Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Glasgow

Glasgow – Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Today’s expedition was to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which has now reopened and has free admission but requires advance bookings. I thought it looked very quiet at 10.00 when it opened, but a friendly security guard politely told me that I was standing at the back of the building. There’s a myth that the architect killed himself when he discovered that the building was built back to front and although that’s untrue, it’s all muddled up as far as I was concerned. The security guard said that he expected to send many more visitors to the correct entrance as if to reassure me that I’m not an idiot.

A visit here is likely to take at least two hours, and I was there for longer. I’ll pull some particularly interesting exhibits (or what I call particularly interesting) out in separate posts. What remains below are some random exhibits that I felt the need to take photos of…..

Located in the main hall, this is the Kelvingrove Organ which was built by TC Lewis & Co in 1901 and it’s still in its original working condition. Apparently there are 48 speaking stops (I don’t know what they are, I’m not very musical) and 2,889 pipes.

An elephant. I suspect my commentary here isn’t overly useful, but this is the West Court and until 1977 it was filled with ship models. These are now located at the Riverside Museum which I visited yesterday, and between 1980 and 2003 the area was filled with arms and armour. Now it has a plane, elephant and numerous other dead animals.

I like random exhibits such as this, which is a section of railing from a former public toilet located on London Road.

A Stagonolepis, which lived in this area around 220 million years ago.

The heads in East Court are just a little, er, scary…..

This is ‘Woman in Oriental Dress’ painted by Henri Matisse, apparently with an attempt to show sensuality.

The ‘Portrait of Madame Valentine Fray’ painted by Auguste Renoir, another artwork which shows the quality and depth of the collections that are held here.

The ‘Ostre Anlaeg Park’ which is located in Copenhagen, painted by Paul Gauguin.

Another one of the art galleries, and it’s fair to say that these were less popular in terms of visitor numbers than the displays of dead animals.

I have no words.

The main hall is a grand affair and there’s plenty of space for the performances which take place here.

They don’t look like very comfortable stools.

The stretched out skin of a green anaconda and I can’t think of anything less than I’d want on my wall. Having written that, I suppose one that was alive would be worse laid out in my flat…..

Back to West Court, with a Spitfire being the highlight of the collection here. It’s safer here, for a few years it was displayed outside RAF Leuchars in Fife, open to the elements.

The ‘Coronation of the Blessed Virgin’ by the Arts and Craft designer Harry Clarke (1889-1931) who produced this in 1923.

I can’t remember what these are called, but Richard will know as he’s making one in his front room. I don’t think it’s as nice as this one though.

The corridors of history…..

Another packed gallery full of people.

I don’t doubt the quality of this artwork, as it’s by Paul Cezanne who has a slightly better reputation than I do for painting, but I wonder who originally bought it. The gallery notes that “he may have painted this on a rainy day when he couldn’t get out into the countryside”. I suspect there’s more than a little guesswork there with that statement…..

This is ‘Still Life’ by Auguste Renoir, painted in 1908.

I knew that there were rattlesnakes in Glasgow…..

A happy bear.

And, finally for this set of photos, the museum’s giraffe.

As for this gallery and museum, I thought that it was really quite impressive and there was plenty to see. I liked that there was no admission charge to get in and the whole advance ticket purchase process was easy to understand and worked out well. There is currently a limit of 1,000 people in the building, although at a best guess there weren’t that many inside when I was there. The staff at the entrance were friendly, although there were nearly no staff in the galleries themselves and I didn’t see any actually engaging with visitors. The one-way system seem to cause more confusion than benefit, causing visitors to cluster together rather than just walk where they wanted (and it was widely ignored anyway by the more rebellious visitors). There’s definitely enough to see to justify a repeat visit should I ever be in the area again.

August 26, 2021
Glasgow – Taphouse Bar and Kitchen

As I walking back to the city centre from Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, I thought I’d pop in the Taphouse Bar and Kitchen for lunch.

There was a friendly staff member who told me when I entered that there was no food currently being served, so my initial food plan failed.

It wasn’t a particularly busy location (there were no customers inside other than me), but it was clean and comfortable, although perhaps a little bit more formulaic than on-trend. It’s been open for a couple of years now and there’s an outside seating area which is where the only other customers were sitting.

The draft beer selection was inadequate, the best I could really find was Blue Moon and I don’t really consider that as a craft beer, although views will differ on that matter and it’s more likely to be viewed as such in the United States. It tasted slightly odd as well, although not unpleasant, I couldn’t really establish why that was. Perhaps it’s just better drunk on the beach in California….. There were a few more cans available to widen the options, but the choice verged more towards generic rather than interesting.

I can’t find fault that the bar wasn’t serving food, as that could be for any number of reasons and I was told immediately so wasn’t inconvenienced. But, I couldn’t find anything else here that made a visit appealing and putting “taphouse” as the name of a venue does perhaps bring with it an obligation to do more with beer. I did look back on their Untappd record to see if there are anything in the past that was more innovative, but there’s very little. It makes it worse when they themselves claim “look forward to a quality selection of the finest craft ales”.

Overall, a welcoming environment, but for me at least a concept not well implemented despite the on-trend and exciting area in which they’re based. They’d perhaps be better to rebrand as more of a restaurant with some craft beer options, especially as the food menu seems to be well reviewed.

August 26, 2021
Glasgow – Bier Halle

The Bier Halle is something of a local institution having been in this central Glasgow location for a couple of decades.

There was a friendly welcome offered by a staff member when I went downstairs and he mentioned that there was a table left outside if I wanted that. I didn’t, I had no intentions of sitting outside in the extreme heat that Glasgow is currently enduring. It’s fair to say that most other customers were perfectly content to frazzle, but I left them to it. Judging from the amount of beer and food being taken up the stairs, it remained busy up on the sun kissed pavements of Glasgow.

Slightly dark I accept, but clean and the environment was comfortable. Incidentally, there is no phone signal downstairs, but the staff member mentioned that when I entered so that I could have chance to connect to the wi-fi. The bar is using an app which it requires customers to order from and this worked well, with my drink being brought over promptly.

The beer list wasn’t enormous and there’s perhaps too much of a concentration of international beers at the expense of German beers, which I thought was the theme of the bar. Anyway, this was the Furstenberg lager which was entirely adequate and nicely cool and refreshing. The food was that being served looked quite tempting, but I had a Brewdog Wings Wednesday go to shortly afterwards, so I didn’t want to overdo it.

I can imagine that this location gets busy on weekend evenings during winter, I’m sure that it’s very homely. Perhaps not as on-trend it once was, but still clearly popular enough to keep on trading for so long. It’s also reminded me that I fancy another little trip to Germany……

August 26, 2021
Glasgow – Brewdog Merchant City

I’m slowly trying to go to every Brewdog in the UK and this is the chain’s city centre location in Glasgow. I’ve never quite understood the Doghouse branding that Brewdog have, but this was what the pub was called between 2015 and 2018, before reverting to the current external signage.

I was welcomed by a friendly team member who gave me this table and it seems that all sole diners were put in this row of table seating. I thought it was quite a decent location, I could see what was going on throughout the bar in case of any exciting drama. Unfortunately, nothing dramatic happened, but it’s good to be ready and in a prime location.

The beer fridge and bar, all standard Brewdog layout.

These windows at the rear retract fully to open up to the outside and they were opened just before I left (I was leaving anyway, I didn’t stomp off because they opened up the windows).

I had a look through the beer list and was a little perturbed to see that I had already tried nearly everything on the draught (I still don’t know whether it’s better to use draft or draught, so I alternative between them a bit) beer selection. This suggested to me that either I’m visiting too many Brewdogs or they’re not rotating their beers enough. Rather than take any blame myself, I decided they were at fault.

The above beer is the Cosmic Crush Raspberry by Overworks, which is Brewdog’s own brewery. I didn’t order a half (it was expensive, so I limited myself to a third), this was another mispour from Brewdog and I liked how the engaging staff member apologised and said if it was a problem then I could always leave some. It absolutely wasn’t a problem, and that’s about the eighth mispour in a Brewdog that I’ve had. This pleases me greatly. Refreshing and suitably sour, but there was a slight chemical feel to the aftertaste rather than a subtle flavour of raspberries, but still a very decent beer.

I also ordered a Vagabond, which is Brewdog’s gluten free beer that I don’t think I’ve had (or I’ve forgotten if I have) and this was perfectly adequate, but with nothing remarkable about it.

And I ordered Wings Wednesdays, with no shortage of chicken wings despite the national delivery problem which is apparently even impacting Greggs. The staff here were the most pro-active in offering extra rounds of the wings that I’ve experienced in a Brewdog, always being friendly and helpful as well. I should probably though switch to a different food order in future, the wings have quite a strong sauce which isn’t ideal on the throat…. For anyone interested (goodness knows who), the chicken wings tasted fine, but weren’t as crispy as I’ve had elsewhere, as if they’ve had them sitting in the sauce for some time. I didn’t let it bother me though and merrily ate them anyway. Incidentally, the menu here has a strong focus on vegan and vegetarian dishes, I will likely try those again as they’ve been excellent when I’ve had them before.

The reviews of the bar are positive, although there’s one furious customer claiming that they were ill after their visit and it must be Brewdog’s fault. It probably wasn’t, but some people seem entirely content to make these accusations. Anyway, I liked the reply to the review which I assume was a complaint about the time someone had to wait:

“First son was born before I got served”

The reply from Brewdog was:

“Congratulations!”.

OK, it might not be comedy gold, but I liked it. I also liked that Brewdog had little interest in tolerating a customer who abused their staff with the “unbelievable snowflakes for bar staff” in a review. I always feel a little sorry for the bar staff when I read reviews like that, but there we go….

All told, I had a very positive impression about this Brewdog (although, to be fair, I like nearly all of them) given the clean environment, the friendly staff and the food and drink options. All rather lovely.

August 25, 2021
Glasgow – Sir John Moore Pub

And another JD Wetherspoon outlet, which I visited on my pursuit to go to as many Good Beer Guide listed pubs in Glasgow (I say Glasgow, but my efforts are national….) as I had time for. This one is in an unexceptional building which was formerly a row of shops. It’s named after Sir John Moore (obviously I suppose….) who was a locally born British army general. He lived between 1761 and 1809, serving in the military from 1776 until he was killed in action. A monument was erected in George Square in 1811 to commemorate his life, the first to be put there.

The interior, which is functional but there’s nothing overly exciting here, it’s not a grand conversion of a bank like some of their other pubs in the city.

The beers were fine, the first photo is of the Pentland IPA from Stewart Brewing and the second photo is of the Seven Giraffes from Williams Brothers Brewing Co. Both beers were well-kept and at the appropriate temperature and all that, but the Seven Giraffes was quite bland and unexciting. The Kettle crisps were delicious.

Service was polite enough and the environment felt comfortable and safe. There was a choice from seven different ales during my visit, with nothing standing out to be exceptional, but at least there was a choice. Another failure though in providing any range of beer styles, the beers were all quite samey and there were no dark options.

I had a little look at the reviews of the pub and noted one angry customer complain about the staff and note “I only spoke to 3 staff but all had attitude issues”. I don’t know how some customers manage this, I’d struggle to find three staff in a year who I’d say had anywhere near attitude issues, let alone three in one pub in one visit. Actually, I do have a clue what the problem might be here…..

And another review that noted:

“Absolute shambles standing at the bar for 15 minutes waving a tenner around at a bar with no more than 1 layer of people being served. Staff should use their eyes! Pointed this out to be told you’ll be served when someone is available… well the 5 of you serving were available several times and the only reason I hadn’t been was your staffs poor bartending.”

I’d be willing to bet that the staff had used their eyes and had managed to ignore the customer that was waving their notes about. The amount of customers that I’ve seen over the years sticking their notes out towards bar staff as they walk down the bar, or bang coins on the counter as if that will help…..

Anyway, I digress. There was nothing particularly wrong with this pub and the prices were inevitably cheap and affordable as it’s operated by JD Wetherspoon. I can’t think of anything overly exciting to note about the place and it seems to have got in the Good Beer Guide for the valid reason that they have a lot of well-kept beers.

August 25, 2021
Glasgow – ibis Styles Glasgow Centre George Square

I have to begin by mentioning that I’m still having problems with Accor, so it is probably best for me to recommend that people book using a third party agent.

With that little bit of negativity out of the way, I have to say that this hotel in Glasgow seems to be run to an incredibly high standard. I don’t know who the manager here is, but I’d suggest that they’re doing a great job and this is the best Accor visit since my little trip to Whitechapel Ibis Budget a few months ago.

This messaging works for me, I love the slight irreverence. The welcome at the reception was genuine and authentic, with the staff member being engaging and helpful. Nothing felt scripted, it just seemed to be a personable greeting, so my first impressions were very positive.

One of the worst hotels that I’ve visited was Ibis Styles Seven Kings, which I won’t whinge about again here. This hotel though nailed it though for me, the decor was modern, on-trend, bright, functional and everything was spotlessly clean. There was a desk, chair, sofa and thought had been put into the design elements here. I like the nod towards the cone statue as well, given that it’s just over the road.

It’s hard to say this without sounding entitled, but I like to receive little gifts like this to acknowledge that I seem to spend half the year in Accor hotels. I’m a fan of Irn-Bru and Tunnocks, so this was a lovely welcome for me, something really positive that didn’t cost the hotel much. This is a time to acknowledge the rather lovely carpet in the room as well.

It’s not possible to walk along the balcony, but I liked it being there.

I was on the top floor, so there were some decent views over Glasgow. As a bonus, there was air conditioning in the room and it worked perfectly at nicely chilling the room as I wanted (it’s too hot in Glasgow at the moment…).

I don’t know who wrote this, but they’re a good communicator. This fits entirely with the Ibis Styles brand, all nicely done again.

I very much like the local nod towards Tunnock’s.

They’ve even been creative with the carpet design, so someone has given massive thought to the decor at every customer touchpoint throughout the hotel. If I’m being honest, the lift arrangement wasn’t ideal, as they seemed to struggle with the number of customers. However, it didn’t reach the point of being annoying and guests seemed to be very cheery about everything, so all was well.

Brave to do this so that it doesn’t look like graffiti, but they’ve pulled it off. It’s a better look in the lift than in the photo to be fair, but I was trying to avoid my reflection being in the photo.

The restaurant and bar area, all spotlessly clean again.

And my free welcome drink. I’m going to credit this Ibis Styles with making an effort to provide a range of beers and they had around six, although draft options were off due to a gas supply issue that was outside of their control. Entirely acceptable to me, as being offered a choice of Corona or Budweiser isn’t ideal, although I accept there are greater things in the world to worry about.

I experienced no problems with this hotel at all, with no noise issues either internally or externally. I liked that they have WhatsApp if I needed to contact them and the staff were so friendly that this was the sort of hotel that I’m fairly confident would have fixed any issues if I had them. I tried to think of some things that the hotel could improve on, but there really aren’t any. The desk in the room looked a bit like it would collapse if someone jumped on it, a sign not of any problem with the hotel, but just how I couldn’t find any fault.

The reviews of the hotel are generally very positive, not that this surprises me in the slightest. I’ve had a look at some of the negative reviews, and some seem to be a little aspirational, such as the guest who was unhappy that the hotel reception didn’t deliver them milk to the room when they phoned. Another negative review said simply “No fridges…what hotel has no fridges and no netflix”, although the answer to that is actually most of them.

As a hotel, this is brilliant and I hope to come back here. All very nicely done. This is absolutely the reason that I like Accor hotels and why Ibis Styles used to be my favourable brand within the chain.

August 25, 2021
Glasgow – Drum and Monkey Pub

After a lovely meal and selection of beers in Shilling Brewing Company, I started to work through the list of Good Beer Guide pubs and came to the Drum and Monkey. I realised when I arrived that it was run by Nicholson’s (part of Mitchells & Butlers), who have a consistent ability to deliver a poor range of beers, so my expectations were low. The interior was though interesting, it’s another former bank that has been converted into a pub, so my hopes were raised a little.

As I wasn’t welcomed into the pub, I just went to sit down. I then discovered that the pub’s entire draught beer selection was Peroni, Tennent’s and Carling. No real ale, no craft beer on tap, just generic rubbish. They did have some craft beer options in cans, which I’ll credit them with, but they were overpriced and there was nothing of any real interest that couldn’t be picked up at Tesco.

I walked out again without ordering anything. Why this pub is in the Good Beer Guide I have no idea, but perhaps it’s usually better in terms of beer options and the welcome from staff.

August 24, 2021
Glasgow – Shilling Brewing Company

This is a well reviewed craft beer bar in Glasgow which has over twenty different beer options, so it seemed an ideal place to visit on my first evening in the city.

Well, absolutely! I felt that my decision to come here was justified with signage like this.

A staff member came over to welcome me as soon as I arrived, which was actually around one minute after they opened, and he was conversational and engaging. He explained the ordering process and waited for me to find the NHS Scotland app on my phone that I haven’t used in ages so that I could check-in. I’m not actually quite sure what the rules are and whether it’s necessary, but I just check-in when asked to.

The bar’s interior is bright and airy, another former bank conversion of which there seems to be several in central Glasgow. On the left is a projector screen showing the Untappd menu, but there is also a QR code on the menu to access the same information. I liked the range of higher seating and lower table seating, with everything being clean and comfortable.

A quite decadent bar design, all very on-trend.

The pizza preparation area. Customers are given one of those buzzer things to alert them to when their pizza is ready. I forgot I had it and was pleased nobody seemed to notice my look of shock when this bloody thing started buzzing around the table.

I ordered the mixed meat pizza which had pepperoni, ham and chorizo. It was excellent, a light base which had a crispness to it without being hard, with the toppings being tender and rich in flavour. Quite decadent, and the pizzas are all reasonably priced at between £7 and £8.

In the background are the three one thirds that I ordered, the Kato Raspberry & Lychee Sour from Donkeystone Brewing, the Steeplejack from the Alphabet Brewing Company and the Chew Chew from Fallen Brewing. They were all very drinkable, although nothing of particular note that I feel the need to mention here (for anyone interested, my Untappd account is at https://untappd.com/user/julwhite). The beer menu was well balanced though, with most beer styles being represented.

The cellar and the former bank vault doors are still in place. I thought at first it was nice that they’d kept them, but they realistically probably didn’t have a great deal of choice in the matter given how heavy and bulky they are. They’re a nice design feature as well.

Overall, I very much liked this bar with its friendly welcome, helpful staff and clean environment. Lots of different beers, affordable and decadent pizza, comfortable surroundings and somewhere that I’d happily go again. Definitely a credit to the hospitality industry.

August 24, 2021
Glasgow – Counting House

A new city for me (well, bar one day here a few years ago) and so that gives me the opportunity to visit a few more pubs in the Good Beer Guide. This one is operated by JD Wetherspoon and is located in a former Bank of Scotland building which was built in the late nineteenth century, designed by J T Ruchead.

Apologies that this photo is slightly on the slant, but this is the entrance to the pub. I have to say that Wetherspoons do make a substantial effort to preserve old buildings and treat them in a respectful manner.

That’s a grand interior….. Service was fine, although I’ve seen cleaner pubs and it probably could have been much cleaner and looked after. But, I decided to not let that stop me from trying a couple of halves.

The Monster Hop from Redcastle Brewery who are from Arbroath in Scotland.

And the Tower IPA from the same brewery. Neither beer was exceptional or worth noting much about, but they were well-kept, at the appropriate temperature and tasted as they should.

There are a lot of complaints over several months about slow app orders here, the number of which suggests that something is going wrong with this particular pub. I can see why, it took them 16 minutes to get my order over to me and it wasn’t very busy. Not that it mattered, I wasn’t in a rush, but it’s not perhaps ideal for those wanting a quick drink.

I can see why the pub is in the Good Beer Guide as it usually has over ten real ales, and even in these difficult times it still has seven different ales. I’m not sure that any are exceptional, but they’re keenly priced, well-kept and at least there’s a selection. Although the balance of beer styles isn’t ideal, they have no dark beers and quite a few IPAs.

For the very slow service time with the app, which is clearly an ongoing issue, and for the lack of cleanliness, I wouldn’t rush back here, but it’s another Good Beer Guide pub visited….

August 24, 2021
Glasgow – Gallery of Modern Art

I’ve already written separately about the cone statue and the works by Beryl Cook that are on display. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much else of interest in the gallery, it’s all really designed to be elitist rather than accessible as far as I can tell. Minimal explanations of most artworks are annoying, especially when they have longer explanations on their web-site.

There’s one interesting part of the gallery, which is a permanent exhibition over two floors which is about the history of the building. The site has been used for numerous purposes, not least as a private residence and then a major rebuild saw the Royal Exchange move in. In 1949, businesses became less interested in the Royal Exchange and it closed, being transformed into a library. This then closed in 1983 and work started a few years later to turn it into the Museum of Modern Art, which opened in 1994.

The gallery is rated relatively poorly on review sites, pretty much right at the bottom of major galleries in Scotland on Google and TripAdvisor and well below their modern art equivalent gallery in Edinburgh. One thing can perhaps be noticed from my photos, which is that this was not a popular gallery given that there was nearly no-one else in there. The staff looked bored, either talking to themselves or looking at their phones. One acknowledged me with a verbal greeting, the rest seemed entirely disinterested about the whole arrangement and none were pro-actively engaging with their handful of visitors. I shared their lack of enthusiasm if I’m being honest.

I’m sure some visitors will love the works on display, but I’m unsure why such a beautiful building is being so heavily under-used in this way. Anyway, it’s been there for over two decades and I imagine it’ll be there for longer, but it’s a shame that it’s not more accessible to the many and not the few. It is at least free of charge though, which makes the low reviews even more inexplicable. It currently asks visitors to not visit for more than two hours to help with capacity issues, although I really can’t imagine this can be much of a problem.

August 24, 2021