Land of the "Weegies"

The other day I went half an hour earlier for my morning swim at the Dalry Swim Centre. The Welshman who I almost always swim alongside in morning noticed and asked me why the routine change. I told my friend that I was going to go visit Glasgow that day and wanted to use all the daylight I could for exploring the sites. Without skipping a beat he said, "I went to Glasgow for a laugh....and came back in stitches!" Right away I recognized that as a joke and a good one too. I even laughed in time. It was a proud moment that I could follow the cultural nuances of the humour in it. Three cheers for anyone who can keep up with why this is funny. I'll give you a hint, Glasgow is considered to be the Baltimore of the UK. ***Got some artsy and cool stuff going for it but kind of a rough place to spend a holiday.

Still we had a great time. Indeed it included a few laughs a long the way - but luckily no stitches....

Thanks to E&K for their Christmas gift (a Lonely Planet guide book to Great Britain) to us last year, Matt and I were able to find our way around lots of cool sites on the walking tour outlined. Just as expected there was some pretty great architecture to take in,

a unique cathedral with loads of interesting stained glass windows (read: art history nirvana for me),

a neocropolis that offers some spooky lovely sites of the city,

*here's my "Good Morning Glasgow" shot*.

A real highlight came when Matt and I took tea at one of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Willow Room teahouses. Think that it takes an art history snob to know what I am talking about? I submit that it doesn't. Do you like Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright? Of course you do. Everyone does. Glasgow's own Mackintosh was the predecessor for Mr. Wright. To be a bit frank, in some ways, I kind of think that Frank Lloyd Wright is just a really remarkable architect who ripped off an even more remarkable designer. Still I love them both and the teahouse was all that I hoped it would be.

Couldn't get over these delightfully rough sugar cubes. I had fennel tea and Matt had fresh peppermint. We both agreed they were marvelous.

Indeed, we also found time to take a trip over to one of the many modern art museums in town. There was this terrific installation exhibit on the ground floor that we had a great time wandering through. One piece had this great quote about the elusive nature of humour. I couldn't get over how profound it was, especially in the context of Glasgow:

For any modern/contemporary art history nerds, the following plaque may be of interest. I wish I could have had this quote handy on the Centre de Pompidou tour I took the Paris study abroad students on.

 

I am sure there is much more to see but there is only so much one can do on foot. Perhaps we will save it for another day. This trip, however, got 2 thumbs up, even on the bleakest of January days.

***We did find our Lonely Planet's summation of the place to be true. It was something to think about whilst trodding about:

"With a CV that includes City of Architecture and City of Culture, you'd think Glasgow would be a shoe-in for the 2014 Commonwealth games (this book is a bit outdated - it will be the hosting the games). But this is also the city whose inhabitants have the highest choleterol in the EU, and in which there's still a simmering sectarianism between the Roman Catholic and the Prodestant residents. Consider that Glasgow produced both the comedian Billy Connelly and tea-mongul Sir Thomas Lipton, and you'll soon learn what a complex and contrary place it can be.

Part of the problem is Edinburgh. While Glasgow is Scotland's largest city it is pipped for capital by the more sophisticated city to the east. And a (mostly) friendly rivalry has existed ever since. Folk from Edinburgh tease Glaswegians (or Weegies) for their thick, working class accents; you may be saying 'Hun?' more than you expected in an English-speaking city."