Glasgow Gallivanting: December 2023

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I like the way John has made our local canal look almost like Amsterdam. Well, if you squint a bit!

Unsurprisingly, December was busy: a month of food and friendship. So much food that I thought that a good way to present this post would be as a gallery of everything I ate out during the month, which would have been large! Unfortunately, I fell at the first hurdle and forgot to photograph either of the meals we ate in Edinburgh on December 1st, so that idea quickly bit the dust. We were there to meet our friend Jim for dinner and travelled over early to visit some galleries.

The City Art Centre is one of our favourites and is currently showing three exhibitions featuring landscape and the natural environment. I particularly enjoyed the Scottish Landscape Awards (on till 3rd March) and was happy that my favourite turned out to be the judges’ favourite too. It’s hard to tell from the photograph, but this image of the Bass Rock (off Scotland’s east coast) is made from woven music scores.

Winner of Scottish Landscape Awards 2023
Winners’ plaque

Not a prize-winner (though being in an exhibition of 133 artworks out of 2800 entries is a huge achievement), this river in spate also caught my eye. I love the colours and the shape which, at first glance, could almost be an artist’s palette.

River in spate
Scottish Landscape Awards info label

After lunch we went across to the National to see its newly opened Scottish galleries which feature Scottish art from 1800 to 1945. I had walked through these with Becky a couple of months before, but we were too punch drunk after the Grayson Perry exhibition to take much in. This time, I gave the galleries my full attention and can declare them excellent. A highlight for me was a painting by David Gauld for whom “my” suffragette, Jessie Stephen,  once worked as a servant.

National Galleries of Scotland
National Galleries of Scotland info label

You can judge the galleries for yourself, if you wish, via the fly-through below.

We still had some time before meeting Jim so walked through the Christmas decorations in Princes Street Gardens. We didn’t go on any of the fairground rides, though have been on the Big Wheel before. No way am I ever getting on that Starflyer!

Big Wheel, Scott Monument and Starflyer
Scott Monument and Starflyer
John
Unicorn
Starflyer
Princes Street Gardens
Scott Monument and Starflyer
Starflyer

It was just as well that we went to Edinburgh on the 1st, because on the 2nd we woke up to this! First snow of the year – and the month ended in a similar way with a second batch on the 30th.

When we went out that night we spotted that the neighbourhood children had been busy.

A few days later we discovered that the penguins had also been getting into the spirit of things with snowball fights, a snow penguin, and some carol singing. A pretty tree and a visit from Santa Claus soon followed. Shane, referred to in the last image, is Shane McGowan who died recently and would have been 66 on Christmas Day. I guess the penguins’ creator is a Pogues fan! It’s a band I regret not having seen in its heyday – at the one gig I went to, Shane was clearly past his best.

Snowball fight
Snow penguin
Carol singing
Christmas tree
Santa’s visit
Smallest penguin couldn’t wait to open his gift
RIP Shane McGowan

Other parts of Glasgow got their glad rags on: the beautifully decorated Princes Square, The Ivy on Buchanan Street, complete with polar bear, and Tracy’s Tree in Maryhill: people who have lost loved ones buy a bauble and have the person’s name inscribed round the base.

Tall tree!
Christmas polar bear
Memorial Christmas tree

Performances: we went to two very different concerts, one orchestral, the other a much less sedate affair, and a ballet. At the first concert, the main piece played by the RSNO (Royal Scottish National Orchestra) was Scheherazade but we had the bonus of an introductory piece, We make a big noise, in which children from Big Noise Govanhill played alongside members of the orchestra. Govanhill is one of six Big Noise projects run by the charity Sistema Scotland which works with some of Scotland’s most challenged communities to deliver social change through high-quality music education. It was wonderful to see 86 young people perform so confidently on a big stage, and I hope it gave them as big a thrill as it did us. (Big Noise members, including those in the choir stalls behind the orchestra, are the ones wearing coloured T-shirts in the image below).

RSNO and Big Noise Govanhill on stage at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Hoolie in the Hydro was quite different! We joined over 10,000 other revellers for almost four hours of Scottish music, including a tribute to iconic band Runrig on its 50th anniversary (this makes me feel very old indeed). I booked standing tickets back in the summer before recent problems with my knee, and to make matters worse I twisted an ankle a couple of days before. Would I cope? I’m happy to report that I did and it seems to have worked a miracle cure on my aches and pians which have been much less troubling since. Having said that, I think if we go next year (for which tickets were on sale – here – before we had even left the Hydro) we would get seats.

Trail West
Wolfstone
Manran
All on stage for Runrig tribute
Joyful crowd

We enjoyed Scottish Ballet’s Cinders! at the Theatre Royal. Though Prokofiev’s music was traditional, Christopher Hampson’s choreography has revamped the Cinderella story and given it an added twist. Audience members don’t know until they arrive which version they will get – a female Cinders and her Prince, or a male Cinders and his Princess. To facilitate the shoe scene in the male version, which was the one we got, the ghastly sisters have an equally ghastly brother. It was a lot of fun! We caught the last performance in Glasgow but the production will now tour to Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Newcastle.

Scottish Ballet set for Cinders!
John awaiting Cinders!

We visited Kelvingrove just before Christmas to see its new permanent exhibition Glasgow – City of Empire. Glasgow became a wealthy city through its Sugar Barons and Tobacco Lords – all slavery dependent – so this was as disturbing as you might expect. However, I think it is highly commendable the way our local institutions are now addressing this past much more robustly. I could write a whole post about the exhibition if I wasn’t so behind, but will just include one aspect to which I hadn’t given much thought before (if any): the colonial exploitation of nature and its role in the climate crisis we now face.

Colonial exploitation of nature
Colonial exploitation of nature
Colonial exploitation of nature

Kelvingrove itself was looking even more splendid than usual. I love this space.

The main hall
The organ

Long term readers might remember that a few Decembers ago I posted each day from the illuminated windows of the previous year’s Scotstoun Living Advent Calendar. We visited Scotstoun again on Christmas Eve when all 24 windows were lit, but I don’t think I’ll be doing another blog Advent, both because of time restraints and the feeling that this year’s windows just weren’t as good. However, here are some of the best.

007. The Mince Pie Who Loved Me
8. Feline Navidad
10. Santa Paws
11. Driving GNOME for Christmas
16. One for Dr Who fans
20. Robin
21. Snowman

Got a favourite yet? Of those above I would go for Driving GNOME for Christmas, but top marks would go to Quality Christmas, below. Quality Street is a brand of sweets in colourful wrappers, large tubs of which are popular at Christmas. This household gets extra points from me for incorporating the theme into the hedge.

2. Quality Christmas
2. Quality Christmas

More bonuses: on the walk to Scotstoun we came across a garden decorated in a definitely un-Christmassy way, and on the way back we noticed that Jordanhill also had some decorated windows though I haven’t been able to find out any more about that online. One to look out for in December 2024.

Horse and skeleton
Selection
Selection

Some random stuff to end with. A piece of street art by John Murray with a rather harsh judgement graffitied onto the eye: “I could draw a better bird while deid (dead)”. Bet you couldn’t. I rather like the detail of the eyes reflecting a desolate landscape.

Bird
Detail

A couple of views, and a rather unusual way to park your bike, from some of John’s cycle rides.

They were about to wade across this burn
A cold day for cycling
Timber pile with bike

A walk on country roads on Boxing Day (26th) – one of the few dry days over the holidays. The flooded field indicates how wet it has been.

Looking back
Cottage reflections

And finally, thanks to everyone who reads, likes, or comments throughout the year. Your friendship is appreciated and I wish you all the very best for 2024. It’s a new chapter for us because at one second past midnight on the 31st John became a free man – he has retired!

Scotland, UK , , ,

66 Comments »

  1. What a busy and interesting Decmeber you had Anabel. I love seeing the snow, the Advent windows and all the decorations. It never quite feels Christmassy to me here in Perth though we do put up lots of lights and do lots of festive things. I love art and ballet too. We went to the Nutcracker in November and a “Monet in Paris” exhibiion here last month. Glad your knee is feeling better and best wishes to John on his retirement! Happy New Year!

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  2. Happy New Year Anabel. You have been very busy in December. We did the Edinburgh Christmas market in 2019 and loved seeing all the lights.
    I hope john will enjoy retirement and I am sure he will find plenty of things to do with you.

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  4. What a jam-packed December, and a fun collection of experiences. I enjoyed seeing this year’s living advent calendars (I particularly liked the James Bond-themed one and the Quality Street one) and it’s good to see the penguins getting into the festive spirit. Congratulations to John on his retirement. Looking forward to following along with your gallivanting in 2024!

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  7. Wow, what a fun and busy December. I’m sure you enjoyed the concerts, although I don’t like the idea of standing for four hours! I did go to a concert at Wolf Trap in August to see Juanes, the Colombian singer, and as we had seats on the bottom floor, we basically stood for 2 hours, otherwise we couldn’t have seen anything since everyone else was standing. I love so many things about this post, the City Art Centre and the two pieces you featured. Also the penguins, the poor melting snowmen, and John’s cycling views. You would never catch me on the Starflyer, either! Yikes. I don’t know how people take those kinds of rides. Happy New Year to you both, and congratulations to John for retiring! I’m hoping Mike will finally do so this year. He’s turning 70 in February.

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    • Thanks, Cathy, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Happy New Year to you and Mike too. John is 68 this year so not far behind. I thought he would never retire, then suddenly he was just ready and made the decision. I think gradually reducing his hours helped – last year he just worked three days and work began to seem an interruption of the weekend.

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  9. Hi, Anabel – This is a wonderful post filled with so many gems. I remember well the illuminated windows of the Scotstoun Living Advent Calendar that you posted previously. In this year’s selection that you shared I like the Santa Paws window (I’m a sucker for dogs) and 007 The Mince Pie Who Loved Me (totally cracked me up)!

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    • Thanks Donna – I liked all the ones I posted, but some of the rest were a bit uninspiring this year. I really like the punning ones like 007 – which was actually day 7 too. I’m fairly sure that was the same house which was day 3 last time and did the Three Kings, so top marks for bing number appropriate!

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  10. Like the snowmen, penguins and Kelvingrove. And the windows though I didn’t go myself. Too much on this year. I have to admit Edinburgh lights are far better than Glasgow’s as apart from being more creative the general landscape of steep streets, castle, hills, and cliff top rows of surrounding houses always gives it the edge. Happy retirement to John. Bob. BSS.

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  11. Another grand gallivant, Anabel. I, too, liked the River in spate painting. I watched the video and thought it odd the number of large paintings covered with glass so the reflections obscured them. Colonialism has been responsible for so many bad things – where does one even begin? Exploitation was simply a matter of course, the entire reason for it existing.
    Wonderful for John to be retired at last. Now you’ll be traveling even more!

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    • The river in spate has been popular! I loved it. It hadn’t struck me about the glass – seems normal to me, so maybe practices generally differ on either side of the Atlantic. The Empire exhibition was relatively small but packed a punch – I hadn’t realised it was going to be a permanent display so i will be able to go back and concentrate on different things. Today would normally have been John’s first day back at work and he’s gone off cycling! Quite happily, no regrets.

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  12. A little bit of Christmas snow is alright, isn’t it? So long as it’s after the shopping and present wrapping. Looks so pretty when it’s fresh but I hate skating on it. I’ve had a shivery shaky sort of New Year but it has to get better soon. All the best, Anabel!

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  13. I liked the look of the Scottish galleries on our brief look at them earlier in the year. Another visit is definitely required.

    The canal picture is very good.

    I hope that you continue to enjoy such good fun next year.

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  16. Glasgow really did put it’s gladrags on for Christmas 🎄, so much to see and do around the city, you certainly got in the gallivanting. All the best for 2024, many adventures ahead I predict. X

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  18. Happy New Year, Anabel. Another great read with lots of ideas for me to follow up this year. I was at Cinders and we got the female Cinders. I’m off to the Dovecot on Friday to see the Scottish Women artists exhibition before it closes. Looking forward to reading more of your travels.
    Linda

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  19. Happy New Year, Anabel and John. It’s been grand reading your posts and enjoying John’s photography. Your wonderful December festivities looked like fun. I do remember the window displays 😊

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  20. December was another busy, exciting, and varied month for you two! Your night shots are great! I wish my phone could produce these kinds of photos!

    Happy New Year to you both and congratulations to John with his retirement! Does this mean more traveling in 2024?

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  24. Great post, as usual. I could spend a while looking at the exploitation of nature thing as well. But without a timeline comparison, one has to be careful about making too many assumptions . The number of bird species wiped out from islands by sailors seeking food… Ignorance of the ecology of food production? I think by the time the ‘Natural Philosophers’ had started to work out how the world works, we were well on the path to the doom-laden industry of the Victorian era. And of course, nobody wants to hear that getting rich by abusing natural resources does not mix….
    On safer ground, sad about Shane, glad you had some great concerts, and wish the Scottish Ballet would bring that to Southampton. 🙂 I’m looking forward to taking my niece and her daughters to the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty next month. (at the Mayflower).
    Runrig at 50… crikey.
    But then, RalphMcTell will be 80 this year, as will my big brother.
    Happy new year to you both xxx

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    • I agree certainly that there’s a lot more to the environmental question, though the two examples they gave had very specific causes and, in the case of the birds, were directly linked to the museum so I think there point was that their own collections were heavily tainted by Empire and slavery (a point made even more forcefully elsewhere in the exhibition). I’m sure it’s one I’ll return to again and again and be struck by something different every time.
      I’m sure Sleeping Beauty will be just as good as Cinders – hope you enjoy it, and happy new year to you all.

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  26. Another great month for you – I always enjoy your round-ups because they’re filled with things that I would want to do if I lived in Glasgow, especially the exhibitions! The landscape painting of the river in spate really appeals to me (although not at that price unfortunately!) and the Hoolie in the Hydro sounds like great fun. It was good to see the penguins paying tribute to Shane Mc Gowan too, not least because Fairytale of New York is a favourite of mine. I love the advent windows too (I think my favourite is the robin because it has the look of real stained glass, but I agree the Quality Street one is impressive too.
    Happy New Year – enjoy the extra freedoms and flexibilities that will come with John’s retirement 🙂

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  27. What a gorgeous collection. You are such a fine ambassador for Scotland. I assumed John was already retired given how much the two of you get up to! HNY! 😀

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