Culture Vulture in Glasgow

My final rugby trip for the season brought me to Glasgow in May 2014.  I had not realised the rich heritage and culture in the city as today it seems to play second fiddle to Edinburgh but in the 18th century the city was a major port trading with the Americas and the West Indies and at one time was considered to be the Second City of the British Empire.  I learnt a lot more about that on Saturday.

I arrived on Friday afternoon (as the match kicked off at 7.35 that evening.)  The view as we came in to land from Dublin was beautiful with green rolling hills while the sun reflected off corries in the mountains.  The bus from the airport was handy, going into the city every ten minutes.  I stayed on Renfrew Street which runs parallel to Sauchiehall Street but the connecting street was down a very steep hill so good thing I was not wearing high heels!  Nearer to the centre it was not so steep.  I wandered down Sauchiehall Street which became a pedestrianised street as I neared the Buchanan Galleries, a large shopping centre.  Everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and there were plenty of street musicians entertaining the crowds.

Crowds enjoy the sunshine and music outside the Buchanan Galleries

I was surprised not to see any sign of the match around – no Munster or Glasgow jerseys.  In a shop I was asked where the match was being held and when I replied Scotstoun I was asked where is that?  I guess in a city dominated on the sporting front by the rival soccer teams (Celtic and Rangers) it is hard for rugby to get much coverage.  I was impressed by the public transport system.  I took the train to Scotstoun paying just £3 for the 20 minute or so return journey.  The blog of the rugby game can be found on my other site WestTerraceView.  When we returned later that evening I was surprised to see three members of the Pastor Service walking the streets near the Central Station.  I initially thought that they might be out prowling the streets looking to preach to people but they were more in the good Samaritan vein, helping people like us looking for directions, providing flip-flops to young ladies who could no longer walk in their high heels and helping people get home safely after a night out in the pubs and clubs.  They even offered to walk me back to my hotel.

I had asked my Scottish friend Allan what I should be sure to see in the city since I was only going to have Friday afternoon and Saturday there.  He recommended the Salvador Dali painting – Christ of St John of the Cross – in the Kelvingrove Art museum.  Heading out along Sauchiehall Street in the opposite direction to the Buchanan Galleries I walked there in about half an hour.  Sauchiehall is a very long street but it was interesting to see the different neighbourhoods in more residential areas as I walked out from the city.

The impressive entrance to the Gallery and Museum

Museums are not my normal haunt but I was impressed by the building, the displays and the live music playing which created a lovely soundtrack as I wandered from room to room for nearly 2 hours.

The acoustics were great, the musicians in the café area provided the perfect background soundtrack to my wander through the exhibits

The Dali interpretation of the Crucifixion is very impressive. Costing £8,500 when originally purchased in 1958 there were protests at the time, and it has divided opinion since then but it turned out to be a great investment.  I have not included a photo here as if you are going it is good not to have any pre-conceptions but if you never plan to see it in person you can check out the picture on Wikipedia here

There were also many sculptures, – my favourite was of a father seated with his daughter on his lap entitled “Motherless” by George Lawson.  You can really see the emotion captured in the desolate expressions on their faces.

Other exhibits included a spitfire airplane suspended from the roof, a section dedicated to the artwork of the Scottish boys, another area was dedicated to the designs of Rennie Macintosh and his wife Frances.   Another highlight was the Monet.

I learnt a lot about the history and culture of the city and country there.  Glasgow had hosted two exhibits in 1888 and 1901– Kelvingrove was built for the second one – and there are many exhibits from then on display there today.

Overall it is well worth a visit and was a good recommendation by Allan.

Just before Kelvingrove I came across the bowling green which was a hive of activity.  The building in the background is the University.  The rain clouds were gathering as I walked, such a big change from the previous day’s sunshine!

The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow this summer and this bowling green will host that event for the Games.

I probably should have taken the hop-on, hop-off bus tour to see more of the city but the weather was not encouraging me so I walked all the way back into the Buchanan Galleries area again for lunch. Along the way I visited the Willow tea rooms which was designed by Rennie Macintosh, it is great to see it being used as intended today.  There were no tables available but it was nice to see it and to browse their souvenir shop.

The Scottish Cup soccer final was being played that afternoon so there were plenty of fans walking in the city centre in their teams colours, unlike the previous day.  There are so many lovely old buildings in the city, especially in St Georges Square or this lovely building I passed walking back into the city on Sauchiehill Street from the museum, I believe at Charing Cross.  The colourful blooms of azaleas and rhododendrons made a lovely display on the green at that junction.

So a short blog for a short trip but I suspect I shall be back in Glasgow for more games in the future so will be able to add to this in the seasons to come 🙂

The sculpture entitled “Motherless”