The Verdict It all boils down to this. How do the two cities line-up over eight key categories? We give our final opinions
GLASGOW EDINBURGH
The culture
Winner The sights
Winner Days out
Winner Nights out
Winner Food
Winner Shopping
Winner Transport
Winner Conversation
Winner
+ A near endless sea of artistic talent, with bleeding-edge creatives elbow-to- elbow with peerless arts institutions. - For there to be an thriving underground there also has to be an oblivious overground.
✘ + The GSA building. Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. The Necropolis. - The shopping centres. The grey river. The motorway.
+ Admire the exhibits as you walk around Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. - Avoid the steaming people as you walk around Kelvingrove Park.
+ Great music and clubbing. The Sub Club. The Arches. Stereo. King Tut’s. - The intersection between Sauchiehall St and Renfield St at 3am. Or any taxi queue around the same time.
✘ + Salt and vinegar. The traditionalist’s choice. - There’s a reason Glasgow regularly pops up in those ‘sick boy of Europe’ health polls.
+ Bigger and better outlets, excellent vintage, and non-torn-faced shop assistants. Oh, and American Apparel. - The gravitional suck of several huge, impersonal shopping centres.
✘ + Cheap taxis, nifty grid system and an iconic subway. - Annoyingly early last train ride home to or from Edinburgh.
✘ + Fancy a quick swally down Sleazy’s? - Gonnae gies 20p for the bus home ya nugget?
+ World-class arts programming, plus a month-long string of comedy greatness on the Fringe. - Regular visits from Lloyd Webber musicals.
+ Stand on top of a dormant volcano and gaze over the Forth estuary, spectacular monuments and a divisive but radically beautiful parliament building. - The bits falling off Appleton Tower.
✘ + Old Masters at the National Galleries. Ice cream along Portobello promenade. Walking the Water of Leith. - The sound of bagpipes like tinnitus anywhere near the city centre.
✘ + Fabulous cocktails. Cab Vol. Sneaky Pete’s. The Bongo Club. - Year-round tourists.
+ Some of the most inspiring, Michelin-star attracting chefs in the UK have taken up residence in Leith. - It’ll cost an arm and a leg to get them to cook lunch for you.
✘ + The string of indie pearls between Victoria Street and West Port. The crafters keeping us in fingerless gloves and bird brooches. - Boys get short-changed on the clothes-shopping front.
+ You can walk. And you can probably go through the Meadows/Links/Gardens on the way. - Tram works have turned the city into a giant game of Pac-Man. + Did you hear about the season of new writing at The Traverse? - Did you hear about the new range of cruisewear at Jenners?
✘
Well whaddya know? It’s a dead heat at four apiece between the two cities. Glasgow has edged Edinburgh in the cultural stakes, but Edinburgh fought back through some impressive architecture and good
food. The shocking truth is that they both have a
huge amount to offer, more than we can list
here, with enough different strokes to satisfy all sorts of
different folks. Take your pick. We’d recommend them both.
26 THE LIST 1–15 Apr 2010
FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE Residents from both cities have been battling it out on The List’s messageboards. Here are just a few of the best reasons for their preferences. See the rest online at www.list.co.uk/gvse
GLASGOW
Only good thing that ever happened to me in Embra was that a huge seagull shat square on my head while I was sitting in Princes St Gardens, trying to look sophisto in my business suit, delicately nibbling at my horrendously expensive lunchtime sandwich purchased at a local deli/eatery type place. Go into Glasgow town any night – you’ll start off just wi’ a pint, or a glass of wine for the ladies – then get chatting. Next thing you’ll be at a great gig, followed by either a tasty kebab or a quality supper (I don’t mean fish ‘n’ chips, although that is an option) at the likes of Sloan’s. Great people. Great toon. No comparison. Gilly, Glasgow Because Kelvin Hall has a bulletin board in the lobby that reads ‘Kelvin Hall: Past and Present’. The ‘Past’ shows photos and stories from the 20s and 30s. All the photos from the ‘Present’ side are from the 70s and 80s. Lazy? Most definitely. But also very charming. L100, Glasgow
EDINBURGH
Glasgow is a city-state, Edinburgh is an international cultural capital. The former has much in common with Liverpool in that its citizens tend to think it’s the best place in the world and as such they and their kind are the earth’s finest examples of humanity. Having lived there for five years I decided to politely agree with them and left them to it. Edinburgh was never so revolting and, on a clear day, is just way prettier. Parish, Edinburgh
I was firmly and vocally in the Glasgow camp until three days ago when my boyfriend proposed to me against Edinburgh’s beautiful skyline. Now I’m wandering around dreaming of Georgian townhouses and castles and couldn’t give a toss about the edgy cultural scene. Turncoat, Glasgow ■ There’s still time to post your comments at www.list.co.uk/gvse. The best comment from each city will receive a prize. In Glasgow, a pair of tickets to any April gig at the O2 ABC or O2 Academy, a two-course meal for two and tickets to Raspberry at The Tron and free entry to Death Disco at the Arches. In Edinburgh, two tickets to The Cherry Orchard at the Royal Lyceum, dinner for two at either L’escargot Bleu or L’escargot Blanc, £20 worth of gift vouchers for The Elephant House and free entry to Telefunken at Cabaret Voltaire.