Scotland's Largest City
While Edinburgh is Scotland’s Capital City, Glasgow is the largest and was also known as the 2nd city of the British Empire. Glasgow is known as a cultural hub and is home to the Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, and National Theatre of Scotland. Of course, much of this was lost on us as we aren’t particularly cultured. That being said it is a beautiful city and we enjoyed our time exploring it. They have a very unique mix of old and new with ancient buildings lining the streets with glass towers tucked in between.
We stayed very closed to the river Clyde which runs through the city. We walked along it to check out the scenery and the various bridges crossing over it, some almost 200 years old. They have some great green spaces along the river with tons of walking trails to explore. Glasgow also has several shopping areas with pedestrian access only to explore. We walked through a couple on our way to other places. Apparently, Glasgow is known for its shopping.
We stayed in this building.
Another day we walked down to check out the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and we walked past Glasgow University and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on the way. We still can’t get over the beauty of the architecture in Europe. These buildings really stand out with the amount of detail and craftsmanship they display.
The museums and art galleries in Glasgow are free; at least the ones we chose to visit. We visited the Riverside Museum which is a transportation museum. They have displays featuring all the different types of transportation used in Glasgow from all eras. Glasgow is actually home to the Europe’s 3rd oldest subway system. The first are London and Budapest and all three used different systems initially. London went for steam, Budapest for electricity and Glasgow went for a cable system. Shipbuilding was also a very big industry in Glasgow, and they had some pretty cool displays of modern ships.
We also wandered through the People’s Museum which is a social history museum of Glasgow’s past that was opened in 1898. They have several displays detailing life in Glasgow throughout history. It was interesting to learn about daily life and how World War I and II shaped the city.
Glasgow Cathedral was stunning. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and it is the oldest building in Glasgow. Construction started on it 1136 and it is believed to be the the only church on the mainland that survived the 1560 Scottish Reformation intact. Perched on the hill above it is the Glasgow Necropolis; the final resting place for over 50,000 souls.
Unfortunately, throughout our stay it rained a lot, and the wind was incredibly strong for a few days, so we didn’t get out as much as we would have liked. Still, we had a great time exploring the city and we are sad that our time in the UK is coming to an end for now. We are headed home to Canada to get organized for our next adventure, so stay tuned…we’ve got big plans.
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