Glasgow

This is my final post about Scotland. Considering we’ve been home for well over month it’s about time, right?

We ended our trip in Glasgow. Glasgow does not quite have the beauty of the rest of the country, but it is an interesting city with a unique history. Our first impression was that it felt much more modern and hipster than anywhere else we’d been. It actually reminded me a lot of a smaller version of London, which I guess makes sense. Glasgow is also the second best city for shopping the UK (after London). Who’d of thought?

We stayed downtown and our hotel had this message waiting for us on the TV screen in our room.

Here’s another tip for you. Do not stay on Bath Street in Glasgow on a weekend. There is incessant partying, honking and screaming all night long. I will never understand the appeal of the bar scene, especially in the early hours of the morning. It seems like a big fat waste of time, sleep and money. Maybe I’m just an old lady? Nevertheless, we had to call the desk at 2 Am and asked to be moved to a different room. I don’t mind noise….I lived next to a Hindu temple for two years….but this was crazy!

Our time in Glasgow was much more laid-back. We walked around, sipped coffee on the street, and even went to see a movie. We did take another double-decker bus tour. Here are some pics from that.

This is the Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery, one of the most popular museums in the UK.

George Square

The place where we spent the most time was the Glasgow Cathedral.

This picture was taken from the Necropolis, the graveyard across the street from the cathedral. A memorial to John Knox is in the graveyard. Rather than go into a ton of narrative on Glasgow history, I am going to share a little about John Knox.

(This is kind of dark but it was a rainy, dreary day).

John Knox was the leader of the Scottish Reformation and is considered to be the founder of the Presbyterian denomination. For awhile he was a chaplain in the Tudor dynasty, but left England when Mary Tudor came to the throne and brought back the Catholic faith. He spent time in Geneva where he met John Calvin. Upon his return to Scotland, he sought to lead the Protestant Reformation. He established the Protestant Reformed Church in Scotland, and was often at odds with the ruling Mary, Queen of Scots. He spent a great deal of time in exile, but continued to preach and minister until his death. He was far from perfect, in fact there are quite a few blemishes, such as his avid support of the execution of the queen and the fact that he married a 17 year old when he was 50. Nevertheless, his life is a big part of Scottish history and Protestant history in general.

On that note, our trip comes to an end. We spent our last night in Glasgow at the movies and flew back to North Carolina early the next morning. Scotland far exceeded our expectations. It is the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to and the pictures hardly do it justice. I hope you enjoyed my little blog tour and I hope you get the opportunity to see it with your own eyes one day!

Thanks for reading!

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