforts and friendship of difficult years past.