Go On Adventures and Make Things: Site Seeing in Glasgow

I have learned to use the subway system and grown accustomed to the accent. I have avoided Kelvingrove at nighttime and perfected staring off into the distance and ignoring the pamphleteers that accost you while walking to class. I have started calling fries “chips” and saying “cheers” when people hold the door open for me. I have done a lot in Glasgow, yet, until a couple of weekends ago, I had still not acted like a proper tourist in what has temporarily become my home city. Which is why I spent the first weekend of November exploring Glasgow and seeing the sites with a few of my other FSP mates.

None of us have class on Friday, so we all met up and took the subway to city center. When we stepped out of the subway station, we were greeted with the lovely site of six ragged Scottish men in kilts playing the bagpipes and drums in front of the Gap. I shot a quick video because they were really fun and I love it when cultures display where their stereotypes come from.

Our first stop was the Glasgow Cathedral, also known as the High Kirk of Glasgow, St. Kentigern’s, or St. Mungo’s Cathedral. The site is apparently linked with where Glasgow’s patron saint, Saint Mungo (yes, this name did in fact stir some excitement in me), built his church and the tomb of the saint is actually in the lower crypt. The first thing to notice about the cathedral is that it is old. And very dirty-looking. The building is so ancient that it is simply too fragile to withstand any vigorous cleaning attempts. Hence its decrepit, spooky appearance.

the Glasgow Cathedral

The interior of the cathedral is beautiful – lots of stained glass, pews, and a massive organ that was playing some slightly sinister sounding tunes when we first entered the doors.

the inside of the cathedral

I think that one of the most interesting facts about the cathedral is that it is the site where the University of Glasgow was founded in 1451. Classes were held in the precinct until 1460 when the university was moved to an adjacent site. Ten years after that it was moved again to its current location – the location I walk to everyday in fact!

the spire of University of Glasgow

After the cathedral, we walked over to the Glasgow Necropolis, which is now undoubtedly my favorite site in Glasgow. The Necropolis is an enormous Victorian cemetery built on a hill east of the cathedral. Fifty thousand individuals are buried there, but only about 3,500 monuments mark graves. Most of these gravestones are bigger than I am and the cemetery is peppered with all sorts of tombs, mausoleums, statues, and sculptures. It lacks the organized grid layout of most cemeteries; instead it just meanders indiscriminately up the hill, quite literally a city of the dead.

"Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it
doesn't care much for the living, but it really
looks after the dead."
- Billy Connolly (Glasgow native)

It actually reminded me a bit of the Greenmount Cemetery in Durango in that it has one of the best views of the entire city. The day we visited was a gorgeous one and we reached the top of the Necropolis just in time to catch the beginning of a beautiful sunset over Glasgow. It’s such a wonderful place.

Joy, Tova, Huan, and Cassie at the top of the Necropolis

The next day, we diverted our attentions away from the antique and focused on visiting some of Glasgow's newer landmarks. Most of these dot the northern banks of the River Clyde, which is in a part of town that we seldom visit. In fact, I was the only one in the group who had been there before. The first time I had been there was on a bus tour I went on when I first got here. The second time was when I decided to go on an impromptu run to hunt down the BBC Scotland broadcasting building. This decision resulted in two and half hours of directionless pavement-pounding that my knees did not thank me for the next day. Anyway, since we were in such unfamiliar territory, we accidentally got off at the wrong subway stop and ended up in a rather seedy neighborhood. Since it was Guy Fawkes Day as well as the day of a highly anticipated football match (we anxiously made sure we weren't wearing any colors that suggested we were Celtic or Rangers fans when we learned this), there was a lot of rambunctious daytime celebrating going on. We managed to navigate our way out of there successfully though and eventually ended up at our first destination: the Clyde Auditorium.

However, nobody actually calls the Clyde Auditorium the Clyde Auditorium. It is more affectionately known as "the Armadillo" for its resemblance to the animal of same shape and name. I think it looks a bit like the Sydney Opera House, but apparently this was not the architect's intention. Instead he was aiming to make the building look like a series of interlocking ship hulls, in reference to the city's shipbuilding heritage. I'd say he was pretty successful.

Clyde Auditorium/the Armadillo

The venue seats 3,000 people and has hosted the Scottish auditions of a couple seasons of Britain's Got Talent. So it's where Susan Boyle was discovered! Also, at the end of this month, one of my favorite actor/singer/dancer/musical theatre performers (he's a very talented man), John Barrowman is performing there. Unfortunately, I don't have the type of money to support this adventure, but it's exciting nonetheless. We didn't actually go into the auditorium, but we did get to enjoy the view from the outside. Scotland was providing us with another unexpected beautiful day, so we just meandered along the River Clyde, snapping pictures and taking in the modern buildings surrounding us.

Maddie, Tova, and I in front of the Armadillo (across the river)

Other landmarks we saw included the BBC Scotland broadcasting building (finally), the Glasgow Science Center, the IMAX theater (which also looks a bit like an armadillo), Finnieston Crane, and Glasgow Tower.

BBC Scotland, the IMAX, and the Science Center

Finnieston Crane is a 175 ton crane that used to load railway trains and tanks onto cargo ships for exports during the Industrial Revolution. Of course it's not in use anymore, but it has been left erected as a monument of Glasgow's industrial golden age.

Finnieston Crane to the left

Equally useless, but less intentionally so, is Glasgow Tower. The tower is the tallest freestanding building in Scotland and rotates 360 degrees to provide tourists with the most optimal views of Glasgow. It's a neat idea, but the building has apparently been plagued with engineering and safety problems since its completion in 2001. I really wanted to go in since I love heights and views, but the tower is currently closed and not expected to open again until at least 2012. C'est la vie.

Glasgow Science Center and the Glasgow Tower

After we had our fill of these sites, we trekked back across the city to our apartment to eat a quick dinner before setting out again for the Guy Fawkes Day celebrations. Our plan was to visit Glasgow Green where there was supposedly going to be carnival rides, music, and fireworks. Good lord, it was insane. We were packed into the subway like spoons in a drawer and the streets looked like the zombie apocalypse was occurring - so many blaring car horns, loud bangs, and screaming people darting around and over cars. We eventually made it to the Green just in time to behold a dazzling fireworks display. What a crazy holiday.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Maddie and I topped the wonderful weekend off by attending a concert at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (ridiculous name, I know) in city center. We went and saw King Charles. If you have never heard of this British musician, all you need to know is he is probably the most farcical spectacle I have ever laid eyes on. For starters, he has the most confusing, yet most spectacular hairstyle ever. He piles the locks into a massive pompadour type thing on top of his head, but during his more enthusiastic songs, you might be lucky enough to see them fall loose and cascade to his waist in half dreaded thick and wavy tresses.

note the pompadour...

This is not the only ridiculous thing about King Charles, however. Once you move on from the mane, you will notice he has a lopsided pointy little mustache and the fashion sense of Victorian upholstery. I seriously think he started his career by getting up in the morning, looking in the mirror, and thinking, "From now on I am going to take myself as non-seriously as possible." In other words, best seven pounds I've spent. You really must behold him in person to appreciate his splendor, but I've done my best to capture it with this description. As an added bonus, here is a video of his song "Bam Bam." Even if you don't like the music, I hope the video makes you appreciate the fact that your head probably doesn't resemble a communal shower drain. Enjoy!