My Glasgow Neighborhood - Partick

Some pictures of my Partick neighborhood and the surrounding area in Glasgow for posterity...

Looking east up Dumbarton Road in Partick toward the Gothic tower of the University of Glasgow. Most intersections are controlled by round-abouts, but there are traffic lights on some of the major arterials. I caught this light on a green, but there is a phase where the light turns yellow immediately before the green, indicating that the "go" is impending. And I thought Americans were impatient drivers.

Looking west up Dumbarton Road toward Whiteinch and Yoker. The train crossing the bridge in the background is either just arriving at or leaving Partick Station.

Partick Station - the hub of my transportation connections into Downtown Glasgow. The station has been under renovation since before I arrived, but the canopy framework went up in the last month. Inside the station entrance, commuters have the option of taking the subway (downstairs) or a connecting train (upstairs). There's also a bus stop right outside the station tunnel.

The intersection of Byres Road and Dumbarton. Byres Road is considered the main drag through the popular West End of Glasgow. The cones in the foreground line Dumbarton where utility crews have spent months replacing a major gas line.

I used a bus pass in June to commute between Partick and work. When I was a kid I always wanted to sit on the upper level of a double-decker bus above the driver's seat. With this opportunity to live and work in Glasgow, my impossible dream has come true!

The Partick Burgh Halls - site of my Tuesday night yoga classes. I signed up for the classes to help me re-find direction in life after I fulfilled my lifelong ambition of riding on the upper level of a double-decker bus.

Just in view of the Partick Burgh Halls is the Hamilton Crescent, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club and site of the world's first international football (soccer) match in 1872. Scotland and England played to a 0-0 tie in front of 4000+ fans.

The famous Waverley Steamer glides up the Clyde at dusk in front of my living room window en route to Downtown Glasgow. The ship's website claims the 1947 vessel is the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world, and possibly "the most photographed ship in the world." I'll buy the first claim, but I'm doubtful of the second.

A contrast of Clyde-built ships. Same location as the previous picture, but the Waverley is leaving Glasgow during a rainy dawn and heading toward the Firth of Clyde and perhaps one of the nearby lochs or the Western Isles. In the background, BAE Systems continues building HMS Diamond, the third ship of the Type 45 Daring class of anti-air warfare destroyer purported to be the most advanced air defense warship in the world. Launch of the ship - diagonally into the Clyde per custom, is scheduled for November 2007...after I'm back in the states, unfortunately.

Looking westward down the Clyde from my living room just after sunset in late June 2007. The time? Just before 11:00 PM. The extra long days in the summer this far north make up for the particularly short and dark days in the winter.

A not-so-pleasant landmark in the Partick-Whiteinch area of Glasgow: The Clyde pedestrian/cycle tunnel running beneath the traffic lanes of the A739 carriageway to Govan.

I experienced the Clyde pedestrian tunnel while on a recent weekend jog to the LIDL store on the other side of the river. The poorly-lit, graffiti-lined concrete shaft runs for a half-mile under the river with a handful of locked gate cross-passages and several nearly-blind curves. I crossed the tunnel in record time, spurred on by the fact that I didn't see a single un-smashed CCTV camera. I also didn't see or hear any unsavory characters, which would have prompted me to dash back out the way I came in a hurry.

The possible inspiration for Sesame Street's Mr. Snuffleupagus lives up the road in Mugdock Park.

Just a local eating establishment where I definitely won't be dining.