Glasgow

16500 steps around Glasgow

Today was supposed to be a quiet day. A rest day. We'll leave the car in the carpark and just take a stroll around Glasgow, we thought. 16500 steps later we are back in our hotel room utterly exhausted from our day on the hoof.

John in an open mall in Glasgow

Barb shopping

Our only real focus for sightseeing today was Glasgow Cathedral and the adjoining Necropolis. Although John had lived here (Glasgow, not the the Cathedral or the Necropolis) for a few years back in the 70s he'd never been to see either, so we set off in what we thought was the general direction. The Cathedral and Necropolis were beyond the bounds of the city centre map supplied at the hotel desk, but we found street signs directing us to the Cathedral so we trudged ever onward until we eventually came upon it.

The necropolis

Barb on the bridge to Necropolis

Glascow Cathedral

It was hard to miss once the spire was visible amongst the highrise. The Cathedral is one of the few Church of Scotland cathedrals to survive the Reformation. It was originally built around 1200 and added to over the years. Although the exterior sandstone is blackened by years of pollution it is still a lovely old building.

We walked all the way up the hill to see the Necropolis. This collection of gravestones dates back to the early 1800s. The rich merchants of the time treated themselves and their relatives to some very grand and imposing tombs for their final resting place. The views all over Glasgow are wonderful.

John walking up to the Necropolis

After having a wander around here we headed down the hill again in search of the Peoples Palace Museum, Glasgow Green and the Winter gardens. So we trudged still further ever onward.

The Green is undergoing extensive renovation so we had to walk a long way around tall green hoardings before we found an entrance to the Museum and Winter Garden. Feeling rather tired and parched we stopped off first for lunch at a WEST brewery and bistro which was housed in a lovely old building nearby.

This building turned out to have once been a big carpet manufacturing establishment. The terracotta brickwork of the building facade was elaborately decorated in a vaguely middle eastern style, or as Wikipedia, that font of all knowledge, explains: After repeated design proposals had been rejected by Glasgow Corporation, James Templeton hired the architect William Leiper to produce a design that would be so grand it could not possibly be rejected, so Leiper modelled the building on the Doge's Palace in Venice. NIMBYs the lot of 'em! It is rather grand, though.

The carpet place

or is that carpet palace?

The Peoples Palace was also a lovely old building. In the forecourt stands a fountain donated by the Doulton family which is one of the largest terracotta fountains in the world. The large glasshouse attached to the museum houses the winter gardens and a peaceful sitting area for the general public to enjoy. It must be a very appealing haven when winter truly sets in with its temperate climate inside the glass dome and its lush greenery.

The Peoples Palace and winter garden

Barb in the garden dome

The dome is massive

The Doulton fountain

We kept walking and found ourselves beside the River Clyde watching some geese and swans resting in the midday sun. It was actually quite warm.

walking bridge over the Clyde

Fat geese in the sun

Eventually we came upon the Enoch Centre which is the largest indoor mall in Glasgow. John got quite excited because nearby was an HMV record/CD store, and he grabbed the opportunity to go browsing. Such stores are thin on the ground with the advent of downloaded music, and the store was really rather sad though not unique. Whereas in the past classical music might have commanded an entire floor to itself it was now relegated to a single shelf stack of just one recording label.

The Enoch Centre

By this time Barb's knee was playing up and we hailed a cab outide Central train station. It only cost three pounds forty to get back to our hotel! Barb would happily have paid twenty just not to have to walk any more.

A restful day ..... not. Back on the road tomorrow, no walking except for the occasional castle to inspect.