Visitors' Impressions

Martha & John; Jonah & Deidre; Ric, JoAnn, Jenay & David; Randy & Karen

The “Barton Inn” has been busy in May, hosting guests from Portland. We’ve enjoyed showing off our temporary home and seeing Glasgow through our friends’ eyes. Here are some of our visitors’ impressions:

The Towers: Ric & I were struck by the distinctiveness of the city's old & new architecture, with not much in between. I thought the more I looked up, the more interesting things there were to see. We loved the eclectic collection of the physician (William Hunter) from the early 20th century (in the Hunterarian Museum), and the energy of the city on Saturday when walking downtown. Marvelous.

Jonah and Deirdre: As far as surprises about Glasgow, the big one is what a substantial and wealthy place it was on the world scene between 1850 and 1900—the “Second City of the Empire”—and how that manifested itself in so much proud civic architecture that is still in place today (“Victorian piles,” I believe you called them). We also did not know about Glasgow's intense commercial ties to both the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. The shipbuilding legacy was also impressive and very cool. Then, there were all the wonderful bridges over the meandering river walkways. (Those Scots do know bridges!)

Martha and John: Glasgow has long had a reputation as a gritty industrial city, but we found it to be an attractive destination. The areas we saw, the West End and the City Centre, seemed to be thriving with a vitality belying any hardships caused by the loss of industry in recent decades. We were impressed with the museums and restaurants we visited as well as the green spaces and gardens linking parts of the West End.  Throughout Scotland we were impressed by the friendliness of all the people we encountered as well as their lilting accent. It's true that we were occasionally unable to understand everything that was said to us, but it sounded lovely. We always felt safe, never worrying about thieves and pickpockets as in some European destinations. One thing that surprised us, aside from how cold it was in late April/early May, was how little the Scots seem to identify with the British. Scottish flags were everywhere, with nary a Union Jack to be seen until we reached Edinburgh. We were there during the U.K. national election, and saw only yellow and blue signs for the Scottish National Party. We were also there when the royal baby was born; however no one but a lone young receptionist at our hotel seemed to give a hoot. Scotland feels like its own nation, leading us to conclude the voters' decision to remain in the U.K. last fall must have been a gut-wrenching one. Our last great surprise was to learn that today fewer than 500 people own over half of the land of Scotland. There's definitely a connection between the historic land ownership system of Scotland and the waves of 18th and 19th century impoverished Scottish immigrants to the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Karen and Randy: Glasgow’s graceful, blunt, red and tan sandstone buildings, tinged with black from its coal era; green walks along the River Kelvin; the marble staircase off the City Council building fit for an emperor’s palace; the Kelvingrove Museum’s enigmatic crucifixion by Dali, plus the skeleton of a giant Irish deer; fish ’n chips and grilled sardines and monkfish cheeks; the friendly people--cabbies, waiters, clerks; drams of Jura and Oban whisky; the Madrigirls' clarion songs; British trivial pursuit 1950-1970 over cafe lattes; the angels’ share (and more) of warm and tireless hospitality by cousins Rudy and Rhonda who made it all easy for us, and delightful.