Day three in Glasgow and I am convinced a week simply isn’t enough time to do and see everything this city has to offer. Luckily, the first year students at GCU usually have Wednesday afternoons (and some times the whole day) off, during which the University will sometimes host social events for the students. We took advantage of the day off from classes to visit a few cultural sites and have some fun!

First we visited the University of Glasgow.

Founded in 1451 this university is one of the oldest in the UK and over 300 years older than the United States. As an engineering student it was exciting to see the university where James Watt worked (that’s right, the guy that the unit of measure Watt is named after).

 

The architecture was impressive with two courtyards separated with beautiful arches. 

(Our hosts were also quite pleased with the nice weather and sunny skies)

If you look closely you can see the date when the university was founded next to the gate. From the street view you can see some of the names of important persons associated with the university worked into the gate itself.

From the university we walked down the street to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. 

As we looked back the facade of the University of Glasgow loomed above us.

(and the day got considerably less sunny)

The museum not only housed works of art but skeletons and fossils as well. It was part art gallery part natural history museum. Particularly interesting to me was the exhibition on design which included a suit used by car designers to simulate the difficulties of older drivers (for example reduced mobility).

As well as this “Anderson Special” developed in the 1920s and 30s by James Anderson, a local garage owner.

 

After the museum we stopped for lunch and then headed to the final activity of the day.

Xscape looks like a mall but is mostly filled with restaurants and arcades, including virtual reality roller coasters, a climbing wall, and laser tag. Needless to say, we had a blast and after two spirited games of laser tag, our hosts showed us the coolest place in the complex, literally!

 

We enjoyed watching the skiers and snowboarders while we cooled off from running around shooting each other with lasers. We even got to see people do some ice climbing indoors.

We had an absolutely wonderful day and got back to the hotel early to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure: Demonstrating our Carduino Project!

Taizeth