Just returned from a few days in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, home to more than 600,000 inhabitants, and in my experience, one of the friendliest I’ve visited.
Its citizens were polite, too, in contrast perhaps to some people’s preconceived ideas of Clydeside people.
It’s a creative place, with lots to satisfy culture vultures (it was European City of Culture in 1990) and has lots of street art as well as one of the most eclectic collections I’ve seen in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The city centre has grand Victorian and Edwardian architecture on almost every corner and many of the great banking halls have been converted to bars and pubs, which makes for an interesting drinking experience.
One of my favourite sites was the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art. The Iron Duke almost always sports a traffic cone on his head, despite the authorities’ efforts to deter the practice, and is a favourite photographic subjects for tourists.
Though Edinburgh rightly features on the tourist map, Glasgow was a great place to spend a few days. As the numerous logos attest: People Make Glasgow.