Glasgow and the Lake District

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Headed South today, leaving Inverness on the early morning train for Glasgow. In by around 11ish. Glasgow I've decided is actually a very cool city. It's gritty and rough around the edges, not at all like the picture perfect Edinburgh just an hour away by train. Glasgow is a living and breathing city. It's also definitely the Chicago of Scotland, mainly because Glasgow is all about architecture. One man, during the turn of the 20th century, Charles MacKintosh, revolutionized architecture with strikingly Modern, minimalist buildings when everyone else was still caught up in overdone Victorianism. He set the stage for later developments in the States, like in Chicago and New York. And his buildings grace Glasgow, and really provide probably the greatest draw to the city in the first place.

Then took the train back into England, going to the incredibly pristine Lake District. This is I think one of the most beautiful, idyllic places in the country. It's all about lakes and rolling green hills. But, while the area is certainly pretty, it's still hard for me to fully appreciate it, having just come from Colorado. The largest "mountain" here really is just a hill, at something like 3000 feet - that's still not even up to Denver! These British people should go explore the Rockies. Then they'd truly do some hiking, not just hillwalking, as they call moutaineering around here.

Keswick, the little town I'm in, also has the feel of Vail, or at least a Colorado mountain town during the summer. The town is filled with boot shops and hiking stores, has tons of pretty flowers in pots, and a lot of laid back people with their dogs. You'd really think you were back in Colorado if you didn't know any better. In the evening, I hillwalked for awhile, going up Latrigg Peak for a nice view over Keswick. This area is also famous because William Wordsworth, the great Romantic poet, lived in this area, and wrote most of his best poems from a cottage just down the road. I'm not visiting the South Lake District, though, where the Wordsworth cottage is, since apparently really tacky tourist shops have basically ruined the entire area. Where I'm at it's less spoiled by giant tour buses and masses of people madly snapping photos - all things definitely to be avoided.

Tomorrow I actually fly off from Manchester for Lisbon, Portugal. I was supposed to start in Portugal actually, but had to do some rearranging at the last minute. So I'll be back in England in August, ending in London and some surroundings sights.

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Photos

Waterhouse in Glasgow
An early MacKintosh building. I feel like you could easily see this building in Chicago.

Irreverent Glasgow
Glasgow loves to cuts down the proper thing to do. The statue of Wellington, who beat Napoleon, has a cone on his head. Kind of like drawing a mustache on a George Washington portrait.

The Hatrack Building
Another MacKintosh. The spine of the building holds the weight, so the facade can be nothing but glass, a classic Modern technique. Also a lot of nice metal work. This reminds me of the Monadnock Building in Chicago.

Hatrack Design
Why it's called the hatrack - because it looks like a hatrack at the top.

Glasgow School of Art
MacKintosh's masterpiece. Hard to appreciate, but you have to realize that other people were still building with all that Victorian clutter and mess of ornament. This is straight and clean, full of light.

Keswick Center
Happened to be a market day.

Hiking Outside Keswick
Pretty, but can't stack up to Colorado. These hills aren't even the size of the foothills in Denver.

Another View
Can see another of the lakes in the distance.

Keswick and Lake Derwentwater
Nice view back towards town.

Nearing the Top
Not the best angle, but not too bad.