Glasgow -The Clyde and the Kelvin

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More than a wee bit of rain on my ride in to Glasgow from Edinburgh but I survived, although I had to stop and switch to my full helmet at one point because the rain was stinging my face with my short helmet. I chose the Radisson Blu because it was in city centre. I have to admit I wasn't overly impressed with the area when I first arrived. Turns out the West end is a better area. However, the Radisson staff was great and very helpful, the hotel itself was very modern and fit in with a lot of the Art Deco architecture interspersed about the city. Unlike Edinburgh where most of the buildings are Georgian - Glasgow is a mix of many different architectural designs. Hit a couple pubs on my walk about and then did a little work before catching a light dinner. After Dinner I finished up my Edinburgh blog. The blogs may not look like it but I'm estimating that I spend between 1 1/2 and 2 hours per blog to put them together. The pictures require about 4 steps to transfer them from my phone -to email- to computer - to the blog.



I got up this morning and went and checked on my bike- I parked in the car park which is pretty secure but I still worry about the bike when I'm in the bigger cities. A nice advantage to the Radisson location was that the Hop-on - Hop off tour bus stops right in front of the hotel. What a different view of the city I got once I left city centre. I wasn't aware that Glasgow was such an important port back in the day. The Clyde River is said to have made Glasgow and Glasgow made the Clyde river. In the 1800's the river was dredged and dikes were added that allowed for much bigger ships to enter. The Kelvin river also meets in Glasgow. The city was a major builder of locomotives and ships, including both the Queen Eliz 1 and the QE2.



While Scotland unlike Ireland is part of the United Kingdom it has it's own legal system. Besides the courts finding you guilty or Not-guilty they can also find you Not-proven. Not-proven means we know you did it but can't prove it so don't do it again. Now you know where the term "He got off Scot free" came from.

The Duke of Argyll's funeral possession followed Argyle street in Glasgow. Argyll is the proper spelling but some administrator accidently added the "e" and the city has continued to perpetuate the misspelling. The patron saint of Glasgow is St. Mungo. One of the last stops on the bus tour took me by the oldest pub in Glasgow - which of course required a mandatory stop over for yours truly (see pic's). I found Guinness's little brother "Belhavens Best" is a lighter version but non the less creamer version of the brew. It is even poured in a similar fashion. I'm afraid I'll never see it again outside of Scotland.

The picture of the clock tower with the spikes sticking up above the clock was used as a warning to criminals as the heads of convicted criminals were placed on top the spikes. As you look through the pictures you will see the diversity of architecture I spoke of earlier. All the public museums are free in Glasgow. Glasgow is considered a poorer city than Edinburgh but the people hear are very down to earth. On one of my walk abouts I decided to get on the city bus - the bus driver didn't charge me anything and said he didn't know where the Radisson was but why don't I hop on and see where I end up-so I did. A lady overheard me and said she would give me a pointer as to where to get off for the Radisson. She ended walking with me and showed me the way- she and her husband are doing Alaska and the Rocky Mts. next year. I told her about my ride last year, including Karen and I going up to Vancouver Island. I gave her my card and told her to email me if she had any questions.

Tomorrow I will be up early - I have a two hour ride down to Cairnyan to catch the ferry back to Belfast. I had to reschedule my return date from Tuesday to Sunday which took a little doing but finally managed to get it done. If I had kept the Tuesday schedule I would have had 2 hours to Cairnyan then 2 hours for the crossing and 2 1/2 hours from Belfast to Kill Kildare to return the bike. Instead I'll stay in Belfast and see the Titanic exhibit and do a bus or black taxi tour of Belfast. (Black taxi's are a version of Uber but also offer touring). I'll then have a leisurely ride on Tuesday down to Kill and spend my last night on Tuesday at the Radisson Blu Dublin Airport.



The weather down to Cairnyan and to Belfast looks to be good. I'll try to get some shots of the Scottish coast on my way down to the ferry. Talk to you again from Belfast.



Jim **** Thank you to those who have made a donation at Cureduchenne.org - if you are interested in making a donation it is not to late help this very worthwhile cause. *****

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Photos

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Looking down the Clyde River toward the main port of Glasgow

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This is the only tower in the world where the entire tower rotates and actually has air wings to help with stand high winds. It stands over 300 ft in the area and has a 20 mile view of the city.

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a rebuild of one of the great ships to transport goods in the early 1800's down the Clyde.

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The head piece was designed with a sister head piece on a different ship (see plaque about the headpiece)

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About the head piece.

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about the Scotia Bar - the oldest in Glasgow.

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The entrance to the Scotia Bar - Oldest in Glasgow

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A top this Clock tower - executed criminals heads would be placed on the upward spikes as a warning to others.

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A beer I liked as much as Guinness -say it ain't so !!!
Belhavens Best yumm

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This crane was kept as a reminder of the great port city of Glasgow. It was used to load automotives on to ships which were send all over the world.

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This Museum was chosen as the 2013 best museum in Europe. Notice the Art Deco style. The museum was full of trains, cars, motorcycles, etc... all goods managed via the port of Glasgow.

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Another example of the variety of architecture throughout the city.

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Merchants park statues of James watt and Queen Eliz