| Page Views: 3,362 Last Visit to Glasgow: August, 2005 | Glasgow by Kaspian - last update: Oct 14, 2008 |
| Glasgow - George Square at Dawn (2005) |
Travel Dates: August 21-22, 27-28 2005.
Glasgow (pronounced "glazz-go" and not "glass-cow", I was constantly reminded by my companion), is the largest city in Scotland with a population of 612,000. This was the city where I first set foot on Scottish soil in my triumphant return to the motherland of my ancestors. The name Glasgow comes from the Gaelic word "glas cu", meaning "green hollow". There are still massive green hills surrounding Glasgow, as it sits in the hollow making a harbour on the River Clyde. |
| Glasgow - Wellington With Headgear (2005) |
On Glaswegian Humour and Traffic Cones "Welcome to Glasgow, City of scaffolds and traffic cones!"....Was the way our airport bus driver loudly announced our arrival in the city centre. Indeed, the city was covered with little construction areas--rarely as we walked around was I not able to see one at least somewhere on my visual horizon. The second day we went for a walk and witnessed the scene in the photo to on the right. (It wasn't like this the day before.) The poor Duke of Wellington, conqueror of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, has been capped with a bright orange traffic cone; most likely by a drunk. Apparently this prank on Wellington has become an institution in Glasgow over the last 20 years and is now firmly rooted in the local humour. No sooner do the authorities remove a cone than another one magically appears overnight! They've given up taking it off and the people of the city are said to be somewhat disappointed when his head is bare. Poking fun at figures of authority and pompousness is an idea the Glaswegians have happily embraced. There has been talk of gluing the cone on permanently to prevent damage to the statue by climbers. Oh, and sometimes his horse wears one too! Read more about Wellington and his cone. |
| The Glasgow Show - Knights (2005) |
The (All New) Glasgow Show 2005 It's pretty great dumb luck to walk right into a cool Scottish festival on your first day in the country! But we were fortunate enough to have this happen. As we got in so early (6:00 a.m.) and had been up all night, we were just wandering around dazed and visiting things as they opened. When we got to where the People's Palace was, we found it all fenced off for this festival. The Glasgow Show had pipers, agriculture tents, artisan tents, Recommended Movie: "Ratcatcher" (1999). |
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| Pros: | "Tennents beer, very unpretentious locals, lots of garbage cans." | | Cons: | "If you like the smell of malt, this city smells great! If not... it stinks." |
Kaspian's Glasgow Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 4 - Photos: 17 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for Kaspian about Glasgow | | | | |
TravellingSpirit Thu Aug 27, 2009 00:09 UTC
My son informend me of the statistics after he was very badly beaten up in the city centre on a night out - not good. If you do a return visit give us a shout (that means let us know and you'd be welcome to stay) | pieter_jan_v Fri Jun 19, 2009 21:13 UTC
Ed, Good you pointed us to the conehead statue. I really overlooked that one at my Glasgow visit. PJ | mvtouring Mon Feb 11, 2008 06:05 UTC
A city that I must revisit I think ;-) | Acirfa Tue Feb 27, 2007 12:14 UTC
Lots of info here. Am off to Glasgow for just a couple of days this week and so am planning what to cram in, your pages are a help. |
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