Day Trip to Glasgow

This whole week I knew I wanted to go out of town on Sunday, but I didn't exactly figure it out until yesterday. I made plans to meet back up with Natalie at the end of her trip in Glasgow. I used this as my reason to go, but I spent most of my time seeing the sights by myself and then I met with Natalie for dinner. 

I got up bright and early this morning to catch a train at 9 in the morning. When I got to Glasgow at about 10, the museum I wanted to go to was closed. I had an hour to kill, so I just walked around the surprisingly deserted streets and did some shopping for some much needed clothing. 

I came back to the museum at 11:30 and saw everything there was to see in about half an hour, because 2 of the 3 floors were having the exhibits changed. It was a cool museum, but I'll have to go back when there's a little bit more to see.

The statue of the Duke of Wellington out front eternally has a cone over its head just because, I suppose.

 My favorite thing in the museum was this room filled with cardboard buildings. The detail was amazing and there were so many! They looked really stunning the way they were installed.

One of the only other exhibits in the museum was this feminist exhibit by a Scottish painter. It was pretty interesting, to read about, but there were no descriptions for each individual painting, only for the exhibit as a whole, so I wish there had been more to read.

Lastly, I took a picture of this window because I think it looks cool and there wasn't much else to show from this museum, unfortunately.

On the way to grab some lunch, I saw the most impressive street performer ever. This man was playing the violin while walking on a tight rope. I couldn't get over how amazing this was! A+ for creativity and skill!

For lunch, I indulged on a Glaswegian specialty: deep fried pizza aka pizza crunch. It wasn't bad, but I kind of felt like I was going to throw up afterwards because it's the most unhealthy thing I've eaten in a while, or perhaps ever. I would recommend that you try it for the experience.

I have also included some cafe signs that I saw today, because I thought they were cute.

Today in George Square, there was this rally of Yes supporters all day. There were hundreds of people there showing their continued desire to be independent from the rest of the UK. In Glasgow, Yes supporters are much more vocal. Everyone seemed to be wearing Yes buttons. It's a totally different vibe from Edinburgh, because when the votes were tallied, Edinburgh breathed a sigh of relief, whereas Glaswegians were disappointed and hurt. They are still fighting for independence and they want the world to know it!

For any Doctor Who fans, I saw these around town today.

After lunch, I walked over to the Glasgow Cathedral. I didn't realize before I went how massive it is, which really surprised me. When I was trying to find it, I realized I didn't know exactly where it was or what it looked like, but when I saw it I knew I had found it. 

The inside is gorgeous and I had a nice time exploring all the smaller rooms that connect to the main chapel area. The detail on the stained glass windows is amazing to me, as well as the detail in the masonry. Absolutely stunning.

Right next to the cathedral is the Necropolis, which is this huge graveyard that dates back to the Victorian era, when the population was expanding rapidly and there was not enough room to bury the people who were dying of various diseases. The result was this hill speckled with tombstones and memorials that overlooks the city.

Below is a picture of the memorial for John Knox.

After I walked around all of the Necropolis, I had two and a half hours until Natalie was getting in and I had done everything I planned to do, so I decided to walk over to the Kelvingrove Art Museum. The reason I didn't plan to go there in the first place was because it was really far away, but since I had some time, I walked two and a half miles to get there, and it was definitely worth it!

The most exciting thing I found while I was there was not one, but two Van Gogh paintings. Van Gogh is probably my favorite painter, so this was really cool for me. There was no advertisement for it, only for the Salvador Dali painting, but I honestly didn't care about that as much. AND on top of getting to see some Van Goghs, someone played the organ that they have there for the whole time I was there, which made for lovely background music while I looked at all the beautiful artwork!

There was also a section of paintings of Scotland, which was phenomenal. It doesn't come across in these photos, but these paintings are massive - at least 5 feet long - with incredible detail.

Glencoe! I've been there!

Painting of the massacre at Glencoe, which the Campbells have been blamed for ever since!

 I also found an exhibit on Ancient Egypt. They had all sorts of artifacts, including a real mummy, but what I was really interested in was the hieroglyphics. I would really like to know more about them now.

I just liked this.

After I walked around for a good hour, I went to meet Natalie and her friend at the train station. We immediately went to the Mackintosh exhibit, which is this really cool design museum. We didn't look at any of the design things. We just went straight up to the top of the 7-story tower, where we had an incredible panoramic view of the city. It was fantastic.

Next we headed to get some dinner. We went to this pub called the 13th Note, which serves only vegetarian food. I got a falafel burger with hummus, lettuce, and tomato with a side salad and chips. It was so good and much needed energy after all that walking.

After dinner we headed back to the train station so I could get back to Edinburgh, and sure enough the Yes supporters were still out there, singing and howling 9 hours after they started!

I'm so glad I went to Glasgow. I can't wait to go back! Next time I want to go to the Mackintosh Exhibit for a few hours and go back to Kelvingrove and spend more time there as well. Glasgow certainly made a wonderful impression today!