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(We flew into Glasgow, spent 3
days there, then spent a week in the southwest area, based in Port
William,
before going back to Glasgow for another 3 days. So this is not
entirely chronological:
I'm putting all of the Glasgow days together, and all of the
southwestern days together in another part - Scotland 2024: Port William.
You can enlarge any picture in this narrative by
clicking on it - it
will open in a separate window and in many cases, show detail you can't
see in the smaller version. Many more pictures are here.) Wednesday May 1 We drove up to Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon (April 30) and delivered our car to its temporary home through the AmericInn in Inver Grove Heights. They have an amazing Park, Sleep and Fly deal. Our plane left around 9 PM so we didn't need an overnight before the trip, but instead used it when we got back totally jetlagged. So we left the car (at an off-site lot) and took their shuttle to the airport. We had plenty of time and that all went smoothly. Even with Premium Select seating, we didn't sleep a lot on the plane, but we each got at least some snoozing to get us through the next week.   We
connected through Schiphol (AMS) and had a pretty long
layover. We flew in on the non-EU "side" and we were also
leaving from that side so
we didn't have to go through passport control or pick up baggage - just
hang around for a few hours. We visited the Rijksmuseum area -
it's very small, but nicely curated and a good diversion from just
sitting. I also enjoyed the "living walls" (at left) that help
bring some green into the airport. At the appointed time, we took
a KLM flight to Glasgow. GLA was using facial identification for
arrivals which meant all we had to do was to put our passports on the
scanner, look at the camera and walk on through! Easy
peasy. (We didn't get passport stamps that way, but it sure was
efficient.) We took a cab to the Ambassador Hotel
on the West Side, right across the street from the Botanic
Gardens. Nice place, great location, terrific breakfast. We
unpacked a little bit and set out for our first walk on the Kelvin
Walkway along the river. Literally right across the street was a
gorgeous field of English Bluebells (above, right) - what a great way
to start!We followed the path down to the river and, to the left was the Queen Margaret Bridge which is a vehicle bridge (built 1926-29), then the Humpback Bridge (center, below) which was freshly painted and built in 1908. It links the Botanic Gardens to the Kelvin Walkway for pedestrians. Finally, a little further down the river walk we came to the Ha'Penny Bridge, where John is posing on the right. It was originally a wrought iron girder bridge built in 1886 and there was a ha'penny "toll" to cross the river from the old Kirklee Railway Station to get into town. Though the tollhouse (where the toll was collected) is still standing, the bridge itself was washed away in the 1994 flood and was then rebuilt in 2002 as the current, wooden bridge. It is still scenic but does not demand a toll!    Thursday May 2   This morning, after a full breakfast (I discovered
tattie scones) we started out in the Botanic Gardens. What a
beautiful place! The Kibble Palace (left) was commissioned by
John Kibble to be built at his home on Loch Long. It was
completed in 1867 but then sold to the Botanic Gardens and moved to
that site in 1873. We went through all of the palace rooms and
the other greenhouses. Outdoors were numerous flowers - to the
right are some of the flowers around a small pond. Behind them
you can see the steeple of an old church that is now an entertainment
venue - the Òran Mór. Some of the indoor highlights were the carnivorous room (pitcher plants and others), cacti and loads of potted flowers.      Outdoors, we walked through the vegetable garden, herb
garden and the rose garden (still a bit early for roses, though).
I found a bench that had a fanciful crocheted cover where I took a
short break before heading down towards the Ha'Penny bridge to the
arboretum (still a part of the Botanic Garden). In the arboretum
section there were many different types of trees - perhaps my favorite
was the giant sequoia at the right! I had to back WAY up to get
that picture. It was a beautiful day and a delightful walk.
We had lunch there at the Garden Tea Room - I had Rose Lemonade which
was new to me - and then we headed south to the University where we
visited the Hunterian Art Gallery. Part of it was closed for
remodel and it was pretty small but we did see 3 Whistlers and a
Rembrandt plus some interesting lesser known pieces. On the way,
we found one of the street murals done by an artist known as Leo.
It's fairly old and is starting to wear in places but still worth
seeing (left, below).After the art gallery, we walked through some of the University Buildings - the cloisters (center below) and the Memorial Chapel. The old part of the campus has a very "Hogwarts" feel to it (the East Quad is at the right).     We were tired and went back to the hotel for a short
nap before we went to the Wudan for supper. What a neat place!
They had a lot of "small plate" offerings (we had different types - I
enjoyed the tempura) and we splurged on dessert. I had mochi
which is ice cream balls covered with a sweet sticky-rice dough.
Very yummy. John had something known as a Ramune float.
This is sort of like a root beer float except that the soft drink
(Ramune) has a mystique to it. It comes in various flavors/colors
(his was blue, as you see at the left) in a bottle that has a glass
marble sealing it at the top. They serve you the ice cream and
the unopened bottle of Ramune. Inside the cap is a "plunger" to
use to break the seal and displace the marble to allow you to pour or
drink it! The servers had to teach him how to do it and we were
all laughing by the time he got it open and put together!
Apparenty it's mostly marketed at kids to have fun! An enjoyable
meal to end a great day.Friday May 3 -  After another great breakfast (there is a cold buffet
and also a
make-to-order hot food menu) we walked down to the Hillhead subway
station (10 minutes) and rode into City Center to Buchanan
Street. We started at George Square (right) where we admired the
monuments and gulls (the gull on the statue below made us laugh,
perhaps inappropriately).
John was interiewed by some journalism
students about the pros and cons of hosting the Commonwealth
Games. (I think he had a good time!) We went through the
Gallery of Modern Art which we found not very impressive, though they
did have a student exhibition that was the best part. In front of
the GOMA is the Duke of Wellington statue, most noted for his
orange-striped "hat." It seems that the city decided to "pick its
battles" and are just leaving the cone alone for now. It actually
makes a
great tourist attraction! 
  
 While we didn't take the time for the full Glasgow Mural Trail, we were able to see a number of them. The one already pictured above by Leo was in the West End, near where we were staying. The three shown below are in the area of the City Center. The first is called the "Land-Ship" at the University of Strathclyde - it commemorates a "landship" that was on the roof of the School of Navigation at the Royal College, used to teach compass reading and navigation. At the center is perhaps the best known mural - St. Mungo by Smaug. St. Mungo (original name Kentigern) is the patron saint of Glasgow and it is said that the small European Robin he holds is "the bird that never flew" - more about that and Mungo in the note at the bottom of this page! Finally, on the right is part of "The Swimmer" under Kingston Bridge, also by Smaug. That one was commissioned to commemorate the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. If we ever get back to the city I'd love to do the walking tour that includes all (or most) of the murals!     We hopped
off just south of the subway station and walked back to the
hotel, stopping to pick up lunch at the Gyro truck that we passed
several times a day! We rested and started packing up a bit since
we're
moving on tomorrow morning. Tonight we had reservations at the Café Andaluz
just a few blocks away. We had paella for two (really more like four!)
and it was great. The only thing I noticed was that the asparagus
was very tough, so when the server asked how everything was, I
mentioned that all of the asparagus was tough so they might want to
check with the vendor about that. Moments later, the manager
showed up and brought us free drinks (he was very thorough, knew I had
not asked for alcohol with my meal, so brought me a non-alcoholic
drink) and gave us 10% off of the meal. We assured him that the
meal was fine - just that one vegetable was bad. We had a nice
chat with him (he's from Barcelona) and then headed back to the Òran
Mór for a concert by the McCommitments (a tribute band to the
Commitments). As with many such things, they said it started at
7, but really the doors opened
at 7! It was very crowded; they
started a little after 8 PM and we left after the first set. The
band was good, but the audience was silly, it was very loud and it was
getting hard to
breathe! The last picture (above) from the first Glasgow stay is just for fun - a Tardis in Glasgow City Center!? Saturday May 11 (On May 4, we took a train from Glasgow Central down to Dumfries, where Katie and George picked us up at the station and we spent the next week based in Port William, travelling around the southwest corner. That is all shown in Scotland 2024: Port William. For now, I'm skipping on to May 11 when we return to Glasgow!)   We got to the Kelvingrove
Hotel
around 3:30 pm and it was 77°! We settled it a bit
(this is a cheaper hotel in the McQuade group - the room was smaller
but the breakfast was identical to the Ambassador and the location was
closer to the things we want to see for these days) and then went to
walk around the Kelvingrove Park. It seemed the whole city was
out to enjoy the weather, spread out all over the grounds. On the
left is an 1872 monument to Lord Provost Robert Stewart who was given
much of the credit for passing the Loch Katrine Act in 1855.
This act was instrumental in bringing clean water and other public
health improvements to Glasgow. The "Lady of the Lake" (from a
poem by Sir Walter Scott) is at the top. We went to The Chimes of India,
just down the block, for supper tonight. I think it is very
authentic! John enjoyed it more than I did but the "least hot"
menu item (per the owner) worked for me. Sunday May 12   We
enjoyed the wonderful breakfast at the hotel then walked over to the
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (left). We started with the
natural history part because we had just a short visit this
morning. I was really impressed with the whole place!
Among other things, they have a working bee hive and a model of the
elusive "Haggis Scotus" shown at the right (that's a joke, by the
way). Next, we were heading north back to Òran Mór where we had
tickets for a "Play,
a Pie and a Pint."
A cool idea - you get a meat (or vegan) pie, a pint of beer or any soft
drink and a short (one hour) play. We saw "Looking for the One"
which was a musical and very well done. It was funny and
poignant! (Fletcher Mathers, Alan McHugh, Alan MacKenzie; written
by Sylvia Dow, music by Kim Edgar.)  We
passed the scenic Kelvin Bridge (left) and walked through the more
modern area of the University on the way up. This (at right) is
just one section of art work - I think there was a contest of sorts and
a selection was chosen of all the artists who applied to cover these
temporary walls while construction was going on. Interesting
variety! After the show we followed basically the same way back down to the  Kelvingrove
Art Gallery and Museum, this time focussing on the art part. A
few of my favorites are shown below. Another special thing about
this gallery is that they have an organ concert every afternoon.
The pieces vary a lot but it's a pretty impressive organ (left)! Below, from the left, are Mary Cassatt's "The Young Girls" circa 1885. I picked that one just because she is one of the few women painters of that time and it is so much her classic style that even I could recognize it immediately as hers! In the center is a Van Gogh I'd never seen and it is somewhat different than the most well-known ones. Painted in 1886, it is titled "Le Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre" and is one of his earliest impressionistic paintings. The windmill is the only functioning windmill left in Paris - it is also known as the Moulin de la Galette (built in 1622) and became a cabaret in 1830. The third (right) painting I choose to highlight (there were so many GREAT ones!) is a rather unusual Picasso: "The Flower Seller." It was painted in 1901, at the very start of what is known as his "blue period." He did the painting at only 19 years old from sketches he had made wandering around Paris - it is suspected this was in the Place de Clichy. The thing that stood out to me was the lack of detail - it is identified as a "minimalist" painting: most of the people lack faces, e.g. So, it is still far more representational than his later works but already his rebellion at classical style is showing. 
  Monday May 13 For our last day we went to the Glasgow Science Center. When you look online or ask anybody what to be sure you do in Glasgow, they almost always include the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Glasgow Science Center. Because the Science Center is across the River Clyde from the large event centers, there is a neat walkway (left below - that we call the human habitrail) to make it easy for pedestrians to get over the highway and easily access one of the bridges over the river! The building in the center is the part of the Scottish Event Center known as "the Armadillo" and on the right is the another part of the event center, the Ovo Hydro, a large arena that, among other things, hosts concerts.      To
the left is the Science Center viewed from across the river - at the
right of it you can see the Tower and in the back, left is the light
brown IMAX theater. The photo on the right shows part of the
group of school children visiting this morning! We started on the third
floor (because the kids started on the first!) and played many games,
learned a lot about bodies, physics, optics and more. It truly is
a very neat place to visit, for adults as well as kids. By the
time we finished all that we wanted to see, they had determined that
the Tower would be open since visibility was "okay" and there was no
wind. So we walked down to the end, rode up the elevator for 2.5
minutes (better than the 523 steps) and enjoyed the views! It is
the tallest, fully rotating, freestanding tower in the world (according
to the Guiness Book of World Records).On the left is the view of the River Clyde: the pedestrian bridges - the Millenium Bridge, then Bells Bridge (from the Event Center) and furthest away, the road bridge known as the Clyde Arch. In the center a view from the tower of the "Human Habitrail" over the highway. Finally, to the right, a view of the University area to the north. The Main Building (Gilbert Scott Building) Steeple is in the center and the long rectangle in front of that is the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  
   We had lunch at the Coffee Shop in the IMAX (the Cafe in the main building was not open) and it turned out to be a treat not only for the good food, but we were right next to a large inlet off of the river and entertained by a family of swans. The adults were grooming and it was fun to watch the cygnets imitating them! Tuesday May 14   Long travel day. We got picked up (by a cab
kindly arranged by the reception team at the hotel) at 5:45... yes, in
the morning! Turns out that, in spite of them (KLM) saying to be
at the airport 3 hours early, they didn't even open the check in line
until 7 am! But that was okay - the food area was open so we
could have some breakfast while we waited. Plane rides are boring, so here is a picture I
took as we were coming down to Schiphol (left) and then leaving again
several hours later (on Delta) after lunch (right). We were able
to doze a bit on the plane but had already arranged to spend the night
in Minneapolis and not try to drive home that night. We had a
full meal on the plane so, after we collected our car, we checked into
the hotel and slept for about 10 hours! Nice breakfast at
the hotel and a leisurely drive home on the 15th!---------------------------------------
 Here is the bird that never flew, Here is the tree that never grew. Here is the bell that never rang, Here is the fish that never swam. To Remember Glasgow: Above is a poem/riddle about the Glasgow Coat of Arms - its origin is unknown but it has been said to refer to 4 events in the life of St. Mungo (née Kentigern, patron saint of Glasgow). The bird that never flew is on the top of the tree and said to be a bird that some mean boys killed and Mungo then breathed life back into it. The tree was said to be part of a fire that he was charged to keep burning all night at the monastery. He fell asleep; it went out but he was able to restart it presumably from prayer. The bell (below and to the right of the tree) was allegedly a miraculous one given to him by the Pope. There is a ring in the mouth of the fish. Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde was accused of adultery; the king secretly threw the ring into the Clyde River, then accused her of giving it to her lover and demanded that she give it back to him. Mungo sent a monk to the river to catch a salmon and he then retrieved the ring from the fish and returned it to the Queen. Perhaps it is all just folklore, but remains a connection to Glasgow! Click
here to
see the Port William part of our Scotland Trip |