Savouring Glasgow

Last week, and especially Sunday, May 1st, it suddenly hit me that I only have four weeks left here. Four weeks?? That's nothing, and it will go by faster than I can imagine. Knowing this, I suddenly realized how much I love this city, and that I don't want to go yet- there's still too much to do and see here! Now, everywhere I walk I am absorbing every little detail of this city, it's buildings, flowers and people. I've started to savour Glasgow, in every possible way.

Picnic for Easter in the Botanical Gardens!

I started by going to some places I've never been yet in the city- Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis, which over looks the whole city! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, warm(ish) and sunny with bright blue skies, so walking is really enjoyable, allowing you to take in the city sites at a leisurely pace. That day, walking into the city, I noticed everything. All the different shops and restaurants I had and (mostly) hadn't been to: Indian Restaurants, Wok to Walk, Greggs on every corner, Primark, H&M, Costa Coffee and the ever American KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut and Starbucks. Glasgow is famous for it's shopping, and accordingly the pedestrian streets of Sauchiehall and Buchanan were pleasantly bustling with people of all ages and nationalities, tourists to locals. Close the the Royal Concert Hall, as always, was  a musician. This time, a middle-aged man, dressed to the nines in a suit, tie and hat singing old, classy songs in a Frank Sinatra sort of way. The guy was good, and had drawn a small crowd, myself included, sitting on the steps of the Concert hall or on the street curb taking a break and snack, enjoying the warm sunlight and jazzy music.


A short while later, I walked down the entire length of Cathedral Street, past Strathclyde University where students are doing the same thing as every other Uni- laying outside on the the grass, chatting with friends in the sunshine. Studybreak! Cathedral Street, coincidentally, leads straight to... the Cathedral. In fact, there are several historic buildings right there, and I decided to visit the Provand's Lordship first, the last surviving medieval house in Glasgow. An ancient building, refurbished according to its era, with information and paintings about Medieval Glasgow and its people. Besides realizing how short people were back then by the doorways, my favorite part was just behind the house, in the physic garden. This preference might have had something to do with the weather, but the garden was lovely. At the center rests a constantly over-flowing fountain, surrounded by hedges in an intricate Celtic knot pattern, branching out from the center. Around the edge of the garden are all herbs and plants with medicinal or other useful properties which can be easily reached.

walking up Cathedral Street!

Physic Garden from the Provand's Lordship

Provand's Lordship from the Garden

Celtic Knot pattern in the Garden!

A short distance across the street and through a square led me straight to Glasgow Cathedral, surrounded by greenery, and like most Cathedral, in a constant state of being repaired. Beautiful and majestic inside, full of light, chairs clustered around the massive columns. And the whole building smelled of flowers- lilies to be exact! All churches should smell like lilies. Below the main floor was the lower church area, with  the Tomb of St. Mungus, the patron saint of Glasgow, and smaller chapels. Eager to back into the sunshine, I went back outside to walk up the path to the Necropolis! 

Glasgow Cathedral!

Random Columns near the Cathedral 

This is the area right next to the Cathedral- it's absolutely beautiful, especially with the  trees blooming!

Inside the Cathedral

Cathedral!

Now, it probably sounds creepy- Necropolis means "City of the Dead." But it's beautiful. The grass is brilliantly green on the hill, with trees, flowers and bushes all around, lending their fresh scents to the air. Granted, it being a 'city of the dead' there are tombs everywhere. Old, ancient constructions from hundreds of years ago, some little more than a small rectangular headstone, but most rather more elaborate. Paths wind up the hill, eventually taking you to the top, with the most majestic monuments yet, like those for John Knox and Douglas Monteath. It's kind of amusing to see people up there sprawled on the grass, having a picnic lunch to just sunbathing (after all, these are tombs), but why not? It's a beautiful, tranquil spot, overlooking all of Glasgow, and I can't say that I'm freaked out by the tombs. So if you're looking for a nice picnic spot besides your typical park, I would recommend the Necropolis!

Necropolis from below

In addition to that area of town, I've been a typical Uni student- enjoying studying outside in the park, outside the library, even inside the Main University Quad! But this is what Glasgow is about- Glasgow or, "Dear Green Place", really is green, full of life and flowers! The parks are beautiful now, blooming with flowers and bustling with people.

Just outside the Professor's Square

This is where I study

I was here too,  reading notes in the Quad! 

I've also gotten to do two things on my list: spend hours working in a café and go to the live acoustic night at a small pub called Nice N'Sleazy. That sounds sketchy, but it's not at all- just a bar upstairs that also sells food, and and downstairs is the stage with small tables and chairs in the audience, each lit by a single, flickering candle. Every Monday night, Nice N'Sleazy hosts an acoustic night for free, and all kinds of people play in this open-mic night, and they were (nearly) all brilliant! There were a whole range of musicians, from an old man's classic a cappella jazz (again, Frank Sinatra came back?), to young upstarts testing out their new songs, a solo person accompanying themselves on guitar, a cappella Irish ballads, blues and even two to three person groups with more instruments like a banjo, harmonica or another guitar. They also played some brilliant transition music- including the Superman theme. Several times during the evening, the host would walk around the crowd, offering a bowl of delicious carmel popcorn too- I swear that's the best carmel popcorn I've ever had in my life. A fantastic, relaxed evening, and I'll be sure to go the next several Mondays! 

Inside the pub- stage ahead, complete with red lights, fog machine and musician

Candles for everyone!

But for now, I have an Archaeology exam this Saturday (Saturday??? no idea whose plan that was), and some studying calls. But perhaps it will be studying in the Botanic Gardens rather than the library...