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Glasgow and Edinburgh

The two cities – Glasgow and Edinburgh – are situated within the same country – Scotland. The distance between them may be measured by a train journey through one of the four railway routes that takes about 40-45 minutes. They are so close but so alike. The difference is tremendous, starting with the accents and finishing with the weather conditions.

This rivalry is characterized by over a 3 hundred years old history and started because of the bread. They say once some concerns as for the bad quality of Edinburgh bread were expressed by Glasgow representatives. And “the war” began. It has been looked like the “Athens-Sparta” competition being the first English-speaking cities’ contest.

Edinburgh is the main Scottish city in the political aspect with the population just approximately 500 thousand. Though, about 1.5 million dwellers live in Glasgow. The social stratification is mainly of “middle class - working class” character respectively. According to the statistics, very often people live in one city and work in another one. It’s a widespread practice and, furthermore, it is not a great deal as the trains go every 15 minutes in both directions.

Glasgow may boast of the tallest factory chimney throughout the whole Europe, but Edinburgh has the world’s largest memorial to a writer (Sir Walter Scott) in its disposal. The most famous sights of the latter (the Castle, the Old Town, the Royal Palace) are situated not far from each other in the city centre.

Edinburgh has predominantly the ancient architecture while Glasgow is characterized by a mix of old and new features. There exist a vast number of museums and galleries in the Scotland’s largest city: Transport Museum, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, many of which are with the free entrance due to the fact that the Council owns them.

If one takes into consideration the industrial aspect of the cities’ life, he may find out that Edinburg occupies the better position when the Glasgow’s industries (shipbuilding, tobacco, textiles) have been slowly declining.

As for the tourism, both cities are very popular attractions for visitors from all over the world. On August Edinburgh becomes overcrowded because of the set of arts and cultural festivals known under the collective name “the Edinburgh Festival”. The Celtic Connections, the Jazz Festival, and the World Pipe Band Championships are the main cultural events being held in Glasgow every year.

The following verdict may be proclaimed as a conclusion: if you want to find history and bagpipes everywhere – go to Edinburgh; if you’d like to feel the intensive pace of life with various shops and night clubs – visit Glasgow.

 

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