Glasgow Botanic Garden, Scotland

Glasgow’s west end is only a couple miles from George Square, but in some ways it’s a world away.  Here, Glasgow University rules and students are everywhere, and therefore, so are cell phone top off shops and greasy Chippies (fish and chip fast food restaurants.)

The west end is also home to the fantastic Glasgow Botanic Garden.  There are a several greenhouses you can tour, but the star of the show is Kibble Palace.  This massive greenhouse has over 23,000 square feet under glass and wrought iron, topped by a huge glass dome.

Being a botanical garden, it is, of course, filled with hundreds of species of tropical plants.  But, there are also eight sculptures throughout Kibble including Eve by Scipione Tadolini, which you can see in the picture above.

One of my favorites was done in 1927 by George Henry Paulin.  It is called King Robert of Sicily, and is based on the Longfellow poem of the same name in which a king loses his throne to an imposter and becomes a pauper with only a monkey for counsel.  I like it because the monkey looks even more thoughtful than the former monarch.

We took a bus to the west end to see the gardens, but the Hillhead subway stop is a few blocks away.  It’s free to tour the gardens, but of course, they’re always happy to take a donation.

About the Author

Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel “Truffle Hunt” (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection “That Bird.” He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides to cities around the world on Destination Eat Drink, including and in-depth eating and drinking guide to Portugal. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms and is distributed by the Radio Misfits Podcast Network.