Glasgow: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park

We spent a week in Glasgow and reserved the best weather day to have a hike in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. After much deliberation over which peak to ascend, we decided on Beinn Dubh with a summit of 2018 ft / 648 meters. Beinn Dubh provides great views of Loch Lomond, a ribbon lake, 36 kms / 23 miles long. It's the largest fresh-water loch in Scotland by surface area.

From Glasgow we took an Ember bus to Luss. Ember operates 100% electric coaches on intercity routes. This was our first ride on them. I couldn't really tell any difference, and no uneasy sensations during accelerations. The bus was sleek and quiet with AC, free wi-fi, USB charging, and onboard toilets.

The trail was easy, with very good views. There were some boggy places. As long as it is not too boggy, I rather like boggy. We're very pleased with our choice.

Buchanan Bus Station was clean and well organized, and our Chinese-made Yutong coach/bus pulled out on time from platform 57.






We got off the bus at Luss (3rd below, lower right), a gateway village for Loch Lomond outdoor activities. The weather was good; cloudy, not cold. We were feeling energetic, and gained 300+ meters of elevation in the first 60 minutes.










Looking down over a very boggy section of trail we just finished. Fellow walkers are on the right side, some on the left, take your pick.




Up, up.


Below is more or less our lunch spot view; Loch Lomond from end to end, left to right.


And we head back down with a view to the adjacent green valley in the Trossachs National Park.












The bus was a few minutes late; no problem.


The sunset view from our room at the Social Hub Hotel.

Glasgow: New Lanark

We went to New Lanark (UNESCO 2001), a restored cotton mill village where utopian socialists Robert Owen and David Dale carried out social reforms. There were nurseries, schools, housing, and an educational/cultural center for workers. The mills were powered by the waters of the River Clyde, a rather picturesque setting. Such a social experiment was only possible because the raw cotton was produced in the Americas by slave labor.

From the welcoming info sign at Lanark Railway Station (1st below), it's a 40 minute downhill walk to New Lanark Village. On the way we passed several tidy older single family homes (2nd below).




New Lanark village and mills are spread out along the River Clyde. We did not pay to go inside. One of the tallest mills, with 5 stories, is now a swanky hotel (3rd below).






Like most mills of the time, the River Clyde was diverted into a canal (1st below) to control and direct the water to the 3 or 4 operating mills. See the very large historic water wheel at right in the photo second below.




Today water from the River Clyde flows from a man-made lake (1st below) down through two very large pipes (2nd and 3rd below) to the historic Bonnington Hydroelectric Power Station (1921) generating 11 megawatts of power (4th below).








We also followed the Clyde Walkway path to the Falls of the Clde and found a worthy lunch spot view of the falls.








And we spotted some Himalayan Blue Poppies on the uphill walk back to Lanark Station.

Glasgow: The Mackintoshes

Glasgow has long been on my bucket list because of the Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). Now I realize it was a pilgrimage with reverence and devotion. We visited whatever could be visited, including a few that turned out to be construction sites for restoration, and paid whatever admission fees we had to. We had terrible weather in Scotland. I started swearing - I'm never coming back to Scotland again, but I know it's not true. I'll want to at least return to Glasgow to check out the results of all the restoration projects.



We visited the inside of six places, in the order listed below. I was in awe when inside all of them - everything was exquisite. As much as I loved the designs, I hadn't bothered to learn more about the artist(s). I hadn't realized how much of the works originated from his wife Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh. I hadn't expected such brilliant minds to be not fully appreciated during their lifetime.

It was all the more poignant to see "House for an Art Lover" constructed 70, by enthusiasts, years after Mackintosh's death, from mere drawings for a competition. Also, when a nearby former Mackintosh home, terrace house, was demolished in 1963, Glasgow University preserved the content, and built a new wing to the their museum, The Huntarian, to redeploy the content. It opened in 1981.

• Mackintosh Queen's Cross Church
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Willow Tea Rooms
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• House For An Art Lover
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Mackintosh House @ The Huntarian
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery: Mackintosh gallery
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Hill House in Helensburgh