GLASGOW, A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION –
Lowell Sun, May 13, 2001
They talk funny, eat clootie dumplings*, drink Irn Bru*. They are Glaswegians, not Martians, and live in a city that’s trying to transform itself into an important modern Scottish cultural center, yet stay mindful of its kaleidoscopic past.
While Edinburgh has the castles and the crown jewels, Glasgow has twenty art museums, the River Clyde and its superhero architect, the late Charles Rennie Mackintosh – no relation to the raincoat. Although few have heard of him this side of the Atlantic, he is Scotland’s icon, the man whose influence on the city is profound and ubiquitous. Visit the Lighthouse, an exhibition center created from an original Mackintosh building, the Glasgow Art School filled with examples of his work, any local gift shop full of his designs on dishtowels or mugs, or climb the flight of steps to the Willow Tearoom. This is a good place to catch the Art Nouveau glass windows, some original, others restored, that are Mackintosh’s signature designs. Whether he was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright or vice versa is never clear, but although the two never met, and though they lived at about the same time an ocean apart, their designs are curiously similar.The very best examples of Mackintosh’s work are seen at the Hunterian Art Gallery. In addition to a collection of European art, including works by Rembrandt and Whistler, the architect’s home has been recreated – including its exterior. This walk-through is a study in contrasts: dark wood panelling and typically Victorian downstairs, bright as clean linen on the second floor. In an age when homes were heated by sooty fireplace coal, pale interiors were almost unheard of, yet sunlight streams into rooms here, where walls, ceilings and floors are painted white and odd bits of art or pieces of furniture provide the only contrast. Mackintosh’s chairs, with their typically slender high backs, have the sense of encapsulating diners as they sit around a dinner table. This was the architect’s concept, the chairs have been widely copied, and they are seen everywhere in the city.
The name Glasgow derives from the Gaelic, Glas-ghu, meaning “dear green place” and though it has over seventy parks and gardens, these days there’s more to Glasgow than its landscape or architecture. A city once known only for shipbuilding has moved into the 21st Century in a new direction. The Science Center for example, sits on the shores of the Clyde and is due to open later this year. It features the Glasgow Tower, Scotland’s tallest freestanding structure, a four-floor science mall, and the city’s first Imax Theater. Other visitor-friendly riverside attractions, like the world’s largest remaining ocean-going paddle steamer and an amphibious Glasgow tour, have also been refreshed, in the spirit of a “new and improved” city.”Retail therapy” is hot downtown, chockablock with designer names and chains, considered the best shopping center in the UK outside London. Any stodgy images of this Victorian city will also be dispelled by a visit to The Arches, one of the city’s 776 pubs and 30 nightclubs. It is a new, subterranean bar / café / performance space with arched brick-walls and industrial-hangout ambience. Built under a railroad track, it’s one of a kind, young and funky. A quieter place is the Corninthian. Built as a bank a hundred and fifty years ago, now fitted with red-fringed lamps and cozy banquettes geared for romance, it’s reminiscent of another, older Glasgow. A large clock without hands hangs high on the wall, perhaps as a symbol of a past life that was more leisurely. It’s a good place to unwind with a pint of the local beer, Tennent, a bit of Glayva, the local liqueur, or just a glass of “Casa” wine. Long gone in local restaurants is the probability of a bland slab of salmon and its partner, a boiled potato. Gamba, a fish place and one of the city’s finest, is a case in point. It’s not only the space which is as modern as tomorrow. Some menu choices: whole roast sea bass with sweet Thai sauce, Cajun spiced red snapper with honey, cream and wild rice. Either of these entrees fall approximately into the $25 dollar category. For a more modest meal, one might try the Tron, a café featuring salads and offbeat sandwiches like roast vegetables with salsa verde on foccacia, any of which will go for less than five dollars. Or, head for the Babbity Browser. This pub was originally a late 18th Century monastery and became a café / hotel / bar with “typical Scotland pub” written all over it. It’s the place to try Haggis — a spicy Scottish dish filled with minced and chopped things we don’t even want to know about — or to just sit by the fire and chat with the eye-patched, chatty host. While the face of Glasgow is changing, while the city becomes glitzier and more in step with today’s world, its charm lies also in its roots. So, even though you’re on your way to the Gallery of Modern Art or buying a Versace or just having a latté and soaking up the scene, you may spot the medieval Cathedral, a parade of pipers or a classic red double decker bus to remind you that in all the important ways, the heart of Glasgow is still beating nicely, the way it always did.
*Clootie dumpling: A dessert made principally of oatmeal, flour, raisins, buttermilk and spices
*Irn Bru: An orange-flavored non-alcoholic beverage with a caffeine kick
For more information: www.seeglasgow.com, www.visitscotland.com
For Hotels: www.hotelsglasgow.com
Or, British Tourist Authority: 1-877-899-8391