Glasgow is not Chester

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The New Glasgow

After spending a week in the quaint city of Chester, arriving in Glasgow came as a bit of a shock. Our Hotel is right in the city centre, and is old but very nice. However when Regis asked for a “City View”, she did not realize that the view from the front of the hotel mostly consisted of two derelict buildings. Our first walk around the area was not any better.  Finally finding a pub called “Hootenanny” (Seriously . . . in Scotland?), we discovered good beer

Glasgow Streets

and food and friendly people. We met a couple of locals from Italy and Poland (Yes they did live and work in Glasgow) who’s advice of things to see in Glasgow was the train to Edinburgh.

Regis and I however always find the best in any city or situation. The next day, after wading

Making the Old Look New

through hoards of runners (The Great Scottish Run), we found the tourist information centre and set out to explore Glasgow. By the end of the day, our hiking shoes had about five more hours of wear on their soles, and we had explored another cathedral, visited the necropolis, climbed to the top of a lighthouse (In the middle of a city), discovered a really cool art deco architect, rode the subway, and had supper in a pub in the catacombs under the city.

We Also Visited a Brewery

As we normally find, once you dig a bit you can find the soul of any city and there is usually lots to see and do in any city. Glasgow was an industrial city. The Lucitania, the first Queen Elizabeth and many of the early Cunard ships were built here, and the city’s shipyards are currently building the next generation of British warships. Some of the best steam locomotives were shipped all over the world from Glasgow. It never was a “Quaint” city it was always a gritty merchant and industrial city, and is very interesting as such. It has a rich history in Industry, business and architecture, and explored with this in mind it is fascinating.

The Inn Deep Pub

We spent the day today at the Riverside Museum Of Transportation (I feel a blog post coming on . .), and loved it. There is lots to see and do here. Oh BTW, on our city tour today we discovered that those two derelict buildings across from the hotel are a priority to renovate, restore or replace.

Glasgow is not Chester, it is however, a cool interesting city to visit.