if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you already know that i *love* scotland. i lived there for a semester in college and then i lived there for almost two years while working on a masters degree at the university of glasgow.
i tried all kinds of different foods: haggis, neeps and tatties; friend mars bars; scotch eggs; cullen skink. with the exception of the mars bar, most of it was pretty good. scotch eggs are a little weird though (they’re cold and fried. weird.)
but i want to share more about what i loved about glasgow specifically in today’s post. i could start by saying that the people are friendly. i could talk about the green parks everywhere. i could mention the incredible architecture. or, i could just tell you that it’s a real city. i like edinburgh, and i like paris, vienna, and rome. but each of those cities felt a little too overwhelming when it comes to glasgow. glasgow has rivalry, it has spunk, and it has debauchery. and i think the others do too, but they hide it better. glasgow is like the outcast in high school who’s like, i don’t care that you think i’m weird. paris and the others are the kids who are weird, but hide it under a pretty face. i guarantee you, if you spend an extensive amount of time in paris or rome, you will see the gritty side of it. glasgow just shows that to you right when you step off the train or plane.
that’s not to say that glasgow isn’t friendly and welcoming. it most definitely is. and thanks to the commonwealth games in 2014, the recognition in 1990 as the european capital of culture, and the 2015 inspiring city awards, glasgow is booming in all regards. i made friends from all over. i counted, among my close circle of friends: scots, english, canadians, australians, americans, iranians, pakistani, italians, dutch, german and greek. we bonded over the student culture in the west end, but we expanded rapidly into the city centre and beyond. we traveled together, we cooked at each others’ flats, and we drank at the same pubs.
glaswegians have a sense of humour. the photo above is the duke of wellington, known for defeating napoleon at waterloo. while i was living there, the traffic cone on his head was still a drunk student prank. in 2013, after the city council tried to remove the cone and failed due to protests, the city opted to leave it permanently. i think of it as iconically glasgow, and i never set foot in the city without walking past at least once. it sits in front of the gallery of modern art, in royal exchange square, so i like to go through anyway (but i always say hi to arthur.) every so often, someone adds something else to him. last year, during the world cup, he wore a brazil jersey, and the statue of lord kelvin, across the city, wore an argentinian flag. i love these little details.
glasgow has undoubtedly changed a lot since i was there in 2007-2009, much of it for the better, and it seems more crowded. i suspect that’s not my imagination either. new stores have found their way to trendy parts of town and much of the city centre is now retail and restaurants, not just offices. hotels are springing up left and right, and on the way into the city from the airport, i find it unrecognisable as we turn onto st. vincent street. the west end is still as vibrant as ever, thanks to the uni, and the east end is revitalising, starting with the merchant city and the area near the cathedral.
i know that part of the magic of glasgow, as my friends and i call it, has as much to do with the city as it does with the combination of people during my time there. going back to glasgow, as much as i love it, is different when the people who made it so amazing are not there. some of them have not been back at all since we left. others, like me, go back as often as we can. we know it won’t be the same, but glasgow is still irresistible, drawing me back like a moth to a flame.
*updated november 2015*