Present Joys

Part of a series.

Today’s our last day in Scotland, and our only day in Glasgow. What were we thinking? I guess one day in Glasgow is better than no days. But sheesh. This place has so much to offer. Here goes nothing…

After a nice breakfast at Pret a Manger (I had a smoked salmon sandwich), we walked over to George Square to catch the first city sightseeing bus of the day. If you’ve been to any of the top 100 or so busiest cities on the planet, you’ve probably seen one of these things—open-top double-decker buses with hideous graphics on the side. Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of them—but we only had one day here, and no way to get around, and the hop-on/hop-off bus seemed like our best option. Plus, Rick Steves said to do it.

So we rode the bus to our first destination, Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis (which, by the way, is the coolest word ever). The Cathedral was beautiful—yet another beautiful church, but this one was especially huge, with an expansive lower level. After another quick bus ride, we took a quick stop-off at the People’s Palace, a cultural museum of Glasgow on the east end of town. I appreciated some of the displays on the historic poor conditions of the city—I learned some crazy statistic like only two-thirds of Glaswegians had home plumbing in 1960. (Don’t quote me on that, internet.) There’s also a gigantic glasshouse connected to the building, filled with tropical plants, but it was closed for the season. I think we spent 45 minutes there before running (literally running) back to the bus stop to get back on. We’ve got a lot to see in this town!

Our next stop was the Riverside Museum, located on the banks of the Clyde on the west side of town. This is a very groovy contemporary structure which houses tons of vehicles throughout history (cars, trucks, RVs, trains) and other transportation artifacts. A lot to appreciate there. Just outside, floating in the river, is one of the last wooden Clyde-built ships, built in 1896 and used for 70 years in the Spanish navy before returning to Glasgow to be a floating museum. Minimal guard rails made it easy to walk all over the ship. Definitely worth the price of admission (a suggested donation)!

Ignoring a growing desire for lunch, we next got off our bus at Kelvingrove Park, a gorgeous patch of green space near Glasgow University and, most importantly, home to the Kelvingrove Museum, an absolutely dreamy palace of art. I could have spent six years in this place, both for its collection and the building itself, which overflowed with that sense of serenity and richness found in all great museums and libraries. The main hall of the museum boasts a pipe organ, and a recital is held there every day at 1 pm. An absolutely spectacular place.

I tore myself away after a few hours at the Kelvingrove, and we walked straight through Glasgow University (a lovely campus) over to see the Mackintosh House, a townhouse that Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife transformed with interior design and original furniture while they lived there in the early twentieth century. Though the original structure no longer stands, the entire home has been re-assembled inside the Hunterian Museum, and it’s lovely. Oh, wait! There’s tons more to see in the Hunterian Museum, and we don’t have time for any of it. We’ll have to come back to Glasgow.

Next, we raced over to the Glasgow School of Art for a tour. The major building for the school was designed by Mackintosh and is considered very architecturally significant; unfortunately, it was severely damaged by fire in 2014, so we couldn’t see it. The tour was still pleasant. We learned about the iconic building by looking at a detailed model and got to see a gallery full of original Mackintosh furniture.

Back outside, it was spitting rain, and we still haven’t had any lunch and are getting weary. There was just one thing on our must-see list: the Museum of Piping. Thankfully, this was within walking distance from the art school. We got there around 4:45 pm but the darkness outside made it feel like midnight. The museum consisted of about ten display cases containing tons of bagpipes and artifacts, all in one small room. I’ve always had a keen interest in the pipes, both musically and historically, so this was a real treat for me. But very inside baseball… it’s hard to imagine enough public interest in this esoteric presentation to keep it open. The museum is just one part of the handsome National Piping Centre, a handsome building that seemed to have lots of other pipe-related things going on. So neat to experience this vibrant community here in Glasgow.

At this point, we were so eager to get back to our Airbnb we don’t have the patience to find a bus stop. We walked back home, changed our shoes, and enjoyed dinner at a swanky Indian place overlooking the bustling BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra building. It’s difficult to leave Scotland! This one day in Glasgow has just reminded me how much there is we haven’t seen here. Tomorrow we fly to Dublin. Tonight we watch local news in our cozy Airbnb and try to figure out how to appropriately set the radiators in every room.