Glasgow's hidden treasures
Scotland’s largest city is full of the unexpected News Feature
Daniel Carey “COULD we have a round of applause for Mrs O’Neill?” the flight attendant asked. “She’s celebrating her 96th birthday today!” Before those of us on the flight from Ireland West Airport Knock to Glasgow could clap, however, the bmibaby employee added: “Mrs O’Neill is seated in the back row with her parents!” Thoughts of a decent human interest story were thus forgotten by the nine-member media delegation who made the journey, accompanied by the ever-accommodating Orla Gibney, Marketing and Promotions Executive at Knock Airport.
The plane landed 15 minutes early (“We do apologise for the inconvenience,” the same quick-witted flight attendant explained to general amusement) and we were transported by bus to the city centre. Marks Hotel aon Bath Street, base camp for our two-day stay, is located just a short walk from the main shopping areas.
Having dined in the hotel restaurant, sampled the local pub scene, and, in my case, shared the hotel lift with a 6’9” guest, we came face to face the following morning with an even more imposing figure: the Duke of Wellington. Sited outside the Gallery of Modern Art in Royal Exchange Square, the statue of ‘The Iron Duke’ often sports a traffic cone on his head, the result of repeated nocturnal pranks.
Caroline Gray from Glasgow City Marketing Bureau was a wonderful guide, and first stop on our itinerary was The Lighthouse, Scotland’s centre for architecture, design and the city. It’s a marriage of old and new, the century-old former Glasgow Herald building alongside a new free-standing building. It includes a permanent exhibition dedicated to the famous Glaswegian architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and a spiral staircase (pictured above) offers the chance to sample rooftop views.
From there it was off to another Mackintosh building, the Glasgow School of Art. Even those of us who know nothing about architecture were struck by the remarkable mix of really bright rooms and dungeon-like corridors. A chalice on the top floor, the creation of a student in the 1970s, reminded some of us of a giant Sam Maguire Cup! The school library is regarded as Mackintosh’s masterwork, a room with a high ceiling and very unusual light fixtures. Actor Robbie Coltrane is a former student of the school, while bands such as Travis and Franz Ferdinand also began life there. Guided tours are offered daily.
Next we visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, free to enter and definitely worth checking out. Having re-opened in 2006 after a €35 million refurbishment, it’s now the world’s 14th most visited museum. Its myriad attractions include a statue of Elvis Presley, a Spitfire aeroplane, an organ which is played daily, and an assortment of animals, arms and armour. Among its signature features are Dali’s extraordinary painting ‘Christ of St John on the Cross’ (in which the crucifixion is viewed from above, see top right), and – my own personal favourite – floating white heads sporting a variety of facial expressions.
After an afternoon in the main shopping thoroughfare, Buchanan Street, we were whisked off to Red Onion, a fabulous restaurant on West Campbell Street. The chef, John Quigley, has worked for Bryan Adams, Tina Turner and The Bee Gees, and what he served up met with universal approval from us non-celebrities too.
The final trip of the evening was to a performance of the Abba musical Mamma Mia! at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (below), an eye-catching venue not unlike Sydney Opera House. The spectacular show has proved a big hit everywhere it’s gone, and the line ‘When I called you last night from Glasgow’ from the song ‘Super Trouper’ got a huge cheer from the hometown audience.
Our final day began with a trip to the Glasgow Science Centre, which should be on everybody’s ‘to do’ list. People of all ages can enjoy placing their hands in the path of a tornado, playing an invisible harp, or using an ‘age machine’ to see what they might look like in old age (or rediscover their youth). It also contains an IMAX cinema with a screen as big as a five-a-side football field, but the highlight of the Science Centre was a trip up the 127m Glasgow Tower, Scotland’s tallest building. It’s an extra £2 to go up the tower, but since it offers a unique bird’s eye view of the city, it’s well worth it.
The penultimate stop on our tour was House For An Art Lover in Belahouston Park. It’s a relatively new building (opened in 1996), but inspired by drawings Charles Rennie Mackintosh did for a design competition early in the last century. The music room is particularly stunning, and visitors get an audio guide to explain the house’s features. The Art Lover’s Café on the ground floor has become hugely popular, and one of our party reckoned the meal he got there was ‘the nicest I’ve ever eaten’.
Finally we visited the Scottish Football Museum and Hampden Park, which you can read about in the sports pages of this week’s paper. Afterwards, there was still time to squeeze in more shopping and get all wistful with a candle-seller in Princes Square shopping centre about how ‘the Irish republic’ had changed since his last visit in 1973.
For one thing, there’s now an airport in Mayo and (since February) direct flights there to and from Glasgow three times a week. After another ahead-of-schedule landing, we were already ten minutes clear of Ireland West Airport by the time we were due to touch down. With a flying time of less than an hour, what better way for Glasgow’s finest, Billy Connolly, to arrive for his July gig in the TF?
Daniel Carey flew from Ireland West Airport Knock to Glasgow with bmibaby
