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With a population of approximately 596,000, Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland. The capital city, Edinburgh, ranks second in the population category, with over 487,000 residents.
My tour guide told me, “Edinburgh may be the pretty sister, but Glasgow has the more dynamic character, as exemplified by the outgoing and friendly Glaswegians.” I learned that the residents of Glasgow are called Glaswegians.
I tried to figure out the best strategy for seeing the whole city of Glasgow. I decided to take a few architectural strolls. I could imagine how the city blossomed in the 19th century. I enjoyed looking up to see wonderful Victorian buildings expressing the confidence of a burgeoning industrial city.
Due to the spectacular buildings in the city, Glasgow is called the City of Architecture by many visitors from around the world. Often described as Scotland’s finest Victorian City, Glasgow City Center offers a wealth of architectural details. An introduction to the city’s architecture can be experienced at Scotland’s Center of Architecture and Design.
From the highs and lows of its past, the city has endured much hardship in order to reinvent itself today as a center of culture, cuisine, shopping, and entertainment. A Scotchman I met in Glasgow told me, “As today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s bloom, so, too, does today’s sadness carry the seed of tomorrow’s joy.”
Tobacco tycoons financed the building of wooden ships, and by the 19th century the River Clyde had become the center of a vibrant shipbuilding industry, fed by the city’s iron and steel works. The West End harbored numerous elegant homes. But, down by the river, areas with crowded slums sheltered the laborers who built the ships. Many of them were from Ireland, where the potato famines drove thousands from their homes.
After decades of decline, Glasgow has accomplished an urban renaissance uniquely its own. The city’s grand architecture reflects a prosperous past built on trade and shipbuilding.
The City Chambers, built in 1888, are a proud statement in marble and gold sandstone, a clear symbol of the wealthy and powerful Victorian industrialists’ hopes for the future.
Today Glasgow’s shipbuilding gave way to riverside concerts and exhibition venues. It is a dynamic cultural center and a commercial hub, as well as a launching pad from which to explore the rest of the world.
On my first night staying in Glasgow, Scotland, I saw a carpet of twinkling lights, pewter gray clouds, and brilliant stars, sprawled this beautiful town. I felt like being in a place of tranquility, all outer sounds were smothered by earth itself. It made any subtle sounds audible. In that short span of time, it turned me faraway from everyday clamor and allowed me to hear the subtlety in my own life.
the late Victorian bulk of the City Chambers towers above George Square in Glasgow, Scotland
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