Glasgow

 As I am in 'tourist mode', you will hear from me more often than usual. Hope you don't mind. :)

This e-mail will be about stuff in Glasgow.

As I get off the bus, the city feeling comes back. Tall buildings, many people, and cloudy sky, all of them reminds me of London and Bangkok, respectively. No offense, but Edinburgh seems to be more suitable for me. :D

I begun the first day by meeting p'Ton, my senior from JSTP. He is in the third year of his PhD and should be theoretically graduated soon. :) After keeping heavy stuff at his flat, I began roaming around Glasgow University area. Interestingly, I cannot get in any museum since every places open a bit late on Friday (and Sunday). Strange, isn't it?

While we are waiting for the museum, let's get to know Glasgow. Wikipedia said that there are two possible origins of 'Glasgow'; both are from Gaelic. 'glas cau' = green hollow, and 'Glasgu' = dear green place. Hmm. From both names, this city is used to be green instead of gray as present. The people and dialect is called Glaswegian. The dialects here is remarkably stronger than Edinburgh. It seems like I am in 'Isarn'--the north-east part of Thailand in which people have strong dialect. We will get to know a bit more about Glasgow in the first museum: Kelvingrove.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum stands near the Kelvin river beneath University of Glasgow. Similar to many old buildings in Glasgow, it is built with red bricks. This is a sharp contrast to sand stone in Edinburgh. Within the museum, mixture of science and art exhibition are shown. I have particular interest in Glasgow story.

New vocabulary: 'Sectarianism' = conflict based on religion. The conflicts arise from the potato famine in Ireland--causing the immigration of Catholic people to Protestant Glasgow. Conflicts still present today as many forms (Protestant VS Catholic): Orange order VS Hibernians, Rangers VS Celtic. 

Another inspiring exhibition is a photo exhibition by Harry Benson. He used to photograph many famous people e.g. Queen Elizabeth II, Princes Diana, and etc. Seeing him describe the inspirations of each photo light my photographer soul once again.

I also recognized that the architecture style I like is Glasgow Style in the Mackintosh period. There are lines and geometries in this style. Unfortunately, the 'Mackintosh house' is closed in these time. :(

Apart from the Kelvingrove, I went to the Museum of Transport. There kept a lot of cars, cart, train, and subway. I just know that the first subway in Glasgow was pulled by a big string. :D

In the University of Glasgow, I felt like being back to Chulalongkorn University. Prominently, because it is a well-walled university. Comparing with the University of Edinburgh which is scattered around the city, University of Glasgow has the university boundary. Inside this boundary, you can feel the academic environment on the street. :D