Day 30: Galivanting in Glasgow!

It was time to say goodbye to Edinburgh and head to Glasgow. A short train ride and we at Glasgow Central. Like all railway stations in Europe this one too is beautiful. Luckily our hotel was not too far from the station and in a few minutes we managed to locate it.

While at Glasgow we stayed at the Alexander Thompson Hotel on Argyle Street. The hotel is rather cramped, with six floors just rising vertically without any thought of expanding horizontally, but since we were here for just a night it did not matter. However what mattered was the uncontrolled excitement of an Indian origin housekeeping staff on spotting two Indians girls. She told us that she was from Punjab and asked if we were on vacation but man was she glad to see us. Abroad any Indian you spot becomes family… grrr!

Anyway the room at Alexander Thompson was functional and modern. There is no restaurant but breakfast was served in the dining hall. Like I mentioned before Glasgow was a day trip. So after dumping our bags and refreshing a bit at the hotel, it was time to hit the streets. Let me tell you one thing. Glasgow is pretty, very pretty with flowers around every bend.

First on the cards - the Necropolis. We could take the local transport to get there, but considering how we tend to miss the stops we decided to walk it out. It did not look far off on the map. Following the map we made our way to the Necropolis, and found it rather easily.


The Necropolis http://www.glasgownecropolis.org is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, situated on a hill and the resting place of over 50,000 people. The trek up hill is beautiful. To get to the main entrance one has to cross a bridge, known as the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ as it was part of the route of funeral processions. The cemetery's paths meander uphill towards the summit, where a dominating statue of John Knox was erected in 1825. You will find tombs designed by famous personalities, namely Alexander Thomson, John Bryce and David Hamilton. Though we were walking in a cemetery, which is weird, you cannot help but feel at peace here. The tombs are so pretty and peaceful and the view from the summit is amazing. It’s almost as if all the souls are looking down protecting the city of Glasgow.

After spending a major of our afternoon roaming the Necropolis, we then headed to Glasgow Cathedral or St Mungo's Cathedral as it is commonly known as. The cathedral is simply striking built in Victorian style. The Pastor invited us for the service and it being Sunday Tan forced me to go for mass. The service was perfect and heavenly with its piped organ choir. After the service there was a small gathering, where we thanked the pastor for the wonderful service and making two Indians girls feel at ease in a foreign country.
Since photography is prohibited in the Cathedral, we could not click any pictures of this beautiful place. Do click here to see this magnificent structure.

From here we lazed back our way into town, exploring the streets of Glasgow with my Lonely Planet Europe on a shoestring guidebook. We spent the rest of the evening walking about Buchanan Street, Argyle Street, and Sauchiehall Street. Oh and they have Primark here too, my favorite store in the whole world. Click here to familiarize yourself with the streets of Glasgow.

The evening ended with dinner at McDonald’s, the cheapest place to dine since we were at the end of our trip and short on cash. Yum but not exactly yum.