Glasgow Scotland - Moments of Charm
Glasgow Scotland - Moments of Charm
Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland. Located at the west end of Scotland's Central Belt on the banks of the River Clyde, Glasgow's historical importance as Scotland's main industrial centre has been challenged by decades of change and various regeneration efforts. It's famed for its Victorian and art nouveau architecture, a rich legacy of the city's 18th–20th-century prosperity due to trade and shipbuilding. Today it's a national cultural hub, home to institutions including the Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and National Theatre of Scotland, as well as acclaimed museums and a thriving music scene.
The City Centre (known as "town" or "the toon" to locals) is bounded by the M8 motorway to the north and west, High Street to the east, and the River Clyde to the south. This is the area where most visitors will start, and the most notable elements are the grid plan of streets and the lavish Victorian and Edwardian buildings and civic squares which give the area much of its character. The main arteries of the City Centre are Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street which both run on an east-west axis. They are linked by Buchanan Street which runs north-south. Together, these three streets form the main shopping thoroughfares.
The eastern side of the City Centre is a sub-district known as Merchant City, which contains Glasgow's original medieval core, centred around the Glasgow Cross (the junction of Trongate, Saltmarket, High Street, Gallowgate and London Road). Merchant City extends up to George Square, with many ornate buildings that date back to Glasgow's emergence as an industrial city. High Street north of the Glasgow Cross is the main artery of Old Glasgow and leads uphill to the Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis cemetery.
The western area of the City Centre contains the city's core commercial and business district and is dominated by Blythswood Hill, which is centred around Blythswood Square. Running parallel to Sauchiehall Street, Bath Street is the main route into the neighbourhood and has a rich mix of independent shops and bars, as well as distinctive Georgian town house style architecture. South of Blythswood Hill is the city's financial district, with many modern glass and steel office buildings which stand alongside their classical counterparts. Further south, on the north bank of the River Clyde is the district of Anderston.
To the west of the City Centre, no official definition of where the West End boundary line exists, but it can roughly be defined as being bounded by the M8 motorway to the east, Great Western Road to the north, the River Clyde to the South and Crow Road to the west. The nucleus of the area is undoubtedly the neo-Gothic University of Glasgow, which acts as the anchor for this bohemian district, with its lovely architecture, tree lined streets and quaint shopping areas.
The primary east-west artery is Argyle Street/Dumbarton Road, while Byres Road is the main north-south artery and contains a number of independent shops, bars and restaurants. Ashton Lane connects Byres Road to the University campus and is a cobbled backstreet with distinctive whitewashed buildings, holding an eclectic mix of bars and eateries that make it a tourist hotspot.
The centre of Glasgow is very pedestrian-friendly with major shopping streets given over to foot traffic. As you move out of the city centre, all areas have proper pavements, and most major junctions have pedestrian crossings. The River Clyde also has several foot bridge crossings. The main difficulty with walking out of the centre of town is finding where the crossings over/under the M8 are. As you head west, some roads appear to go over Charing Cross only for the pavement to disappear. As you head north, the underpasses at Cowcaddens can sometimes feel unwelcoming.
As befits a city that was at its richest through the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th, the centre of Glasgow has a fine legacy of Victorian and Edwardian buildings with their lavish interiors and spectacular carved stonework. Outside of the central area the main streets are lined with the legendary tenements - the city's trademark 3 or 4 story residential buildings built from red or blonde sandstone which positively glow during the summer. The controversial Bruce Report of the late 1940s triggered a massive regeneration programme which lasted into the late 1970s and saw huge swathes of tenement housing literally wiped out to make way for soulless housing estates and high-rise tower blocks, whilst in the city centre, many large concrete office buildings were built of often questionable architectural merit. The few surviving examples worthy of note for those fans of Brutalist architecture are the massive twin 30-storey Camlachie tower blocks in the East End (sadly scheduled for demolition in 2014), Sir Robert Matthew's Riverside estate in the Gorbals, and the gargantuan Anderston Centre by Sir Richard Seifert, close to the Kingston Bridge. Many of these buildings are now being replaced by modern glass and steel structures - epitomised by the likes of the Radisson Hotel on Argyle Street and the new BBC Scotland building on Pacific Quay.
Glasgow was also the home of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the "Glasgow Four," a group of leading proponents of art nouveau architecture. Indeed, during his lifetime, Mackintosh was probably better regarded abroad than he was in his native Glasgow, even apparently inspiring Frank Lloyd Wright and was recently resurrected as one of the city's most beloved sons. As well as many fine originals and his magnum opus, the Glasgow School of Art, many other knock-offs and impersonations exist. However, despite the 'cult' of Mackintosh, Glasgow produced many other fine architects, the best known of whom is probably Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.
Glasgow also has the 3 biggest football stadia in Scotland. The major events in the football season are the clashes between the two major clubs; Celtic and Rangers. Known as the "Old Firm", with their sectarian undertones, these 90 minute matches produce a profound effect on the city, occasionally, but less frequently in recent times; resulting in violent clashes during or after the game. The Old Firm Derby is generally considered to be one of the best derby matches in the world, in terms of passion and atmosphere generated by both sets of fans, and is considered by many neutrals to be the most intense rivalry in all of Britain. The match itself is always highly anticipated and much talked about before and after. Cup (non-league) ties between these two giants are quite frequent, raising the tensions further. Be aware that getting tickets for "Old Firm" games can be difficult and cup ties near impossible. If you do go to one of these matches it is advised that you do not wear team colours (blue/red/white for Rangers, green/white for Celtic) after the match.
The city has won the title "Curry Capital of Britain" two years running and has a huge and dynamic range of restaurants, Indian or otherwise. Despite Glasgow being the home town of culinary hero Gordon Ramsay, there are no Michelin-starred fine dining establishments in the city (Glasgow's sole Michelin starred restaurant, Amaryllis - owned by Ramsay himself - embarrassingly folded in 2004), nevertheless there are scores of highly regarded eateries in the city. The restaurants below are some of the culinary highlights of Glasgow.
Glasgow, like any other major British city has a multitude of accommodation options to suit all budgets and tastes. Hotel prices in Glasgow are on average, cheaper than Edinburgh (which makes Glasgow a popular choice for staying in during times of high demand in the capital—for instance the annual Festival/Fringe), although there are periods of volatility when Glasgow hotel prices also increase markedly—for example high profile rock concerts, or major Scotland football fixtures, so it pays to try and avoid these periods. The city is well represented by the major international chains such as Hilton, Holiday Inn and Marriott - and of course the ubiquitous budget motel chains Premier Inn and Travelodge - both have multiple properties in the city centre and on the main arterial roads on the outskirts leading into the city.
A lot to see in Glasgow
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Glasgow Cathedral
Riverside Museum
Gallery of Modern Art
People's Palace
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Botanic Gardens
Glasgow Necropolis
Hunterian Art Gallery
The Burrell Collection
Buchanan Street
The Lighthouse
Kelvingrove Park
Glasgow Green
Pollok Country Park
George Square
Celtic Park
The Willow Tea Rooms
St. Mungo Museum Of Religious Life & Art
Provand's Lordship
Pollok House
House for an Art Lover
Mugdock Country Park
Scotland Street School Museum
The Tall Ship at Riverside
Forth and Clyde Canal
M&D's Scotland's Theme Park
The Tenement House
Centre for Contemporary Arts
Strathclyde Country Park
Bothwell Castle
The Barras
Calderglen Country Park
Glasgow City Chambers
The Mitchell Library
Paisley Abbey
Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
Blythswood Square
Tramway
Bellahouston Park
Campsie Fells
National Museum of Rural Life
Scottish Football Museum
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
Rouken Glen Park
Glenlee
( Glasgow - Scotland ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Glasgow . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Glasgow - Scotland
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