JoeTro

I'm considering a quick weekend trip to Glasgow in February from London. I'm wondering if this is a bad idea since Glasgow is known for being so green ... would I miss out on a lot of the reason for being there? Other negatives include the closing of some nearby castles/homes like Cuzean ... but I have such a short time anyway with so many museums I may want to pass even if I went after Easter.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Gardyloo

Cold and wet, what's not to like?

Go for it, and come back again in better weather.

flanneruk

"Glasgow is known for being so green".

Well, that's certainly not how Rangers supporters would put it. Or ecologists or anyone with decent colour vision. I mean, it's handsome, but are you sure you're not confusing it with Glasgow Green (wikipedia it), the longstanding centre of Scottish radicalism?

I don't think you miss out on anything in February. Spring's much more advanced in London and Oxford, but Glasgow's boozers, museums, boozers, football grounds, boozers and all the rest function as well in Feb as any other time.

And you've not lived till you've watched Queen's Park play at home on a wet February Saturday. Dreich? Not even a Tuesday night in Dundee can come up to it.

sheila

Oh, flanner, a mote in your eye.

Glasgow (Glaschu) in Gaelic means"the dear green place" in English.

What JoeTro may NOT know is that that was a long long time ago.

However it IS a great city for weekend pass. For a weekend, especially in winter, I wouldn't dream of moving out of the town. Just shop, do galleries, architecture and restaurants. You'll have a ball.

JoeTro

Thanks very much. I was thinking of it as the "dear old place" and I had heard that it was a very green city. But I'm working out an itinerary that is jam packed with so many galleries and museums that I would give short shrift to most other places. Just hoping I can figure out if I can take a Monday off from my lab in time to still get the good airfare I saw!

JoeTro

Oops ... I meant green, not old.

flanneruk

Sheila, come on

I've lost track of whether Joe's living in Oxford or London. If Oxford, the shopping's better anywhere - even Motherwell, Hamilton, Paisley or East Kilbride. Or Witney. If London, Glasgow's shopping really doesn't hold a candle.

Glasgow's museums (well the Burrell) are incomparable any time of the year. A decent pint of heavy you can't get in London or Oxford.

Only Liverpool beats it for stunning more or less Victorian architecture. And nowhere matches Hampden on a miserable winter's day for a "who gives a stuff?" Scottish Division 23 match. (Believe it or not, I was once the guest of the SFA at one, where they strapped me in the bar and mainlined the single malt into me till I signed the sponsorship deal)

But green (apart from Glasgow Green). Not the city's forte, really is it?

JoeTro

Thanks for the comparisons, flanner. FYI, I'm in Oxford, land of no green.

Gardyloo

A pint of something vaguely organic at the Sarry Heid will get you as green as you need to be. A couple more and all the wimmen (both) in the public bar will start looking like Clarinda.

jsmith

No green in Oxford? Have the Botanic Gardens, Christ Church Meadows, Trinity Gardens, Worcester College gardens been paved over?

JoeTro

Okay, you are correct. I was just bemoaning the fact of big public green spaces like in other cities.

janisj

Trust me - Oxford is more green than Glasgow. But go anyway - you will have a great time and be sure to visit at least some of the Mackintosh places . . . .

JoeTro

I'm having to cancel this trip ... maybe another time. Thanks for all the help.