Scotland 2025: Glasgow - Architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

On our first day in Glasgow, we could walk to all the places that we wanted to visit. To reach our planned destinations for the next two days, we needed to take transit.  Luckily, the St.Enoch subway station was within a block of our hotel. The Glasgow subway system consists of 15 stations that form a circular route with an Outer (clockwise) and Inner (counterclockwise) loop. You can buy a paper ticket for a one-way or return trip from the kiosk in the station and you need to both tap on to enter and tap off to exit. All-day passes are also available and are worth the money if you plan to take 3 or more rides in a day. 

We spent the next few days exploring the architecture, designs and artwork of renowned Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) and his artist wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933).  Charles designed architectural masterpieces including tea rooms, churches, offices, schools, art galleries, shops and homes, prioritizing the use of stone, glass and iron. He provided designs for both the exterior and interior including furnishings while Margaret worked in metalwork, textiles, graphics, watercolours and gesso, contributing many artworks to his buildings.  Margaret also often worked in collaboration with her equally talented sister Frances Macdonald Macnair.

Mackintosh's works are associated with the "Glasgow Style Movement," a subset of Art Nouveau that is characterized by floral-inspired decorative motifs with subtle curves as well as strong right angles. The style also incorporates influences from Arts and Crafts, as well as Japanese and Scottish designs.

Since Glasgow was their hometown and primary place of business, the city has the largest number of surviving buildings, interiors and designs by Mackintosh. There is a Mackintosh Trail on the Visit Glasgow website as well as many free self-guided or paid tours that can be used to visit locations featuring his works.  In preparation for our trip, we researched and planned our own Mackintosh tour, which involved visiting two museums, two houses and two tearooms.  There are other tributes to Charles Mackintosh throughout the city including a massive mural of him decorated with his signature rose motifs by the River Clyde and a bronze sculpture of the architect seated on one of his iconic Argyle chairs located near Kelvin Hall.

The first museum that contains examples of works by Charles and Margaret Mackintosh is the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a public institution for art, culture and natural history.  This museum includes a gallery titled “Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style” with works on display by both Charles and Margaret, as well as other contemporaries who contributed to that movement.  Highlights include items saved from Miss Cranstan’s Ingram Street Tea Room which originally opened in 1886.  It was redesigned and added onto by Mackintosh from 1900-1912 and finally closed and was demolished in 1971.  Margaret’s Gesso panel “The Wassail” once hung on the wall while the tables featured high-back chairs which Charles designed in 1900.  A few artifacts were on display from the Chinese Room or Blue Room (1911) which featured blue lattice panels, decorative screens, a pagoda-like canopy, distinctive Asian-styled oak chairs with blue cushions matching the walls, and a Chinese tea service.  Two oak barrel chairs (1907) and a Domino table (1910) were also designed for various tea rooms.  We saw a Domino clock (1917) made from ebonized wood, ivory and plastic with the numbers shaped like square domino tiles.  We would see more clock designs at the next museum.

Opened in 1807, the Hunterian Museum is Scotland’s oldest public museum and is operated by the University of Glasgow.  A separate building is allocated for the Hunterian Art Gallery which houses the largest collection of works by Charles and Margaret Mackintosh including furniture, drawings, watercolours, gessoes and even a meticulously reconstructed house which requires an entry fee.  Several artworks by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh include “White Rose and Red Rose” (1902), a panel made from Hessian fibre, gesso, glass beads, shells and paint created for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin.  Her blue/green/yellow tiled stained-glass work titled “Summer” (1893) depicts an elongated female rising towards the sun. With her sister Frances, Margaret created a design for a screen titled “Birth and Death of the Winds” which was created into 3-paneled metal screen.   Variations of the design for the Domino Clock that we saw at Kelvingrove include versions where the dice representing the numbers were triangular or circular.  Photographer Jimmy Robert created a self-portrait photograph of himself sitting in one of the chairs in the Hunterian’s Mackintosh House, which we would visit next.

Charles and Margaret Mackintosh lived in a 3-storey (plus attic) house in the Hillhead area between 1906 to 1914. Although the actual building was not designed and built by Mackintosh, during the 8 years that they spent there, the couple renovated the interior extensively.  They expanded rooms and added elongated windows for more light, designed and built custom furniture and other decorative features while emphasizing austerity in their design.  They moved to London in 1915, selling the house, furniture, fixtures and fittings to patron William Davidson.  Upon Davidson’s death, the building and contents were donated to the University of Glasgow.  While the original house was demolished in 1963 to build more student quarters, the contents of the main rooms were carefully removed, photographed and catalogued.  Between 1966-1981, a new building dubbed the “Mackintosh House” was created in the Hunterian Art Gallery and the interior rooms of the original house were carefully reconstructed. Even the orientation of the original house was replicated so that the same light exposure would be experienced.  The front hallway is notable for a beaten lead mirror titled "Vanity", decorated with subtle natural motifs and geometric forms, designed by Margaret and Frances.

The Dining Room has a large bay window for natural light.  White walls and ceiling contrast with dark-stained wood paneling accented with rose motifs, and dark furniture including a buffet cabinet, a fireplace with geometric carvings flanked by built-in shelves, and a wooden rectangular dining table surrounded by Mackintosh’s signature high-back Argyle chairs with the oval head rests.  It is interesting how Mackintosh’s designs can feel minimalist and yet ornate at the same time.

A large L-shaped space is divided into a studio/library and a drawing room, delineated by linen drapes that could close to keep the rooms separate, or stay open to create one large space. The Studio/Library features the original version of Margaret’s White Rose and Red Rose gesso hanging over a fireplace with large bookshelves on either side.  The shelves are stocked with books reflecting the time period and interests of the Mackintoshes.  The impressive mahogany desk found by the window was created by Charles in 1904 for his own use. It has a writing cabinet decorated with mauve glass flowers with twin doors adorned with squares made from mother of pearl.  The desk was sold at auction for almost $178,000 USD in 1979 and was donated to the Hunterian Art Gallery for inclusion in the house.  Ivory white cabinets with stained glass inlays depicting floral motifs line the wall facing the fireplace.

The Drawing Room is decorated almost entirely in off-white, including the walls, ceiling, carpet, drapes and furniture.  The only major exceptions are the dangling light sconces and the dark accent found at the base of the fireplace which also has built in seating on either side and built-in cubby-holes for knickknacks along the side.  The position of a high-backed armchair with a dark wooden frame, linen upholstery accented by a beige checkered pattern, and round medallions adorning the arms help to separate the studio from the drawing room and is the only piece of furniture that is not primarily white in colour.  Green-patterned stencils of floral motifs resembling vases full of roses are printed on the cloth backs of some chairs, which along with an oval table were part of a room setting in “the Rose Boudoir” exhibit in Turin in 1902.  Other ornamentations on the furniture include the decorative metal panels of females holding roses on the inner doors of a white cabinet, the ornate silver panels affixed to a desk, and the purple accent cushion on a high-back chair.

The second floor contains two bedrooms that could not be more different in design and aesthetics.  The principal bedroom is mostly white, reminiscent of the drawing room below.  A four-poster king-sized bed is decorated with an elongated, plant-like geometric pattern in the centre post and rose motifs on the canopy.  A metal panel depicting a female form flanked by two babies sits above the fireplace.  A magnificent full-length vanity mirror made of painted wood has elaborate carvings of stylized rose and thistle patterns with small pull-out drawers running down both sides of the frames.

Located in the Mackintosh House Gallery on the top floor, the other bedroom on display is not part of the Mackintoshes' original home, but rather a recreation of a guest bedroom that Mackintosh designed for his patron W.J.Bassett-Loweke from Northampton, U.K.  The bedroom suite is made of light oak decorated with blue squares along the top edges.  But what made this room most striking were the white and navy-blue vertical stripes on the back wall that extended up onto the ceiling and were complemented by similar stripes in the bedding.  This is one of Charles’ last interior designs which might explain its more modern feel.

The Gallery houses other Mackintosh works owned by the university including extensive holdings of drawings and designs.  Up high on the walls of the stairwell leading up to the gallery was the oil on canvas painting “The Little Hills” (1914) by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.  The work depicts themes of abundance and divine bounty and highlights her Art Nouveau style.  Next to it is George Walton’s decorative panel titled “Eros” (1901) made from marble, slate, glass, bone metal foil, silver and mother-of-pearl.  On an adjacent wall is a replica of the banner created for the Scottish section of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art, Turin (1902). It depicts a female form holding a rose.  Arriving in the actual gallery space on the top floor, we found paintings, drawings and photographs, and furniture.  This included a table that has 10 slender legs and an intricate lattice of intersecting rails at the bottom, a cabinet with decorative metal panels with inlays that look like reeds, (but when put together look like the head of the alien ET), and various styles of chairs.

House for an Art Lover Mackintosh was constructed between 1989 to 1996, based on plans that Charles and Margaret created for a German design competition in 1901. Entrants submitted anonymous original, artistic designs for a “modern” house on a site with pre-specified room sizes and layouts, emphasizing harmony between exteriors and interiors. The Mackintoshes' entry was late and incomplete and therefore disqualified from the main prizes but was impressive enough to be awarded a special prize and published in design magazines. Almost nine decades later, civil engineer Graham Roxburgh spearheaded a project to construct the house based on the original design portfolio.  A location in Bellahouston Park in the south-west end of Glasgow was chosen for its spacious parkland setting, landscaped grounds, and play areas.

The result is a three-storey building with a “minimalist Art Nouveau exterior” consisting of off-white plastered walls accented by columns of rectangular windows, with elongated ones overlooking the terrace for the dining room/music room.  Large yellow-hued relief panels on the façade depict natural motifs and intertwining organic forms representing growth and nature. From the back, you can see a round, turret-like structure which contains a winding “apsidal” staircase that connects all the floors.

Because their proposed house was not meant to be built, the Mackintoshes could design freely without worrying about cost and so this house is much more lavish than the Mackintosh House, which was modeled after their personal home.  Built as a visitor’s attraction, House for an Art Lover includes a café, kitchen and gift shop in the basement and a ground floor gallery/museum that was not part of the original design. In addition to tours, the space and grounds are rented for weddings and private events.

Upon entering the house from the ground floor, we were ushered into an interpretation room/gallery where we learned more about the house, its architecture, and design features.  We saw 3-D models of the house, descriptions of the rooms, and details about how finishes and decorations were reproduced to match Mackintosh’s design.  This included information about stained-glass for windows, textiles and embroidery, gessoes, ceramics, woodwork, metal work, and stone carving.

The first room that we visited was the Oval Room where Edwardian women would withdraw after dinner, while the gentlemen retired to a smoking room.  Mackintosh selected the oval shape as a symbol of femininity and fitted the fireplace, cupboards and windows along the gentle curves of the walls. The chandelier also reflects the circular shape. Tucked against both sides of the window are two chairs each separated by a short wall for privacy. The chairs are facing one another to provide a space for intimate conversation.  Although the room feels sparse and austere, a closer look reveals subtle organic carvings on the furniture and the grill of the fireplace.

The lengthy Main Hall leads to the Dining Room and can be separated by a moveable partition. For large banquets, the partitions are opened to create a single room where many tables can be arranged.  Since the space is often rented out for weddings and other events, this is the configuration that we saw during our visit.  But photos from the internet show that when the rooms are not required for a large event, the hall is empty and the dining room features a single long table with high-back chairs.  The dark paneled walls of the two spaces are decorated with gesso panels and the back wall of the dining room features a fireplace and the rose motifs.

The centrepiece of the house is the beautiful Music room with south-facing floor-to-ceiling bow windows that flood natural light into the space and curved doors that lead to the terrace overlooking the park.  The room is decorated with white panels covered in rose, green, and violet images of stylized females surrounded by curvy vertical lines and roses, which are repeated on the fabric banners hung by the windows. A gorgeous functional piano sits against one end of the room. It is decorated with a spiraling timber structure that rises up from the keyboard and forms the shape of a flower from afar but also contains roses and other floral designs within its curves.  At the other end is a fireplace with roundels featuring images from Margaret’s gesso art.  This room is also often rented out for weddings and banquets and is really stunning to behold.

The rooms in Mackintosh’s design for the first floor were not built. Instead, this level is used as an exhibition space where models of other Mackintosh designs that were never built are on display.  These were entries for the Glasgow International Competition for Kelvingrove Park including an exhibition hall, a bar and restaurant, and two designs for concert halls.

Bellahouston Park, the site chosen for House for an Art Lover Mackintosh, is a public green space spanning 180 acres that was acquired by the city of Glasgow in 1896. It hosted the 1938 Empire Exhibition which resulted in the construction of a Palace of Art that has since been converted into a major sports centre. The Bellahouston walled garden was originally a kitchen garden for the Ibroxhill House built in 1840. Today it is a pretty flower garden with seasonal shrubs and plants. Several prominent sculptures are found in the park including “Foot and Arch” depicting a concrete foot in front of a block of cement with a footprint cut out of it, created by Indian sculptor Ganesh Gohain, and the 11-tonne “Elephant for Glasgow” made from scrap iron by sculptor Kenny Hunter. Just outside the Art Lover house is a playground full of colourful and whimsical climbable structures including a pirate ship and abstract shapes. Many events take place in the park including a mass led by Pope Benedict XI in 2010, pipe band competitions, concerts and more.

Our final planned destination was Mackintosh at Willows, the only surviving tearoom designed by Charles Macinktosh.  Located at 217 Sauchiehall St., it was commissioned by Miss Catherine Cranston who owned multiple tea rooms, and first opened in 1903.  Today, tea service including high tea is still served in the front and back salons on the ground floor, and a paid guided tour describes Mackintosh’s architectural style and design, takes you upstairs to see more historic rooms that are not always open to the public and concludes with access to an interactive exhibition detailing the history of the building (which is free to the public even without the tour).

This tearoom underwent a major £10 million project in 2018, renovating and restoring all the rooms to their former glory. On the ground floor the front salon installed a new fireplace and replicated decorative panels. The windows facing the street make the space bright and cheery and are covered by banner-like drapery with green and pink geometric designs similar to what we saw at the Art Lovers house. The high-back ladder chairs and low-back armchairs are all replicas based on Charles’ original designs. The design above the fireplace features a decorative panel with a willow motif, in keeping with the name of the tearoom.

The back salon was kept intentionally darker with a lower ceiling like in a Japanese teahouse, for the purpose of saving electricity. Rose and willow motifs on stained glass and frosted glass paneled doors decorate the space. On the next level, with a light well overlooking the back salon, is the Mezzanine Gallery which hosts private functions in a quieter space away from the lower salons. A lattice ceiling was reinstated and a supplementary railing was subtly added around the original railing of the light well in order to raise the height and meet current safety standards without detracting from the original design.  The carvings on the six central pillars with chandelier lights dangling against them evoke the willow tree. The space is decorated with purple panels topped with pink roses and divided by vertical black trellis patterns. Hand-rung bells on the tables hark back to Edwardian times as a discreet way for patrons to summon waitresses. A stained-glass railing with willow designs provides of view of the front salon from above.

The highlight of the tour came on the floor above the mezzanine. We entered the Salon de Luxe through a beautiful set of double doors featuring intricate leaded glass designs that reflect Mackintosh’s stylized geometric patterns and willow and rose motifs. These doors are replicas created in 2000, while we would see the originals at the end of our tour in the exhibition space. The room, which was a private ladies’ tearoom, has a barrel-vaulted ceiling where an unbelievably elegant and ornate chandelier hangs, comprised of a complex arrangement of green and pink spheres intermixed with white orbs infused with air bubbles to mimic willow tree dew drops. An entire wall of glass windows brings natural light into the room that is decorated in hues of pink, purple, silver and grey to “imitate a jewel box”.  High-back silver chairs with purple plush velvet upholstery are accented with small squares of pink glass on the backs that are echoed in the black squares running along the grey carpet. Like in the Mezzanine Gallery, bells are found on each table. On the walls are mirrored panels with the willow design and a replica of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s iconic 1903 gesso panel titled “O Ye, All Ye That Walk in the Willowwood”, made from painted gesso, twine, glass beads and other materials.  The original work was inspired by Dante Gabriel Rosetti’s Willowwood sonnets and is found in Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

On the next floor up is the Billiard Room where gentlemen would congregate.  In contrast to the colours used for the Salon de Luxe, this male-only room is decorated with dark oak paneling and forest green tones in the leather backs of the bench-styled banquettes and the lamp shades of the chandelier.  The billiards table that once dominated the space has been replaced by a long table and chairs, suitable for business meetings.  A replica fireplace with royal blue tiles, a metal grill and a pair of metal candleholders is found on one side of the room. A small space that used to be a smoking room has been converted into an area for preparing and serving food and drinks during private events.

After our tour ended, we were directed into the interactive exhibition that gave a good background on the life and culture of Glasgow society during Mackintosh’s time, as well as more details on the history of the building and its design. We were able to dress up in some period clothing, played a game where we guessed the food based on its appearance, then reviewed panel boards and watched videos describing the techniques that Mackintosh used, and the efforts to recreate them during the restoration. We learned about the history of Miss Cranston and how she initially had to hide her gender in order to operate her tearooms. We inspected a deconstructed example of the silver and purple high-back chair that we saw in the Salon de Luxe so we could understand what was behind its creation. We learned about recreating the gesso work and the chandelier bobbles from that room and were able to see the original doors.

We had pre-booked a seating for high tea in the front salon immediately following our tour.  During the tour, we had spotted this amazing architectural centrepiece in the middle of the room. It was a "baldacchin" (ceremonial covering) that formed a wooden and metal canopy shaped like a stylized willow tree. Four wooden legs spanning in each direction form the base, which is topped a sphere-like vase with flowers extending upwards and lights hanging from the bottom.  Surrounding the vase are metal beams that reflect the willow shapes seen throughout the tearoom.  Two tables, each with two chairs are nestled between the legs of the canopy, providing unique, intimate spaces for enjoying tea.  Luckily, we were able to secure one of the tables, making the experience all the more fun.  

For our high tea, we had savory items including cheese and caramelized onion chutney quiche, chicken Caesar wrap, cheese and pickle as well as a tuna and cucumber finger sandwiches.  On the next tier were plain and fruit scones with jam and clotted cream.  The top plate featured a lemon meringue tart, pistachio and raspberry macaroon, rhubarb and custard cream mousse cake, and a black forest cake.  The blue and white tea set featured Chinoiserie Willow patterns with pagoda, bridge, boat and willow trees reminiscent of the patterns used in early 1900s. There was an extensive tea menu with a wide assortment of loose-leaf teas from which you could have unlimited selections. We each tried two teas including the 1903 Blend (pekoe black tea), Blue Lady (black tea with grapefruit and marigold flowers), Orange oolong, and Berry Hibiscus teas. They each came in a separate tea pot with a metal strainer to catch any loose tea leaves.

The next day, we passed by another establishment called “Willows Tearoom on Buchanan” which had a very similar façade and signage design as the original building. I went upstairs to have a quick peek and was disappointed by how small and cramped the space felt and the relatively sparse decorative features. The only thing that reminded me of the original tearoom that we visited the day before were the chairs, which were decent replicas of Mackintosh’s designs. Further research showed that this tearoom and another in Edinburgh are run by a different business entity founded in 1983 that merely uses the name and inspiration of Miss Cranston’s Willows tearoom. So, if you just want a nice cup of tea and scones, this is a good alternative. But if you want to see the full glory of a Mackintosh designed tearoom, you need to go to Mackintosh at the Willows.

Scotland 2025: Glasgow - Necropolis, Cathedral, Buchanan Street

After spending 7 days in Edinburgh, we were ready to head to Glasgow for 4 days. We took the train from Edinburgh Waverley Station to Glasgow Queen St. station, purchasing first class tickets since the cost difference was a mere £5 more.  Traveling first class gave us more luggage space, a quieter cabin, wide reclining seats with more legroom, and a large table with power outlets where I could use my laptop during the 1.5-hour ride.

When on vacation, we always look for an entire apartment with a living area and kitchen (or at least a refrigerator) as opposed to a hotel room.  We like the extra space and the ability to store milk, fruit, juice and other foods so that we can eat breakfast and potentially some dinners “at home” rather than requiring to dine out for every meal.  The best option is the “apartment hotel” since we get the kitchen that we crave, but also a manned front desk where we can leave our luggage prior to check-in time or get assistance for any issues that arise during our stay.  

We found the perfect accommodations in ApartHotel Adagio which had the ideal location, just a few blocks from the train station and mere steps from St.Enoch subway station, access to the River Clyde, grocery stores and Buchanan Street, a pedestrian area featuring high-end shops and restaurants.  As we were only there for a few days, we chose a studio apartment that had a kitchen and a desk for my computer which was all we needed.  The front desk was able to stow our luggage while we explored Glasgow until check-in time and as an added bonus, there was a coin-operated laundromat so we could do some laundry.  We had a much easier time than in Edinburgh where we rented a private apartment and had to arrange for access to keys, pay to store our luggage at a Bounce Luggage Storage site and communicated with our host via WhatsApp to report issues.  We hope to continue to book apartment hotels in our future travels.

Some interesting architecture and sculptures can be found near our hotel.  St. Enoch Square, a prominent public space that was developed in the 18^th century and once had Regency-styled buildings including St.Enoch Church. Today, the oldest buildings are from the 19^th century including the former National Bank of Scotland.  Built in 1906, its façade features allegorical sculptures of Peace and Purity holding doves, flanking a winged sun motif representing security, prosperity and financial growth.   At the centre of the square is an ornate 1896 Flemish Renaissance building that was once the Glasgow Subway ticket office and sits within the footprint of the former St. Enoch Church.  Today it is a location for Caffe Nero, a shop selling coffee and pastries.  Also within the square is a small Tesco supermarket, takeout eateries and other shops and restaurants as well as two entrances to the St.Enoch subway station.  Running perpendicular is Argyle Street, which marks the end of St. Enoch Square to the south and the start of Buchanan Street to the north.  Argyle is one of Glasgow’s longest and busiest shopping streets. The former Stewart & McDonald Warehouse at 146 Argyle features a pair of muscular Titans with bowed heads and crossed arms, holding up the building with their shoulders.

Arriving in Glasgow just after 10am, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed off towards the Glasgow Necropolis, hoping to make it there before the rain in the forecast came to past.  Along the way, we passed several historic buildings including the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, designed in the early 20^th century in Scottish Baronial Revival style with red sandstone, corner towers, cupolas and detailed stonework. Provand’s Lordship is Glasgow’s oldest surviving house, constructed in 1471 as accommodations for the head of St.Nicolas’ Hospital.  Next to the house is St.Nicolas Garden, built in 1995 to recreate a 15-century hospital Physic Garden with medieval medicinal herbs.  The Victorian-styled Cathedral House Hotel was built in 1877 and was originally a hostel and habilitation centre for ex-prisoners from Duke St. Prison.  Today, it is a boutique inn with 8 rooms, a bar and restaurant.  Just before reaching the Necropolis, we spotted an early 20^th century blue Mackenzie Trench-designed Police box that once served as a mini police station with phone and equipment inside.  Sold off in the 1990s-2000s, this one has been converted into a coffee kiosk.

Glasgow Necropolis is a beautiful, 37-acre Victorian garden cemetery established in 1833 to reflect the city’s industrial wealth.  The main entrance is accessed over a stone bridge (colloquially known as the “Bridge of Sighs”) that once spanned the Molendinar Burn (river).  Built on a small hill, the Necropolis was modeled after Paris’ Père Lachaise Cemetery and is laid out as an informal park with ornate graves and sculptures. Starting on lower ground, tombs and monuments are found on either side of a meandering path that follows the curve of the hill, rising up to a plateau.  Along the way, we found the tomb of William Miller (1810-1872) with the designation “Laureate of the Nursery, Author of Wee Willie Winkle” (a Scottish nursery rhyme).

The Necropolis was developed by the Merchants’ House of Glasgow after the 1832 Cemeteries Act promoted the creation of private, inter-denominational burial grounds that were not associated with any church or religion.  It hosts around 50,000 burials with 3500 monuments.  Along the crest of the hill are massive mausoleums for notable families including the Aiken family who were wine and spirit merchants, and the Buchanan Sisters of Bellfield Estate, who were philanthropists funding hospitals and charities.  Even from the base of the cemetery, we could see the massive column with the sculpture of Scottish minister and Reformer John Knox towering over the other structures.  The John Knox monument was actually erected in 1825, pre-dating the cemetery.

The rain started as we climbed towards the top of the Necropolis, making the stone steps slippery but the darkened skies added to atmosphere. Coincidentally, it had also rained when we visited Père Lachaise years ago.  There were many impressive tombs at the top of the Necropolis, as well as stunning views of the city below.   We got a closer look at the John Knox monument, which towers over the rest at 70 feet.  Nearby is the slightly smaller monument to Reverend Duncan Macfarlan, Principal of University of Glasgow which stands at 58-feet.  Also impressive is the sculpture of Charles Tennant, an industrialist and chemical magnate who patented bleaching powder in 1799.

A couple of beautiful mausoleums stood side by side.  The William Rae Wilson Mausoleum has a striking Moorish design with intricate carvings on the stone façade while the interior is clad with white marble.  Wilson (1772-1849) was a solicitor, traveler and author of popular travelogues detailing trips to Egypt and the Holy Land.  The Houldsworth Mausoleum is flanked by a pair of angels representing “Hope” and “Charity” while a magnificent sculpture of “Faith” sits inside under an octagonal dome with stained glass. Sir William Houldsworth (1796-1851) was a cotton magnate.  Further away, and in rough shape since it is cordoned off, is the Norman Temple Mausoleum.  Built in 1842, the circular Neo-Norman temple was inspired by the Knights of Templar Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It honours Major Archibald Douglas Monteath, who amassed his wealth as an East Indian Company officer and was known for his philanthropy.

Positioned at the lowest level of the Necropolis and one of the earliest areas to be built and populated was the Jewish Burial Grounds, a small triangular plot that held 57 burials between 1832-1855.  The area is marked by an ornate gate and pillar.  The first burial was jeweler Joseph Levi who died of cholera in September 1832.  A commemorative plaque unveiled in 2015 lists the names of the 57 individuals buried in this section.  Just outside the cemetery grounds is a stone pillar titled “Bell o’ Brae” Monument.  It was unveiled in 2016 to mark the legendary 1297 Battle of the Bell o’ the Brae where Wallace was said to have defended against the English. The pillar features a sword and a knight’s helmet.

Just west of the Necropolis and visible from its hillside is the Glasgow Cathedral, one of Scotland’s oldest medieval cathedrals dating back to 1197 and the only one to survive John Knox’s Reformation intact.  Built over the tomb of Glasgow’s patron saint Mungo, it sits in Cathedral Square and marks the birthplace of the city.  Light posts in the square are decorated with the symbols tied to St. Mungo (also known as St. Kentigern) including a tree, bell and fish, all related to miracles that the saint performed. Gothic expansions through the 13^th to 15^th centuries transformed the cathedral from a Romanesque structure to a Gothic one.  These changes are reflected in the 203-foot-long nave with its pointed arches, and a timber roof peaking at 105 feet with ribbed stone vaulting and clustered columns.  High up towards the back of the nave are four tall lancelets decorated with stained glass windows depicting “The Four Evangelists” (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) by Francis Spear (1951).   In the north aisle of the nave is Douglas Strachan’s Moses Window (1936), depicting key scenes from the life of Moses including his encounter with the burning bush and receiving of the Ten Commandments.  It is noticeable due to the vivid colours of the glass.

Glasgow Cathedral has one of the most diverse collections of stained-glass windows spanning from Victorian to contemporary eras. No medieval windows remain as they were all destroyed during the 1560s Reformation. The range of windows reflect the changing decorative and storytelling styles across the generations. Sadie McLellan’s Christ and the World’s Beauty window (1955) portrays Christ holding a lamb in the central lancelet, resting atop a cosmic tree of life while surrounded by fruits, trees and floral designs. One of the most impressive windows is Francis Spear’s “The Creation” (1958) which includes an almost cubic depiction of Adam and Eve in a purple hue, surrounded by celestial elements including the sun, moon, stars and roses.  Moving towards the 21st century, the Millennium Window by John K. Clark (1999) depicts themes of growth with vibrant shades of blues and purples, using etched mouth-blown glass, painting and silver staining for layered light effects.  Emma Butler-Cole Aikin’s Tree of Jesse (2018) is a contemporary interpretation of Jesus’ ancestry, using the colours of the symbolic tree to represent Jesse, David, Solomon and Isiah with a central red ribbon representing Christ’s blood line. The most recent work is the Burgh Charter Window by Talia Blatt (2025) which celebrates Glasgow’s 850-year anniversary by depicting the Cathedral amid changing landscapes through history.

Down in the basement, we saw examples of window fragments made from Munich glass which was used to produce vibrant stained-glass windows in the 19^th century using a mosaic-enamel technique.  Unfortunately, these windows did not last long due to effects of pollution which caused the painted surfaces to deteriorate.  Also in the lower levels is the crypt housing St. Mungo’s tomb, built in the mid 1200s and the site of major medieval pilgrimages. The crypt features vaulted stone ceilings and large pillars with a coffin at the centre covered with a colourful cloth topped by a cross.  The last medieval addition from the late 15^th Century is Blacader Aisle, named after Archbishop Robert Blackadder.   Initially designed to be a crypt for a chapel that was never built, it features beautiful, white-painted stone ceilings with elaborate carvings on corbels and vault ribs that depict angels, foliage, and Blackadder’s coat of arms (mitre/crozier and cross keys).

Leaving the Cathedral, we returned to our hotel by walking the 700 meters span of Buchanan Street starting from the north at Sauchiehall St.  There we found the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, open in 1990 as home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as hosting pop and rock bands and other live music performances.  Next to it is the Buchanan Galleries, a major shopping mall with over 80 stores, eateries and services.  Continuing south towards Argyle St., we passed many high-end flagship stores, luxury brands and cool restaurants, as well as a museum that we would visit later.  There were also interesting sculptures and architecture to admire.  Buchanan St. has been pedestrianized since 1977, attracting heavy foot traffic, buskers, street festivals and events.  Each time we visit a new city in Europe that has a beautiful pedestrian-only stretch of road, we wish that Toronto would follow suit.

Towards the south end of Buchanan Street are flower beds that contain decorative sculptures made from wicker including representations of a man in a suit, woman in a dress, cocktail glass, stiletto show, treble clef and a teddy bear.  These are probably temporary displays as Buchanan Street is known for its rotating street art.  One day we also came across a street artist creating sand sculptures of very realistic looking dogs.

One of the landmarks on Buchanan St. is the Argyll Arcade, open in 1827 as Scotland’s first indoor shopping mall and one of Europe’s oldest covered arcades.  The structure was rebuilt in 1904 in Edwardian Baroque Parisian style with covered passages topped with cast-iron framed glass skylights, a glazed roof and arched entrances.  The façade is red sandstone with the words Argyll Chambers emblazed on the first balcony and ornate mosaic tiles above the entrances depicting the words Argyll Arcade, 1904 and the coat of arms of the Reid family who developed the arcade.  Higher up are a pair of allegorical female figures representing commerce and industry.  Today, there are over 30 jewelers in the arcade specializing in luxury watches, diamonds, wedding rings, and other jewellery.  Being a vintage watch fanatic, this was a must-see stop for Rich in Glasgow.  Luckily the arcade was situated very close to our hotel so I was able to leave him there to explore on his own one day while I returned to our apartment to rest.  He had fun trying on various watches.

Another iconic shopping mall on Buchanan St is Princes Square or Princes Gallery. Originally built in the 1840s, it is recognizable due to the stunning Art Nouveau-styled sculpture at the top of its façade.  Crafted from hand-forged wrought iron and steel shaped in the form of a 10-meter-wide peacock, the work was actually added during a major renovation in 1990.  As eye-catching as the exterior is, the interior is just as stunning with a massive cast-iron framed glass dome roof that is much larger and more impressive than in the Argyll Arcade.  The five-storey retail centre is accessed by a pair of symmetrical, criss-crossing wooden escalators clad in polished timber and sweeping staircases with Art Nouveau designed railings.  Throughout the mall are intricate wrought-iron designs, decorative glass orbs and mosaics, and custom lighting.  The atrium offers patio-like seating area with umbrellas in the centre as well as a replica Foucault’s Pendulum which hangs off to one side, adding extra interest to the site.  High end shops and eateries line the sides of each level.

We only discovered the gorgeous interior of the Princes Gallery after walking into the chocolate shop Hotel Chocolate from Buchanan Street. Here we found so many flavours of delicious truffles that we returned several times to buy more. All told, we bought two packs of Orange Mimosa, as well as packs of Salted Espresso Martini, Mint, Peanut Butter, and Pistachio truffles which we proceeded to eat for the rest of our trip through Scotland. Moving to the back of the store, we found the drinks bar and sat down for a chocolate orange and chocolate black forest cherry milk shakes topped with flavoured whipping cream (of course!)  As we were savouring our drinks, we noticed the back exit that led to the mall and that is how we stumbled upon the interior of Princes Gallery.

In addition to shops, there are also many restaurants on Buchanan Street and we dined at two of them.  The first was Chaophraya Thai, a fancy Thai restaurant (considered the largest in Europe) that we happened to pass by as we were returning from the Cathedral.  What attracted us initially was the building called “The Townhouse” which is a historic 1909 Edwardian Baroque styled building with a striking red sandstone façade and a pair of stone lion heads on either side of the entrance. The building was formerly the home of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before being transformed into a Thai restaurant in 2012.  The redesign blended the building’s historic features with Thai décor, making for a unique and eclectic combination.  The interior retains its Edwardian features including high ceilings, ornate plaster cornices, marble floors, timber paneling, period fireplaces, a brass chandelier and a grand staircase.  Thai elements have been intermixed including a wooden elephant, stylized Thai Buddha sculptures, Thai styled wooden tables, screens and throne chairs with intricate carvings.  Upstairs where the main dining room was, we saw more examples of the building’s past relationships with music as the stairwells were decorated with decorative plasterwork with plaques hailing “Schumann”, “Mendelssohn”, “Brahms” and “Wagner” while a bust of Beethoven is flanked by two more Buddhas.

While admiring the building, we were tempted by the menu choices advertised and decided to stop here for lunch.   We opted for the lunch special that allowed us to select 5 Tapas dishes for £25.  There were so many delicious sounding items that it was difficult to decide.  We finally chose Karage chicken with Thai basil spice mix, Vegetable Pad Thai with tamarind sauce, lime and crushed peanuts, a bun with sous vide beef strips and Panang sauce, chicken/shrimp steamed wontons topped with crispy fried garlic and spring onions, and eggplant tempura topped with stir-fried diced peppers and onions in a chilli-basil sauce.  We received complementary shrimp chips and should have been satisfied with this order but could not resist adding the crispy pork belly coated in a sweet soy sauce.

On another evening, we dined at The Ivy on Buchanan St., again choosing it as much for its gorgeous décor as for the culinary experience. The Ivy is a stylish, sophisticated restaurant that offers a mix of British classics and international fare. There is an opulent Art Deco-inspired main dining area filled with plush banquet seating, thematic upholstery with floral motifs, wall coverings of deep greens, golds and plum adorned with art and framed mirrors, marble floors and tabletops, hanging foliage and large plants. Two bars are decorated with polished onyx countertops known for their translucent, gem-like colours. You can sit at the bars to order drinks and lighter fare or book the private dining room called The Morgan Room for events and special occasions.

We both opted to choose from the 2-course fixed menu which came with a free glass of Champagne for £27.95. For the starter, Rich selected the crab and avocado salad with sliced radish, tomato and coriander accompanied by spinach crispbread and it arrived on a very cool plate decorated with a large metal crab.  I chose the crispy duck salad with roasted cashews, sesame, watermelon, ginger and hoisin sauce.  For our mains, I had the Mediterranean sea bass fillet with smoked aubergine, toasted almonds, olive, and tomato/sherry dressing while Rich ordered the chicken Milanese with truffle sauce, served with a fried egg and greens. We added an order of zucchini fritti with lemon chilli and mint yogurt as a side to share. This was the second meal in Glasgow where we ate great food in a beautiful setting.

I really enjoyed the ambience of The Ivy and all the fun art on the wall including bold, colourful prints.  If it wasn’t so crowded, I would have walked around the restaurant more to get a closer look at some of them.

Scotland 2025: Edinburgh - Dining

We dined at some interesting pubs during our 7-day stay in Edinburgh, including The Last Drop, which is decorated with nooses in reference to its proximity to public executions in the 17th century, and Sheep’s Heid Inn, which is thought to be the oldest licensed establishment in Edinburgh dating back to 1360.  At these traditional pubs, we ate the typical Scottish pub fare including haggis in many forms, Balmoral Chicken and sticky toffee pudding.  I was initially concerned that we would be eating the same pub food for our entire trip, but happily, we also frequented eclectic and fun eateries that offered different meal choices.

One of our more unique meals was at Makar’s Gourmet Mash Bar which was also one of the hardest places to get into, since it was always packed with huge lineups and long waitlists.  As its name alludes to, Makar’s offers nine different flavours of mashed potato including classic butter, mature cheddar cheese, smoked applewood cheese, mustard, smoked bacon/spring onion, black pudding, chili, horseradish or vegan with olive oil.  After picking your mashed potato base, you then select from a variety of toppings featuring choices of meats (lamb shank, beef shoulder, haggis, wild boar, or chicken), plant-based (carrot/chestnut, lentil/herbs) or mushrooms with home-grown mushrooms from an in-house mushroom farm. Rich and I both decided that we wanted the smoked bacon/spring onion mashed potato as our base. Since mushrooms are my favourite food, I selected the Summerhill Specialty Mushroom consisting of sauteed wild enoki, king trumpets and lion’s mane mushrooms, topped with fresh tarragon, served on a tower of mashed neep, all sitting on top of a tarragon cream sauce.  I was torn between this and the breaded lion’s mane bites in a whiskey cream sauce, but I was happy with my selection.  Rich picked the beef-lamb haggis on a mound of heather honey and turnip puree served with a whiskey cream sauce.  Humorously, a ceiling hatch found above a neighbouring table was labeled “Haggis Escape Hatch”, playing on the myth of the “Wild Haggis”.  A cheeky poster on the wall displays the iconic image of Robbie Burns but wearing dark shades with the caption “I’m Sexy and a Poet”, playing on the song “I’m Sexy And I Know It”.  All this made for a very fun vibe.

Bertie’s Proper Fish & Chips is a popular seafood restaurant on Victoria St that specializes in sustainably sourced haddock coated with a classic, light and crispy batter (or breading if desired), twice-cooked fries and tartare sauce, following traditional British chippy standards.  The many side choices include coleslaw, mushy or garden peas, onion rings, mashed potato, gravy or a variety of sauces.   Interesting sounding appetizers included fish pakora in a sweet chili and sour cream/mint dip or haggis spring rolls.  We opted to supplement our fish and chips order by sharing Bertie’s Fritto consisting of cod bites, haddock goujons, sampi and squid rings along with a mixed salad.  Bertie’s had a stylish décor including a neon sign that read “Fry Me To the Moon”, aquatic-themed décor and cartoons by Frank Boyle, formerly of the Edinburgh Evening News.

Oink is a fast-food chain that serves roasted hog (pulled pork) and lamb sandwiches with a variety of sauces and toppings.  You can order a Piglet, Oink or Grunter (Small/Medium/Large) sandwich on a white or wheat roll with sage/onion or haggis stuffing and a choice of apple sauce, mustard mayo, BBQ sauce or various chilli sauces. The location closest to us was also on Victoria Street just a few buildings away from Bertie’s Proper Fish and Chips, but it was always busy with long lineups.  We stopped by several times to watch as the server scooped up pulled pork from an entire roasted hog displayed prominently in the window.  We finally got into the eatery just before closing time one evening and snagged two sandwiches, but unfortunately, by then all the crackling was gone.

Another popular chain that has a store on Victoria Street is Knoops, a chocolate drinks café known for its crafted hot and cold chocolate beverages as well as milk shakes and mochas.  The term “Knoopology” highlights the concept of choosing from a curated chocolate menu ranging from 28% (white) to 100% (extra dark) cocoa content, along with a variety of milks (whole/semi-skimmed/skimmed, lactose-free, oat, almond, soy, coconut, hazelnut), spices (sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, peppers, chilli, cardamon, anise, turmeric), herbs (orange, lemon, lime, ginger, mint, lavender, rosemary, matcha, vanilla) and extra toppings (marshmallow, whipped cream, pistachio whipped cream).  We tried a hot chocolate with with 43% Venezuela cacao bean which is described as “smooth with notes of hazelnuts and butterscotch” and added orange flavour to it.  For our second cup, we created a mocha using 49% Venezuela cocao bean with notes of molasses, pecan & coffee and added pistachio flavouring.  Both were tasty but the hot chocolate was a bit too sweet.  I wish we had something like this in Toronto since it would have been fun to continue trying different combinations.

Located just off the Royal Mile, the Chocolatarium is a high-end chocolate shop that offers a wide variety of local and international, organic and fair-trade chocolate bars and truffles, as well as hot chocolate and specialty chocolate shapes.  There were so many flavours to choose from that it was hard to decide but we bought a nice selection both to eat while in Edinburgh as well as a few bars to take home to Toronto.  In addition to selling chocolate, the Chocolatarium also holds 90-minute guided tours on the chocolate-making process from bean to bar, allowing tourists to create their own chocolate bars and taste from over 40 varieties of chocolate.  The tour was quite expensive and we didn’t have the time for it anyway, so we settled for selecting three chocolate bars including black forest/cherry, carrot cake and orange flavours as well as a box of truffles. From outside the shop, we had a great view of some of the structures atop Carlton Hill including a circular tower that was once the Governor’s House and part of the old Carlton Jail complex from 1817-1927, and a 90-foot-tall obelisk called The Political Martyr’s Monument, erected in 1844 as a tribute to five political reformers who were transported to a British penal colony in Australia in 1794.

The Scotsman Steps is a historic landmark which connects Market Street (across from Waverley Train Station) to North Bridge.  Built between 1899-1902, it consists of a set of 104 spiral steps enclosed in an octagonal tower that was once part of the building that housed the Scotsman Newspaper.  Today it acts as a pedestrian link between Edinburgh’s Old Town and New Town.  The steps were originally made from sandstone but through an artistic project in 2011 by artist Martin Creed, they have been reclad with different types and colours of marble sourced from Belgium, Brazil, India, Italy, Norway, Pakistan and more.  Passing by late one evening after a Fringe show, we came across these steps on Market Street and wondered where they led.  We climbed them to the top where we saw a stunning view of a lit-up Balmoral Hotel.

Exiting the Scotsman Steps onto North Bridge, we also found the Scotsman Hotel which has taken over the old Edwardian newspaper building.  The Scotsman Hotel is a luxury 4-star boutique hotel that retains many of the architectural features of the original building including stained glass windows, wood paneling, ornate plasterwork, marble pillars and a grand marble staircase.  We ducked into the hotel to admire the interior architecture and came across the Grand Café, which is the hotel’s main restaurant set in the former advertising hall of the newspaper offices.  Feeling a bit peckish, we decided to grab a table in the beautiful restaurant where we could have a late-night snack while enjoying the luxurious décor and being serenaded by the piano player performing on a balcony up above.

The Grand Café serves classic brasserie-styled cuisine throughout the day, as well as a luxurious full Scottish breakfast and afternoon tea.  For our after-show snacks, we ordered three appetizers including a truffled macaroni and cheese, a confit chicken and leek terrine with carrot, hazelnut and endive salad topped with crème fraiche, and Scottish crab meat on a crumpet topped with brown crab butter, apple and radish.  These were all delicious and hit the spot for our late-night munchies.  The piano music was also delightful but I just wish that we could see the pianist better.  This was an unplanned and wonderfully unexpected experience that we stumbled upon accidentally but ended up being a nice way to end our evening.

After spending 5 days rushing between museums and the Fringe Festival, we finally had time for a leisurely lunch on our last day in Edinburgh before leaving for Glasgow.  We decided to visit the Caledonian Hotel on Princes Street which was constructed between 1899-1903 as part of the Caledonian Railway’s Princes Street Station.  It has an impressive red sandstone façade designed in Neo-Renaissance style with Flemish influences in its grand arches, steep pitched roof and detailed gables.  Corinthian columns support a decorative pediment while the façade is adorned with allegorical figures representing Art, Commerce, Science and Agriculture.  Many of the interior features remain including the station clock, stained glass windows depicting railway stops and ornate marble finishes.  Lunch was being served in “The Court”, a large, spacious space with high ceilings that felt like an open-air courtyard flanked by walls that imitated the red sandstone of the building’s exterior.  The archways of doors leading in and out of The Court are decorated with wooden carvings of the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.  A beautiful Art Deco inspired bar and a piano lounge can be found at the back while the front of the dining area offers plush seating, modern chandeliers and a large skylight from which we watched the rain fall during our lunch.

This was by far our priciest meal befitting the setting of the swanky hotel.  We considered it our one splurge meal after eating relatively frugally during our previous days in Edinburgh, mostly due to time constraints.  Rich started with a Rob Roy cocktail which was invented in the Waldorf Astoria in New York City in 1894 (and was named after an operetta).  Given that the Caledonian had been rebranded as the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh between 2011-2024 before reverting to its original name, this seemed like an apt selection.  My bottle of water cost £5 ($10 CDN!) but I guess it was not socially acceptable to ask for tap water in a place like this.  We started with a potato leek soup and a Scottish smoked salmon with shallots, crème fraiche and croutons.  For mains, we both selected the lobster roll with clarified garlic butter and fries and shared a side of green beans with roasted cashews.

The Court offers a wide range of desserts including a set of pastries and sweets that can be ordered as part of the “Sweets of the World Afternoon Tea”.  Since we already had lunch, we opted for desserts offered a la carte and the restaurant literally had a dessert cart where an eclectic selection of desserts was on display for our inspection.  I chose a chocolate brownie that tasted more like a giant Ferrero Rocher chocolate while Rich’s dessert was an “Invisible Toffee”, which was a playful version of the traditional sticky toffee pudding.  The bowl arrived with a rich, moist pudding hidden by a cloud of cotton candy floss.  Once the sweet, sticky toffee sauce is poured on top, the candy floss dissolves to reveal the pudding topped with creamy whisky ice cream.  The ceremonial pouring of the sauce was part of the event for this dessert. The walls outside of the restrooms were decorated with colourful vintage-styled tiles depicting street vendors and tradespeople from historic British cities from the 19th and 20th centuries.  The tiles were accompanied by playful labels reflecting market cries of the time including “Chairs to Mend” and “Scissors to Grind”.