Storyline: A Glimpse of Scotland
…yes, and for a very different reason. They value their intellectuals more than their politicians and royalty.
We noticed the original art on the walls of our room. The paintings had plaques beside as in a museum, with the description of the style and ideas of the artist.
As we walked into George Square a 24-metre monument was standing above all, including the city chambers. We were of course curious about which aristocrat or great warrior was taking this space. It turned out to be Sir Walter Scott who was “an internationally acclaimed novelist and poet of works including Rob Roy and the Lady of the Lake. He was the first English-language author to have many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia and North America. Glasgow’s was the first public monument to Sir Walter Scott anywhere in the world, 10 years ahead of the completion of Edinburgh’s Scott Monument on Princes Street”. [heraldscotland.com].
All the other statues were more earthbound, and were more or less the same size. None was given a higher rank—not even Queen Victoria!
We have never been able to visit more than two attractions in a day. Unless one runs through a museum, takes a selfie, checks it off the list and off to the next place on the list, one can never see enough in a day. At least we can’t. In many cities we have managed only a single museum or art gallery in a day and still just scratched the surface.
Many told us that there is not much to do in Glasgow and 2-3 days would be enough. We booked 4, knowing that we’d need at least one day for dealing with the jet lag.
The first full day we walked to Glasgow Cathedral and then uphill to the Necropolis. Lovely views from that hill.
Then we walked down by the river Clyde, through Glasgow Central Station, up the pedestrian shopping area of Buchanan and Sauchiehall streets and called it a day.
Well, after having a late lunch/early dinner at a pub. Diana had to try her favorite gin that she had discovered in Manchester this spring. And of course, the legendary (and delicious) haggis, neeps & tatties! You can look up what’s in haggis…neeps are pureed/mashed swede (rutabaga in North America) and tatties are mashed potatoes.
The next day we walked through Kelvingrove Park to the lovely botanical Gardens, where we had tea and coffee on the patio of the tea room there, walked by the university of Glasgow and managed to visit one of the three floors of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
There are organ concerts there around 1PM that we would like to attend, but there is so much more to see.
Scots, at least in Glasgow, have great ideas of presenting art, history and religion in a way that has something for everyone.
When we walked into Glasgow Cathedral I was reluctant to go to the lower church, crypts usually being dimly lit and designated for relics, and tombs of nobility and saints…but there was something very different there.
Although there is one important raised tomb (that of St. Mungo, founder and patron saint of Glasgow) and a half dozen or so other tombs below the floor.
The remaining space was full of an exhibition of Lego sculptures representing a variety of historic places, events and geographic landmarks: the first London Bridge, Jordan’s Petra, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Trojan Horse, and so on.
Even Niagara Falls was there!
What a great way to bring history and geography in sight and attract visitors, especially the youth. This was a visiting exhibition of the Brick Wonders created by Warren Elsmore and his team. “We love transforming the world around us into LEGO scenes. It’s a fun way to translate history into a medium that everyone can understand and relate to, especially young people.”[ Warren Elsmore.]
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum had something for everyone.
If you love art, there was a concise collection of French, Dutch and Scottish masters. You love history – plenty of it.
You love rainforest, and interested in flora and fauna (and not turned off by taxidermy) – check.
There’s even a WW2-era Spitfire plane suspended in one of the galleries as if coming in to land. A fascinating space for all ages.
There are loads of free museums and events in Glasgow as in any other British city. We managed to run literally through the Riverside Museum and spend some time exploring aboard the tall ship Glenlee.
Alex:
The Riverside Museum is a new building that in plan view looks like a wave. It contains the City’s transportation collection – everything from baby carriages, bicycles and cars to buses, trams and steam trains with other modes thrown in for good measure.
It’s worth spending much more time than the hour we managed.
The Glenlee is one of the five Clydebuilt tall ships still afloat. Built in 1896 as a cargo vessel, she has circumnavigated the globe several times, served in the Spanish navy and was ‘rescued’ in 1992, then repatriated and restored.
The ship is owned by the Clyde Maritime Trust, and while admission to the ship is currently free, the Trust needs donations and guidebook sales to keep her afloat (pun intended).
Fascinating, especially for a landlubber like Diana who usually gets queasy just looking at boats moving on the water.
One day isn’t nearly enough to see it all and read some of the available and well-written descriptions.
We also managed to visit the Tenement House Museum. I was very disappointed though. It was the only paid museum we visited. If you are in Glasgow, and you are of our age save your pounds for a few glasses of scotch instead. [Counterpoint: for Alex it was a nostalgic and interesting site. He agrees, though, that the entrance fee is too steep]
It literally has one very small apartment (called house) with coal stove in the kitchen (I was still using coal in my late twenties),
a bathroom with running water, flush toilet and bath tub (the built-in plumbing, I guess, was available only to the middle/upper classes in the early 20th century), a bedroom and a living room (with a bed nook).
The kitchen also had a bed nook. It takes no more than 10 min to see it all, for which we waited 30 min.
It is full of people, so you just have to squeeze by the crowds. Lighting throughout was by coal-gas lamps which were only converted to electricity later in the century. Many of the old gas ceiling fixtures have been restored and are in use today. So, the Tenement House is a well-preserved view of early-to-mid 20th century life in a middle-class Glasgow tenement, and perhaps a great place to show younger generations how technology has changed the foundation of the way we live today.
With these few runs we only scratched the surface of what many told us was a boring city. There are lots interesting and totally free museums, galleries, gardens and walks to be appreciated. We also noticed several interesting murals as we toured the City. There is even a mural trail one can follow. And there are always excellent buskers performing on pedestrian Buchanan and Sauchiehall Streets.
We enjoyed Glasgow’s simplicity, sense of fun and lack of pretention.
Glad you enjoyed Glasgow. My father was a ships plater on the Clydebank shipyard and participated in the General Strike in 1925.