Wednesday 12 September 2007

Today we do a walking tour of Glasgow with a private guide. We are met by Lucie, director of Pure Dead Brilliant Tours, who takes care of the money and introduces us to the guide, Michael. Michael arrives promptly at 9.30 and guides according to a previously agreed itinerary. We start in Merchant City, the 18th century business district, recently come to live again. We visit the Ramshorn Churchyard with its gated graves. The gates had to stop thieves stealing the bodies for the anatomy classes of the university. A bit further down we walk through Candleriggs, a street with the former covered fruit market, now an arcade with eateries and cafés. Glasgow Cross was once the centre of Glasgow, until the train station was opened near George Square which sparked a shift of the centre towards the west. We see the Tolbooth Steeple, a church tower without a church from the 17th century. We follow the High Street towards the Cathedral, still standing at the spot where once the Medieval settlement started. Little is left reminding us of those medieval days. Only the cathedral and a former Inn. That Inn, the Provand's Lordship is now the oldest building in Glasgow. Construction of the cathedral was started in the early 13th century and was completed at the end of the 15th. Thanks to the guilds the church escaped destruction by church reformers in the 16th century, a fate of so many churches in Scotland. The churches interior is still in tact. The church is dedicated to St Mungo, allegedly the city's founder. Symbols of his legendary life return in the city's coat of arms: a bird (which he called back to life), a bell (he rung to call the people to prayer), a tree (which he got to burn spontaneously) and a fish (he caught with the wedding ring of a repenting adulterous queen in its mouth). Next to the cathedral is the Necropolis, the Père Lachaise of Glasgow. It is a hill with a extensive collection of grave monuments for the well to do in 19th century Glasgow. 

We walk back towards the city centre around George Square and Enoch Square. On George Square are the Victorian City Chambers from 1888, where the city government and the city council have their seat. On the square are statues of important Britons, but above all Scots, like Sir Walter Scott, looking over the city from his column. Around him are many others like Queen Victoria, James Watt and Robert Burns. Our guide spends more time at the statue of John Moore, a general who fought Napoleon in Spain and Portugal, because he is one of the few with a real Glasgow connection. We then walk past the Gallery of Modern Art in Queen Street. The façade is pure classicistic, but it is actually a new front for what once was country manor for the tobacco trader William Cunningham from 1775 and which was situated a long way outside the city at the time. Once the city caught up with the house it changed function a few times (stock exchange, library) and it got its classicistic façade. When the building became a museum its fronton was adorned with a modern mosaic representing the symbols of St Mungo.  

We now get to the beating shopping heart of Glasgow with the big shopping streets like Argyle Street, Buchanan Street en St Enoch Square. Princess Square, a tiny square lends its name to a large covered shopping mall, in which original elements of the old buildings have been integrated. Michael points a couple lovely alleyways and squares we would otherwise never have noticed. Via Mandela Place and West George Street we reach the former financial district of the city. Here we find two buildings designed by the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), who developed his very own style in which he matched Art Nouveau, Art Deco,  Classicism and Modernism. He got quite a following and laid the foundations for the Glasgow Style in  architecture, design en applied art. In his own time he got little acclaim outside his faithful circle of admirers, but after his death and certainly these days Mackintosh style has gained a certain iconic status for the city. He is often imitated (usually by shop designers) and you see a lot of Mockintosh in the street. We have look at the half hidden building  in Renfield Lane, he designed for a newspaper (editorial rooms, management and print shop) and end up at the Lighthouse, Mackintosh first big commission. In 1895 it was home to the Glasgow Herald. In 1999 it was beautifully restored and converted into Scotland's Centre for Architecture. It also has a special Mackintosh Interpretation Centre. We have lunch in a restaurant at ground level in the Lighthouse.  

Later in the afternoon we visit the Glasgow School of Art, Mackintosh' masterpiece. We are guided around the building by one of the students. The building is totally thought through and consequent in style, although it has been built in two phases. His commission was to create something artful, functional and economical and he succeed on all counts, despite the frivolously oval windows. The GSoA is a top institute and students are very proud to be able to study here. It is a working academy and we are not allowed to take pictures inside. Highlights are, without a doubt, the library, accessible only for teaching staff and the exhibition of furniture designed by Mackintosh and his contemporaries. Well known are Macktintosh's high dining chairs with the ladder like back rest.   

We walk back via Sauchiehall Street. A shopping street as well, but a bit quieter. We go for a cup of tea at the Willow Tea Rooms, This one of the tea rooms Mackintosh designed in Glasgow. The Tea Room is located upstairs from a jeweler's shop and is gracefully designed in Glasgow Style. What we see now is a meticulous reconstruction of the original of 1904, which Mackintosh designed for Kate Cranston, one of his few supporters among his contemporaries. The Tea Room was reopened in 1980 after being closed for 50 years. The name was derived from the street name, Sauchiehall, which means Willow Lane in Gaelic.   

At night we eat at Mao bar and café (oriental) and watch football on TV (England-Russia and France-Scotland), After that we go to Revolver Bar a traditional pub in a cellar with a friendly crowd. Later during the night - when we are already in bed - we hear lots of chears of happy football fans, who are loudly celebrating Scotland's victory over France in Paris, earlier that evening. 

Weer: dry, slightly overcast and some sunshine.19°C/66°F

Thursday 13 September 2007

Glasgow - Trossachs - Edinburgh 149km / 93mi

We leave town in a Northerly direction towards the Trossachs. This is a national park around 50km (30mi) north of Glasgow. We first go to  Aberfoyle, where we have a coffee. The village calls itself gateway to the Trossachs. Rightly so, because the NP starts right outside the village. The road goes steeply upwards, up Duke's Pass op, taking us into Queen Elizabeth Forest. We veer off the paved road and follow the Three Lochs Forest Drive. This is a (one way) forest drive, leading through a beautiful part of the forest passing three Lochs (lakes). It is like a long forest walk, only in a car. At the start of the drive is a collection box, where you have to deposit two pounds towards the upkeep of the drive. After half an hour or so the drive joins the main road again. We continue until an turn off towards Lake Katrine. Here is the starting point of the  steamer Sir Walter Scott. It turns out that the boat has already left 30 minutes ago by the time we get there. It is a popular tour to take a rental bike with you on the boat and sail to Stronachlachar and ride the bike back to the starting point again. We continue instead by car and drive directly to  Edinburgh. 

In Edinburgh we soon find Ardmor House, our B&B for the next two nights. Colin and Robin give us a warm welcome. We are off with the bus to the town centre (day ticket £2,50, no change given) and have lunch on the top floor of the prestigious London department store Harvey Nichols, that has a branch here. It is a brand new building on St Andrew Square. The doorman opens the door for us and the restaurant offers fine views of the city and beyond. After lunch we take a bus 36 to the Scottish Parliament. Since 1999 Scotland has, for the first time since 1707 when the Act of Union was signed with England, its own parliament. Since 2004 parliament sits in a new building designed by the Catalan architect Enric Mirales. We want to visit, but there is a full session going on, so there are no tours. We can watch the debate. The debating chamber is very light and modern, with all kinds of references to Scottish icons. After the visit to the parliament we go back into the city centre and have a pint at the Café Royal Circle Bar. A classical bar with an impressive Victorian decor. Especially the elliptical shaped island bar and the tiled pictures of famous Scottish inventors are very nice touches. The beer is good too, by the way. 

At night we eat in the harbour side district of Leith at Fisher's. The Shore in Leith has become a culinary hotspot with mainly fish restaurants. The oysters, swordfish and venison tasted deliciously. Later at night we explore the city's gay scene, concentrated in the Gay Triangle at the bottom of Leith Walk.

weather: dry and sunny. 18ºC/64ºF

Friday 14 September 2007

After breakfast we go back to the Scottish Parliament, where we have booked tickets for the 10.20 tour. We are given an hour's tour, explaining a lot about the building, it's history and architecture and about the architect Enric Mirales. We see the members' quarters, committee chambers and are allowed on to the debating floor of the parliament. Miralles has done much effort to integrate lots of Scottish icons into the design, like the St Andrews cross. He was also a great admirer of  Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style which is easy to see in the details. It is a complex building, consisting of a cluster of interconnected units for different functions like auxiliary staff, members' offices, debating chamber and committee rooms. Also the 17th century Queensberry House has been integrated into the complex. The building is situated on mountainous terrain and differences in levels had to be bridged. 

After the tour of the building we walk the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace (residence of the Queen in the Scottish capital) towards Edinburgh Castle. The street is a big tourist draw and you cannot fail to notice that. Countless souvenirs shops and some far fetched tourist attraction vie for attention. Half way up we have lunch at Always Sunday a lunchroom with nice sandwiches and salads. All organic and fair trade, so very correct. We continue until the gates of the castle, which we - like Holyrood - have already visited on a earlier stay. We turn off the Mile down to the National Museum of Scotland. This purpose built museum is about ten years old and should give a comprehensive overview of the development of Scotland in terms of culture, economy, politics, technology and even sports. It is a bit of a maze, set up thematically, rather than chronologically. The building itself is impressive with a huge atrium and a high tower. The exhibition is nice, but you have to find your way through it and some previous knowledge of Scottish history is needed if you want to put the various subjects presented into the right context.  

After the museum we go back to the B&B. At the end of the beautiful afternoon we take the car up Calton Hill to enjoy the views. The hill top is filled with quasi classic objects like a unfinished  "Parthenon", that was meant to serve as a national monument, but is often called a "national disgrace". There is also the Burns Monument, a round Corinthian temple like thing and the Nelson Monument. At night we eat at La Favorita, near the B&B. A prize winning popular Italian place. We go to bed early, because have to be up early tomorrow for our flight back to the Netherlands

weather: sunny, 18ºC/64ºF

Saturday 15 September 2007

We get up at 5.15 and have breakfast. Our hosts are still asleep, but they have prepared a cool box with some breakfast things in it. Toast, tea and coffee, we can make ourselves. We pack and leave ourselves out. We drive through cold (6ºC/42ºF) Edinburgh to the airport Turnhouse. We return the car at Hertz, tell our story about the flat tire, but do not receive too much understanding from the desk assistant. [A few weeks later is all very well resolved after I have sent them an e-mail]. We wait until the check-in counter opens up for our flight. We have excess weight on our baggage, about 11 kg in all. It is expensive: £6 per kilo. We end up paying more for this budget flight than we would have with KLM! The flight itself is fine. We are on the front row and land 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The baggage comes first of the belt. We want to take the first train home to Rotterdam, but a blockage on the track forces us to a detour via Utrecht. Finally we are home around 2.15pm.