24h in Glasgow

There was not much time and so productivity was key to see as much as possible of Glasgow...but travelling should involve no stress let's see how beer, cocktails and 20k perfectly blend together :P 

Getting there 

Of course there is the airport and you have bus connection from the airport to the center. The other alternative is by train from Edinburgh. One of the great advantages of the 2 cities is that they are super close located at only about 45 min. You can easily get your ticket before hoping on the train in Edi at the train station. Don't forget to have breakfast in the morning :) very important for getting full of energy for the day. Once in Glasgow you can either step down at Queen Street or change the train there to The Central station. Honestly they are super close to each other, so make sure you check the walking option to your accommodation also from Queen Street station. 

Accomodation

Everyone has his/her own preferences and requirements, I am always looking to be central and clean. As I was with my sister we chose to stay at a hotel (rather than apartment or  hostel) next to the Central Train Station, called Grasshopper Hotel. Really nice and well situated. The area might be a bit dogie at night but we did not feel unsafe. 

Approach 

​Glasgow is a treasure when it comes to street art and so I made my route taking street art into account plus some extra sites here and there which I really wanted to see. I will share here the highlights on streetart and a separate post will show you the murals I found across Glasgow.  

The Lighthouse 

It's a free museum and the tower offers great views over the city. I certainly recommend going in and climbing all the stairs :). Plus before you start the climb look up! 

In the room before you take the stairs there is an expo about the history of the city, make sure you check it out it gives an interesting view of Glasgow. 

Kelvingrove Park

Walk there! .. it's a beautiful walk and the reward is one of the most beautiful universities I've seen. If It's raining of course I can understand you would chose the bus ;) 

University of Glasgow 

"It was founded in 1451. Along with the University of Edinburgh, the University was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century" (Source)

"The Old College has been called " One of the finest, and certainly (the) most extensive specimen of Scottish civil architecture of the seventeenth century" by the 19th century Scottish architects MacGibbon & Ross."   Although the architectural tenancy in Glasgow was clearly Greek, "To select the English architect George Gilbert Scott, whose works were in the Gothic revival style, was an unpopular decision amongst Glasgow's architectural community." (Source) .. but I have to say at least for me he did an extraordinary job. 

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

To be honest I was not aware of the museum and saw it when looking around the university, it is free and i strongly recommend to take the time to visit it. btw.. it is the oldest museum in Scotland.

So much Greek architecture 

Walking back to the hotel, as I wanted to leave my backpack I started noticing that there is a lot of Greek ... architecture out there. Which came as a surprise, as Greece is not really around the corner :) .. well anyway .. it seems that it was this guy Alexander Thomson which was nicknamed Alexander "Greek" Thomson who had a big influence on the architecture in the city. "Thomson only became 'Greek' in the mid-1850s, in his late-30s, when he decided to adopt the Classical Greek style as his only mode of working. Before that he had designed many Gothic, baronial, and Italianate villas down the Firth of Clyde in places such as Cove and Kilcreggan. He adopted the Greek at a time when it had gone out of fashion, especially in England where Gothic Revival was all the rage." (Source)

St Vincent Street Church in Glasgow is the only one of Thomson's grand kirks to survive intact, Built in 1859, it is a jaw-dropping monolith. (Source)

Glagow City Chambers

"Glasgow City Council, the local government body of the city of Glasgow in Scotland, became one of the newly created single tier local authorities in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with boundaries somewhat different from those of the City of Glasgow district of the Strathclyde region: parts of the Cambuslang and Halfway and Rutherglen and Fernhill areas were transferred from the city area to the new South Lanarkshire council area."  (Source) 

Strathclyde University - streerart focus

On several walls of the University you can find some impressive murals, here some examples. 

Barony Hall

"Barony Hall, also known as Barony Church, is a red sandstone Victorian Gothic church located on Castle Street in Glasgow. [...] it's a fine example of Gothic architecture. The Old Barony Church was built as a part of the Barony Parish in Glasgow by architect, James Adams. It opened in 1799 and served ceremonial and other congregational purposes. The replacement for the old building was designed by J.J. Burnet & J.A. Campbell and raised in 1889, and incorporated architectural artifacts from the old church and a number of other relics. The New Barony Church was acquired by the University of Strathclyde in 1986. It was restored to its former glory by 1989 and is now utilized as a ceremonial hall, as well as serving other university purposes, known as the Barony Hall" (Source)

Glasgow Cathedral

This medieval cathedral is thought to have been built on the site of St Kentigern’s tomb and marks the birthplace of the city of Glasgow.[...] Glasgow Cathedral is the only one on the Scottish mainland to survive the Reformation of 1560 intact. (Source)

The Necropolis

If you don't have the time to actually go till there, you can get a good view from next to the Glasgow Cathedral. "Fifty thousand bodies are buried in the 37 acres of the Glasgow Necropolis which sits on a hill adjacent to the Glasgow Cathedral. Monuments of every architectural style are here, designed by major architects and sculptors of the time, including Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, Charles Rennie Macintosh and JT Rochead." (Source)  

Tolbooth Steeple

Tollbooth Tower

Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow

Food & Drinks 

Dinner 

For Dinner we decided to try out "Bread meats Bread" which you can find on St Vincent Street 104. I guess there is always a queue over there, but they move fast and the burgers are worth the wait 

Drinks

Chelsea Market - maybe it's not clear why I went there for a beer, but there is this street-artist from Belgium, Joachim I like a lot who painted as a special edition some of the Heverlee Glasses you can see the picture below, they look awesome. Also Dzia should have a version, but unfortunately I did not get to find one. 

Las Iguanas - we wanted a cocktail and after looking a bit around on our way home we stumbled over this place. The place looks nice and the cocktails are good so if in the area give them a try 

Breakfast 

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so we went for the one at "The Wilson Street Pantry". The food is fresh and nice and I can for sure recommend it, maybe just not the breakfast roll which is pure bread with some 1 or 2 ingredients of your choice. I went for tomato - avocado which was perfect as i could take them out of the bread and enjoy some vegetables. 

And so, I got to see quite a bit of the city and also explored the local food and drinks offer.