Glasgow
George Square
With a population of 700,000 people, Glasgow is Scotland’s largest and most populated city and sits on the west coast of Scotland in an area known as the central belt. Big and boisterous, Glasgow, or Glesca as the locals pronounce it, is teeming with bars, clubs, museums, parks, art galleries and shops. A visitor to this lively city won’t be stuck for things to do in Glasgow.
When to go
The best time to visit this deeply interesting city is during the summer months, between May and September, when you can expect the best of the Glasgow weather. Scottish winters can be quite severe, so unless you come prepared you may be in for a shock. Still, that needn’t put you off if you remember to bring a good coat, a woolly scarf and gloves.
The graph below gives you an idea of what to expect so you can plan ahead.
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Possibly the city’s most striking building, Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall sits at the top of Buchanan Street in the city centre and plays host to a range of high calibre performers, from rock, jazz, folk and pop musician to grand orchestras and comedians.
Seating nearly 3,000 people, it has impressed almost everyone who has visited or performed, whether it be Nigel Kennedy, Brian Wilson or just me.
Culture
Europe’s City of Culture (1990) has played the starring role in tons of films and TV programmes, most notably: Young Adam, The Borrowers, Taggart and Trainspotting (although the latter was mostly shot in Edinburgh).
The city is a hotbed for religious bigotry to which anyone familiar with Celtic and Rangers will testify. It is a city of passionate people, for right or wrong and nothing gets the blood of a Glasweigan boiling more than football.
U2 Glasgow & Concerts
All year round this city plays host to a variety of bands, from one man folk singers to large stadium gigs. Irish rockers U2 were in town last night as part of their 360 European tour. Traffic queues were 10 miles long as 125,000 fans decended on Glasgow to catch the biggest band on earth perform their new album, No Line On The Horizon as well as their classic hits like Where The Streets Have No Name and Beautiful Day.
Here’s the review of the U2 Glasgow concert.
If you are looking for other things to do in Glasgow, then you won’t be disappointed. I visited the Charles Rennie Mackintosh school of art, the building itself is the designer’s masterpiece. Mackintosh’s distinctive style was among the most celebrated of the art nouveau period and Glasweigans of all ages are proud to call him one of their own.
Sauchiehall Street in the city centre is a popular pedestrian mall with shops and pubs galore – so if art isn’t your bag, perhaps drinking is. Glasgow is as famous for it’s pubs as Rome is for its ruins.
Glasweigans are typically tough and working class who have their own sense of humour, quite different even to that just 46 miles away in Edinburgh. Billy Connolly, one of Glasgow’s most famous exports has made a living showcasing the unique brand of humour for decades. Connolly himself admits a lot of his jokes were told to him by fellow drinkers in and around the city’s watering holes.
My Defining Experience
To savour the cafe culture, head for the west end before taking a trip to the famous market known as The Barras where you can buy almost anything so long as you don’t mind it being fake.
For lunch take a picnic to Kelvingrove Park by the University and watch the world go by, a wonderful retreat from an otherwise lively and energetic city.
Strengths
- Live music
- Burrell Collections
- Sauchiehall Street
- Pubs
- Atmosphere
- People
- Galleries
Weaknesses
- Religious bigotry
- Difficult dialect
- Orange marches
- Lack of prosperity
- High rises
From just wandering through its streets, Glesca leaves an impression on you. It has an unmistakable edge, but there is a friendliness to it also – a distinct quality often applied ot loveable rogues. But that is what Glasgow is, a loveable rogue that keeps you smiling even if you can’t relax in its company.
We can thank this town for the likes of Irn-Bru, Kenny Dalglish, Teenage Fanclub and Simple Minds – to name just a few.
