Glasgow, dear Glasgow
Jul 2nd 2008sarahScotland & Travel
The first thing that struck me when I got off the train at Glasgow Central Station was the number of warm coats which greeted us. That and the distinct lack of tartan, shortbread tins, heilan coos, Scottie dogs, Nessies and any tourist tat in general. It was a bit of a novelty for me, and surprisingly refreshing. Although, I did wonder a bit at what country I had landed in. Surely this wasn’t Scotland!
Walking through town to our hotel (we stayed in the Hilton Glasgow! I’d recommend it, but the drinks were overpriced!) the banter around me instantly reminded me that I was indeed in Scotland. 😛
We checked in and then headed out to discover the town. We had a few hours to kill before heading down to Glasgow Green to see Radiohead, so we made our way up to Sauchiehall Street. Sauchiehall Street is Glasgow’s big shopping street. It’s where you can find all the shopping malls, etc. We spent a lot of time on Sauchiehall Street while we were in Glasgow, and while shopping there I experienced some of the best customer service ever in the UK. I was very impressed and would love to go back even just for that!
We didn’t do a lot of touring in Glasgow, but we did see a few things other than Sauchiehall Street and Glasgow Green. We made a brief stop in The Barras, which is Glasgow’s market. That was an interesting wander – it certainly wasn’t Camden, but we enjoyed it! We also had a look around the People’s Palace, a museum about the people of Glasgow.
We also took in some Charles Rennie Mackintosh while we were in the city. We didn’t see as much as I would have liked, but we found we ran out of time. On our last day, we stopped by the Willow Tea Rooms for our lunch. The Willow Tea Rooms were designed by Mackintosh. As industrial as Glasgow’s history is, it is an artistic city, and evidence of this is everywhere. Street musicians were found all over the place (and I only saw one person playing bagpipes!) and numerous music and art shops all over.
The best bits about Glasgow were definitely the banter, the customer service and the sheer fact that it’s undeniably Scotland – even without all the extra tartan! It was a brilliant place, but almost a polar opposite to Edinburgh. It’s definitely the place to visit for art and music, but if you’re looking for kilts and shortbread, Edinburgh’s the place to go.
