On our first trip abroad since 2019 Susan and I chose to go to Scotland and England for 5-weeks with the thought that October-November 2021 might be as good as it gets from a pandemic perspective. Looking back, believe we were right as travel was restricted again as soon as we reached home.
During the 1700’s – 1900’s Glasgow was a hub of international trade with China, the Americas, and East India. Located on the River Clyde it was also a shipbuilding port, home to more than 40 shipyards building thousands of ships over the several hundred years of active construction. Today Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland with 5 universities, 11 museums and an active arts scene, great restaurants and historical sites around every corner.
Our main reason for visiting Glasgow was to visit architectural works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a celebrated artist, architect and designer who was a pioneer in a style of Art Nouveau popular in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s. The stylized rose is a repeating theme in many of his works as evidenced in his design of the Willow Tea Room. While we were able to enjoy high tea at the Willow, many of the other destinations were unavailable due to the pandemic. However, there were plenty of other things to see and do and now we have another reason to return to Glasgow. While it rained every day we were in Scotland, the people were the friendliest and warmest we’ve yet encountered in our travels. A wonderful place to visit anytime of the year.
All images were taken with Fuji X100f with 23mm f2.0 lens in RAW format, processed in Lightroom Classic CC 11.0.1