Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

It’s day 82 of my 100-day trip to Europe, and I’m in Glasgow, revisiting a great, if offbeat, museum. Something I love about my work: I get the joy of reviewing lots of sights and choosing which ones make it into the guidebook and TV show. While heavily advertised commercial gimmicks like wax museums, torture dungeons, and brewery tours attract hordes of tourists, other sights that take you back in time and connect you intimately with a bygone lifestyle get only a few thoughtful travelers. Some of my highly recommended sights — like the Tenement House in Glasgow (see my description below, excerpted from my Scotland guidebook) — may make people say “Huh!?” But they’re the sights that might just make your day.

I also love the similar museums in Copenhagen (the National Museum’s Victorian Apartment), in England’s Cotswolds (the Earl of Wemyss’ Stanway House), and in Paris (Jacquemart-André Museum).

Which lesser-known sights in Europe have given you that fun, intimate, time-warp experience?

Tenement House

Here’s a chance to drop into a perfectly preserved 1930s-era middle-class residence. The National Trust for Scotland bought this otherwise ordinary row home, located in a residential neighborhood, because of the peculiar tendencies of Miss Agnes Toward (1886-1975). For five decades, she kept her home essentially unchanged. The kitchen calendar is still set to 1935, and canisters of licorice powder (a laxative) still sit on the bathroom shelf. It’s a time-warp experience, where Glaswegian old-timers enjoy coming to reminisce about how they grew up.

Ring the doorbell to be let in. Explore the four little rooms. Imagine a world without electricity (Miss Toward was a late adapter, making the leap to electricity only in 1960). Ask about the utility of the iron stove. Ponder the importance of that drawer full of coal and how that stove heated her entire world. Ask why the bed is in the kitchen. As you look through the rooms laced with Victorian trinkets — such as the ceramic dogs on the living room’s fireplace mantle — consider how different they are from Mackintosh’s stark, minimalist designs from the same period

Cost and Hours: £6.50, April-Oct daily 13:00-17:00, July-Aug from 11:00, closed Nov-March.

 

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Glasgow’s West End is the place to go for live music. And the Ben Nevis Pub was thriving as we spent the evening enjoying the scene with our camera rolling. (I’m feeling the beer, so excuse the swoopy camera moves.)

My agenda for our new public television show was to feature strictly Scottish traditional music. But as the session got going, I learned we had the entire UK in the band: musicians from Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland — and they were drinking Guinness! At first, I was disappointed. My producer and I even talked about finding a bar with a solid Scottish band. Then our Glaswegian guide, Colin Mairs, pointed out that this is the reality…and it’s a fun one: The tribes are all making music together. And that (as a microcosm of our world in general — or, at least, its potential) is a beautiful thing. When it comes to good travel, being open-minded is as important as packing light.

By the way, this is a great example of a highlight for any visit to Britain: Reach out for info, find out which pubs have music, and make memories. What musical memories have you sparked in Britain’s pubs?

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I just joined my TV crew and our local guide, Colin Mairs, for our Scotland shoot. We’ll be here 18 days, filming three new shows for public television. Our first episode features Glasgow. And for architects, a big draw here is the Art Nouveau work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Here’s a look at a tea house he designed that makes for some tasty sightseeing. To give it context, here’s the “on camera” we filmed for our show:

These tearooms, opened in 1903, are an Art Nouveau masterpiece by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Glasgow’s famous hometown architect gave this a spritely modern feel. Tearooms like the Mackintosh at the Willow were hugely popular during the industrial boom of the late 19th century.

During this age of Victorian morals, the temperance movement was trying to discourage the consumption of alcohol. Tearooms like this were designed with an agenda: to be an appealing alternative to eating in pubs.

In addition to giving office workers an alternative to pubs, these tearooms provided a place where women could gather while unescorted — in a time when being out alone could give a woman a less-than-desirable reputation.

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