Glasgow & Mackintosh

St. George Square-Apparently I came on the day of the Great Scottish Run-a half marathon and 10K with about 22,000 people participating. This was either the starting point/finish line or both for the event which seemed to just be cleaning up as I arrived around 11 a.m. Reminded me of Dad and I's half last January!

Montrose Street! But we are not in Houston...

On my way to the Cathedral. Things are pretty spread out in Glasgow and the Cathedral was no exception!

Possibly the coolest lamposts I've seen yet?? Not sure why they have a fish on them...

Gate to the Necropolis, which apparently is a cemetery. This cemetery was up on the hill though, so it had great views of the Cathedral!

Road to the Necropolis

View of the Cathedral from the Necropolis

Inside the Cathedral

Buchanan Street-I think it's the main shopping street in Glasgow. It was packed with people and modern shops, but reminded more of London, so I didn't spend much time there.

You know I love my modern thrown in with the traditional!

This is the hill up to the Glasgow School of Art. I didn't know that Sctoland was so hilly! This also happened to be on the other side of the city from the Cathedral...

Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh-Going to Glasgow, I had no idea what to see there. I happened to wander into tourist information and find a map of Mackintosh's buildings in and around Glasgow. Touring the Glasgow School of Art was the highlight of the trip, and honestly made it worth the day away from beautiful Edinburgh! Too bad they allowed no photography inside the budilng b/c their postcards with interiors shots really didn't do it justice!

Across the street from Mackintosh's building was another of the buildings of the art school. They have a campus of 10 buildings within the area for their 2,000 students.

First phase of the building was completed in 1899 with the second phase being completed in 1909.

Mackintosh was a stickler for detail and designed most of the fixtures, furniture, and small design details that most would usually not. This is his signature font (Yes, I'm such a nerd, but I LOVE this stuff).

Entrance to the shop and museum- Interesting fact-When it was built, it was the tallest buidling in Glasgow. There is a glass "greenhouse" on the top floor of the building (actually just an all glass room used for studios for students to see views of the city to sketch-Mackintosh also incorporated numerous plaster statues around the school for sketching). In World War II, the government would recruit students of the school to sit in this greenhouse over night to watch for incoming enemy planes and report bombings. Glasgow was heavily bombed during the war, hence why it's more modern and not quite as quaint as Edinburgh (also a much larger city)...

Another of Mackintosh's buildings-The Willow Tea Room. This one was just around the corner from the Glasgow School of Art. It apprently has some of the original funriture, but I was a little confused as the front also said jewelers...

Typical Glasgow architecture (I would assume-the dark red buildings were everywehere)

This buildng was in an alleyway, and I couldn't get a good shot of it because of the angles. I don't think it is actually the records buidling anymore as a huge restaurant now occpied the first floor and the rest of the building looked pretty run-down.

The building on the right is another of Mackintosh's called the Lighthouse. It housed a Mackintosh museum and cafe, but they weren't open as it was a Sunday.

Back on Buchanan Street...

So despite how much I would have liked an extra day in Edinburgh, I thought while I was there, I should take advantage of seeing another city in Scotland. I intended on taking the train, but a girl in my dorm suggetsed the bus as it ran more frequently on Sundays and was half the price. It was a good suggestion because it also took the same amount of time! So upon arriving in Glasgow, I wasn't very impressed. I guess bus stations are never very impressive, but the city itself seemed kind of dingey compared to the lush green parks of Princes Street and views of the Castle and Old Town on the hill above. Plus, the city seemed kind of deserted except for the people I saw returning to their cars with the medals for the Great Scottish Run and the event staff cleaning up the barriers. I had asked around for things to do in Glasgow before I left, and everyone kind of said there's not much to do but just walk around. Problem was, I didn't even know where the main streets/squares/or anything were or have a map. So I asked a girl working at Starbucks in the train station for some ideas. She suggetsed the Cathedral and places like Buchanan Street and Argyle street (main shopping streets). On my way to the Cathedral, I also spotted the tourist information in St. George Square. Inside I found the guide to Mackintosh buidlings and decided that after the Cathedral, my main priority would be the Glasgow School of Art as I had learned so much about it (which now I could not remember) in school.

I saw the Necropolis on the hill behind the Cathedral and wondered why the girl at Starbucks hadn't mentioned it as well. It had tons of monuments and what looked like little chapels and possibly a great view of the city. I guess she didn't mention it as it was actually a cemetery and that might be morbid.haha. The Cathedral didn't open until one p.m. because of Sunday mass though, so I headed up to the Necropolis to take some pictures as it was about 20 minutes to one.

After the Cathedral and Necropolis, I headed to the other side of town (one of the things I didn't like about Glasgow was how spread out everything was!) to the Glasgow School of Art. I had looked at the map of Mackintosh buidlings to see which ones were closest to the town center as I was only there for about 5 hours. Unfortunately some of the cooler budilings (like the Hill House, the Mackintosh Church, and the Scotland Street School Museum) were on the outskirts more, but my main thing was the Glasgow School of Art. And taking the tour made the whole trip worth it! The other buildings I could access without buses or metro were the Willow Tea Room, the Daily Records Building, and the Lighthouse. I walked all over town finding each one, but none of them were that spectacular. The Willow Tea Room now said Jewelers, the Daily Records buidling facade was so crammed into an alley you could't even see it, and the Lighthouse entrance was also in an alley and closed. Had I known how unimpressive these budilngs would have been, I might have just skipped them for a walk along the River to see the Clyde Arc bridge, but oh well! By the time I had walked all over town to see these sites, it was about 4:30 p.m., and I wanted to catch the 5 p.m. bus back to Edinburgh as the fireworks show was that night and it was my last night there! The next post, I will include the rest of my evening in Edinburgh, and my last morning.