Glasgow City Centre

Hi, reader

The heavy rain continues here in Glasgow as well as other parts of the UK. I've seen news reports of bridges being swept away, schools temporarily closing and people being warned they may need to evacuate their homes. I think my best plan is to stay where I am for a few more days and monitor the situation.

Today I caught a bus into Glasgow city centre. My favourite seat on a double decker is always upstairs at the front.

I started by wandering around randomly, taking pictures of anything that caught my interest, but it wasn't long before I felt hungry. 

Like every other big city I've visited recently, Glasgow has a big selection of vegan restaurants and cafes. I opted for The 13th Note, recommended by a friend.

This place is really a bar with a vegan menu. It has live music some days of the week and there's a pleasant vibe.

Can't say I enjoyed my food much. I ordered the puy lentil and potato burger, which comes with salad and chips.

The burger was bland, the salad was limp and I think the chips were reheated. Everything was pretty oily and left the roof of my mouth coated in a layer of grease. I asked the waiter for brown sauce to liven up my burger, but he told me brown sauce isn't vegan because it contains anchovies. Not according to this article.

I messaged my friend to tell him I found the food in his recommended bar to be sub-par. He messaged me back "What am I? The manager?" He went on to tell me I should be grateful for whatever food I get. That's true. And it was an okay meal, but I can see why 13th Note isn't included on this list.

After my meal, I took a walk to Glasgow Cathedral, about fifteen minutes away.

This is the oldest building in Glasgow, and the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, whose tomb lies at the centre of the building's Lower Church. Unfortunately, by the time I got there the building had closed for the day, so I contented myself by walking around the outside of it to see the architecture.

Just over the road from the cathedral is the Glasgow Necropolis (city of the dead), a Victorian cemetery on a prominent hill. It was originally an early 19th century arboretum and park, later earmarked to become a cemetery in the 1830s. Popular with walkers, tourists and those interested in the city's history, the Necropolis is the final resting place of over 50,000 people, including some of the area's most successful sons and daughters.

I've pinched this picture from Google, since my own photos were all quite dark in the gloomy late afternoon light. 

Here we have the 'Bridge of Sighs'. It connects the Cathedral to the cemetery and the name most likely refers to the sadness of the many funeral processions that crossed it. The Bridge of Sighs was designed by D&J Hamilton and has been described as the separation between time and eternity.

Here's the view from the Necropolis side.

If you cross the bridge from the cathedral and turn left, it's a short walk to the memorial for Sir William Wallace, Scottish knight and Guardian of Scotland, immortalized in that dreadful Mel Gibson movie.

"I Am Scotland's Guardian

Though My Body Has Been Broken

My Spirit Will Rise Again

To The Sound Of Freedom"

This is Wallace's monument viewed from the other side.

I climbed the hill for a view across Glasgow. There are some huge and impressive monuments in Necropolis. And, yet, of the 50,000 people buried in the Necropolis, less than 5% of them have a memorial erected in their memory. 

One famous occupant of the cemetery is William Miller, the man who wrote the children's nursery rhyme, Wee Willie Winkie. Since the site is 37 acres, I didn't fancy seeking out his tombstone.

Here's the view from the top, looking back at the Cathedral and the sprawling suburbs of Scotland's largest city.

It was early evening by the time I left the Necropolis, so I headed to the train station to get back to my van. This iconic street furniture caught my attention immediately. Who lives here?

Between 1929 and 1938 around 1,000 examples of the Mackenzie Trench Police Box were installed. The majority (over 98%) have been removed, and surviving examples are a rare sight. In fact, my internet research suggests there only 11 remaining. Apparently this one has been bought and during the day it's a small coffee and snack shop.

One more thing to note about central Glasgow is the incredible murals you can see everywhere. This one on High Street shows St. Mungo with a robin and it refers to the story of one of his miracles, when he brought a bird back to life as a child.

The Glasgow coat of arms features a bird, a bell, a fish and a tree, and all of them are attributed to legends associated with St. Mungo. They're brought together in this short poem:

Here’s the tree that never grew,

Here’s the bird that never flew,

Here’s the fish that never swam,

Here’s the bell that never rang.

And if you're interested to know the stories for each of these four symbols, here's a link.

So instead I've decided to sit tight for another few days to see how things develop with the rain and flooding. No hurry. There are some good walks and places to explore in and around Glasgow.

Thanks for checking in and reading my blog.

Brian