Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
To get to Glasgow we had a huge day of driving ahead of us. I had decided that the Isle of Skye was worth a detour, so we drove the three hours from Aultbea to Portree before another five hours from Portree to Glasgow. By the time we arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of the city I was tired and Dale was exhausted! Was the detour worth the extra driving? Maybe not, although we did see some lovely scenery it was pretty similar to what we had already scene on the coast.
Our first night in Glasgow was a write off, since all we could be bothered doing was walking downstairs for a drink and a bite to eat at the hotel bar. When we returned to our room and switched on the TV, we found ourselves listening to the familiar twangs of Kiwi accents - 'Border Patrol' is screened in the UK! So we watched the familiar reality tv show from home - Auckland customs officers questioning shady characters who failed to declare sinister jars of honey, drug dogs stopping dope smelling backpackers fresh off the plane from Amsterdam, and port staff emptying a shipping container from the Arabian peninsula which contained undeclared coffee beans and preserved lemons...aahh New Zealand, I miss your friendly corner of the world where intercepted honey is a feel-good moment!
After the obligatory cooked breakfast the following morning, we caught the train into the city centre. Again, the weather was not cooperating and we had our rain jackets at the ready, waiting for the next downpour. Glasgow had quite a different feel from Edinburgh. Big, brash and gritty. We walked through the wide streets of the modern city centre, making our way to the Cathedral which sits out on a limb, next to a hospital and a Victorian graveyard filled with grand tombs and monuments for prosperous merchant families. Entry to the cathedral was free and there were a handful of other tourists looking around when we arrived. Big, solid and less elegant than others we have seen, it was still impressive to see the beautiful stained glass windows contrasting against the heavy grey stone. One of the sets of windows was donated by the city's 14 guilds - including the bonnet makers guild and the fleshers (butchers). Particularly moving were the lists of names of the young men from Glasgow killed in the World Wars. Downstairs one family had commissioned a plaque in memory to their only child, a 22 year old Lieutenant, killed in WW1. Made me feel sad that after all that wasted life there are still families receiving that hard news that their child has been killed in action.
From the quiet reflection of the cathedral, we exited onto a busy Glasgow square and made our way to George Square. The weather was getting sketchier by the moment, so before the skies could open on us we caught a hop-on hop-off bus tour. Slowly the bus made its way around the city's main attractions with a helpful audio guide providing information about each one. By the time the bus was passing the historic university buildings, the rain had stopped and we had seen more than half the city. Off we hopped to find some lunch and visit the nearby Kelvingrove Museum. The museum housed an interesting range of exhibits - a well presented natural history museum featuring a section about Charles Darwin and his discoveries, a display featuring medieval weaponry and armour, an exhibition about Vikings, and in one room hung a spitfire!
Back in the city centre we did some window shopping and then found a nice pub - the music bar - to sit and enjoy a beer surrounded by dark polished wood tables, walls covered in black wallpaper with a white botanic design, and shelves of whiskey bottles. Dale and I caught the train back to our suburb and had a picnic in our room with supplies from my new favourite supermarket, Marks and Spencer. We were just in time to catch the end of another episode of 'Border Patrol'!
- comments