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Published: October 14th 2014
This summer we had the good fortune to be offered a month's work at the
University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. We had a great time there teaching academic English to students from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Oman and Saudi. Of course, it also enabled us to explore part of the world we had never had the chance to see - the Glasgow area!
The University itself is right in the heart of the city. It was literally ten minutes walk into the centre where, naturally, we tried out one or two bars and restaurants . It's not a cheap city to wine and dine in, but Wetherspoons can always be relied on when you need to keep the costs down. We didn't get around the city as much as we had hoped so we'll have to go back next year (if they'll have us!) but here is a brief summary of the places we did manage to see thanks to Glasgow's easy-to-use
Subway system. You might notice a lack of football related activities which seems strange in a city with so many teams. Russ intends to put that right next time!!
University of Strathclyde It may be strange to put
our place of work down as one of the sights but as you wander around campus you are struck by the amazing street art which has been used to decorate the buildings. The artwork pays homage to famous academics, inventors and explorers from Glasgow as well as its position as a seat of learning. We were relieved to see that it is "A place of useful learning"! We were staying on campus and at one stage we shared our flat with some German teachers who were there for a week or so. We also had to share the campus with bands performing in the World Pipe Band Championships. At first it was a novel experience, but each band had to practice just THREE tunes incessantly to be perfect on the day. We were rather pleased when the championships were over and peace and quiet returned. We don't want to hear the bagpipes EVER AGAIN!!!!
Clyde and the Commonwealth Games The Games had just finished when we arrived so we never got to see any of the athletes and we even missed the Scottish "victory" parade because we were away that weekend. Around the city there were many statues
of the mascot "Clyde", a cute cartoon thistle. Some were in the streets and others were in public gardens and outside museums. The
Clyde Trail was being dismantled though so we didn't get to see many of them. We did catch the end of the big marquee shop which was in George Square for a while, but anything worth buying had been sold before the end of the Games. There was also the "Big G" statue in George Square which was sadly disassembled during our stay even though it was still attraction tourists for photo opportunities.
Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis Recommending a visit to a cemetery always seems a little odd. The
necropolis which stands high above the city, just at the back of the Cathedral, is unmissable though. In there you can see the tall towering figure of John Knox amongst many other intricate tombs. The views over the surrounding area are rather nice too. Just down the hill you can also get a tour of the Tennents brewery. We didn't manage to fit that in, but the artwork around there is amazing.
People's Palace and Winter Gardens Located in the park known as
Glasgow Green, the
People's Palace is a beautiful place to visit and, even better, it's free like most of the city's attractions. Outside we stopped to listen to a samba band made up of "women of a certain age" and they were excellent. Inside we were wowed by the humid tropical garden in the conservatory part. The museum inside the palace is very interesting with a complete overview of city life dealing with everything from living in tenements to alcoholism. There was a particularly good temporary exhibition of works from a local World War I artist. The Doulton Fountain outside is rather grand too.
Kelvingrove The
Kelvingrove Museum blew us away. If you have ever been to London and visited the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and any of the numerous galleries there, imagine combining them all together in one stunning collection. That's how it felt inside and it was amazing to see a Spitfire flying over a stuffed giraffe! There were too many highlights to mention anything individually. Some things were downright wacky though, like the collection of severed heads floating in the main hallway which forms the panoramic image at the top of this blog.
Clyde Waterfront
The Clyde Waterfront area was another surprise. Thanks to the relocation of the BBC Scotland headquarters we had seen this area on the TV so we thought we would go and have a wander around. It's quite a spectacular regeneration project and buildings like the
SECC (The Armadillo) and the
SSE Hydro prove that modern architecture can be truly breathtaking. We didn't manage to walk all the way out to the tall ships and the
riverside transport museum , so that's definitely on the agenda for next time. So too is a trip to the science museum and perhaps we could go up the
Glasgow Tower which looks quite impressive.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Pipers piping!
How great to spend a month in such a fab city! Pretty funny how something as lovely as pipers can turn into a nightmare--too much of a good thing. Really impressive street art--wonderful that it's been respected and not spray-painted over! I also love cemeteries, especially old ones like that in Glasgow with historical, carved stone headstones up on hills with views. Hope when you return, you can check out some of the beautiful buildings of Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He's a fave of mine, and I made pilgrimages to many of his sites. Hope also the piping competition won't be held when/if you're there next year.