Touring Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow, located on the Clyde River, was an industrial shipbuilding hub that has reinvented itself as a cultural center so there are plenty of museums and great architecture – old and new. Our Holiday Inn Riverview Hotel was a great location and reasonable. The bus stop was close by and so was the Scotia Pub, which was highly recommended by our taxi driver. The pub claims to be the oldest in Glasgow. It dates from 1792, is a good place for a bite to eat. It is quiet during the day but packed in the evening when they have live music.

The hop-on hop-off Sightseeing Glasgow bus tour ticket was good for two days. As is our practice, we took the tour once around and were deciding where to get off but when we got to George Square there was an event going on so we decided to check it out. It was their celebration of veteran’s day and people were waiting to see a parade. We checked out their military vehicles and listened to the music – a wannabe Frank Sinatra singing songs we knew. The parade was made up of marching and band units all decked out in their kilts and colorful uniforms. There were no fire trucks, floats or other participants – just the military units that did not have a military look instead they were dressed in colorful kilts and regalia.

After the parade we went to the People’s Palace where the focus is on the life of the ordinary people. It is located on the edge of the park with the beautiful Victorian Doulton Fountain, the world’s largest terracotta fountain, in front and the Winter Gardens in the back. One of the things I noticed in homes and museums in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland were matching China dogs. At the museum I learned that these ubiquitous dogs were called Wally Dugs. They were traditionally a cherished wedding gift with a special place on the fireplace mantle.

Regardless of the city, during the Industrial Revolution conditions for the poorest workers were miserable with people living in unhealthy and crowded conditions. It was the lucky family that had an entire room where they slept and cooked to call their home. Laws were passed limiting the number of people allowed in a room with 5 adults in a 2000 cubic foot room. However it was hard to enforce and rooms often held more than the allowed number. There were public laundries and bathhouses. It was hard to imagine the tough life of the workers.

Our next hop-off was at a Tenement House Museum. The museum is located in a tenement building that is still occupied and showed a different aspect of tenement living. The three-room apartment was the home of Agnes Toward for 50 years and I could image living there. There was a pretty sitting room, a kitchen and a bedroom. Toward lived there with her mother and they often had a tenant. I wondered where they all slept, that was until the guide opened what looked like a closet door and there was a built-in bed – not for the claustrophobic. There was a similar bed in the wall in the kitchen.

The shipbuilding area and riverside is in a renaissance with the building of the Exhibition and Convention Center and the Science Center across the river. The new Riverside Museum features transportation and shipbuilding.

Looking for Nessie in Scotland

To get from Northern Wales to Glasgow, John and I took the National Express bus to Birmingham where we changed to another bus after a short wait in a very modern terminal. Most of the nine hour trip was through the countryside and quite pleasant with a stop for lunch. When we arrived in Glasgow I started to put our suitcase in the taxi, which was specially built with a wide space between the driver and passenger seats perfectly designed for luggage but the taxi driver said, “Wait, Missy, I will do that for you. You are in Scotland and I am here to serve you.” Nice touch. During the short ride to the Holiday Inn Riverview, the driver acted as a tour guide pointing out all the must-see sites.

We booked a full day tour with Timberbush Tours to Lock Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands. The departure point on George Square was easily walkable from the Holiday Inn. We were exceptionally lucky because the weather was glorious – sunny skies and no rain. Our driver, Grant, was knowledgeable and amiable.

I finally heard the bagpipes play - the only ones we heard in Scotland. The lone bagpiper was at a scenic area overlooking Glencoe, the site of the 1692 massacre of the MacDonald clan. Looking out over the beautiful valley it was hard to envision the dramatic event that seemed so fresh in Scottish minds, possiblly because it is recounted in a popular song. Of course, there is more than one side to any conflict but the oft played ballad says that when the Campbells “…came through the blizzard, we offered them heat, A roof ‘ower their heads, dry shoes for their feet, We wined them and dined them, they ate o' our meat, And slept in the house O' MacDonald.” But then the guests – the Campbells “…slaughtered the house o' MacDonald.” We left the peaceful looking valley listening to a recording of the Ballad of Glencoe.

Interestingly, I thought that “highlands” meant high mountains but the highest peak, which given the clear skies we were lucky enough to see, is Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Scotland, which to my surprise is only 4400 feet high. The scenery was beautiful with rolling hills, much of which is rocky and dotted with many lakes (lochs). When we stopped for lunch John tried the haggis, the famous, or infamous, national dish. Traditionally it contains sheep heart, liver and lungs with onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices in a sheep stomach. Today they use sausage casings. It was served atop a baked potato and tasted a lot like turkey dressing so I assumed the recipe had been altered a bit to appeal to foreigners.

Loch Ness is very attractive. It is 24 miles long and over 700 feet deep and famous for its sighting of the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. We took a scenic boat ride that went past the ruins of Urquhart Castle and learned more about the history of the Nessie sightings that date back the 7th century. Grant said sightings have a direct correlation to the amount of whiskey consumed. And with that he handed us a miniature bottle of Famous Grouse whiskey as a souvenir. No one saw Nessie but it didn’t matter it was a great trip that ended with a lovely ride back to Glasgow though the mountains and valleys listening to Scottish songs.