I was only in Glasgow in March (2022)  for three days but it felt like a very gray city.  Lots of buildings are gray.  It rained or felt like it was going to much of the time.

But it wasn’t gloomy.  In fact, there were a lot about this city that made me laugh.  In a good way.  I really liked the sense of humor.

Let’s start with stores.  How about these?  Don’t they make your shopping time fun?

At the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum I spotted this in the Wildlife section.  How many museums have Spirits in their animal displays?

Funny signs appeared everywhere.  The speed sign in a pretty dense part of town slowed me down.  And I was walking. I’m thinking of installing a sign like this on the street I live on.  People often drive way too fast.

Do you think the Dog Support area comes with a therapist?  Wouldn’t be surprised.   Or how about this mural in a trendy shopping area.  It certainly says “Watch Out.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at these two little guys in another store window.

The WIFI sign in one near by made me chuckle.

The unicorn at the University of Glasgow really had me curious. Seemed a little, well, cartoonish.   So I did a little research and found that it is the official mascot of Scotland  has been Scotland’s official animal since the 1400’s.    It is said that the Kings liked  the mystical beast because they considered it to be the best representation of power.

The unicorn is believed to be the natural enemy of the lion, a symbol adapted by the English royals.  According to the folklore, the lion and the unicorn hate each other–a tradition going back to the ancient Babylonians in 3,500 B.C.

Sometimes I saw people who made me chuckle.  Like this lady with the pink hair.  Actually I saw a lot of people with wildly colored hair in Glasgow.  I wonder if that is a reaction to the grayness of the city.

This sign was posted at the National Piping Center.  I went there to learn all about the different kinds of bag pipes and their history.  There’s a bar/cafe and a hotel at the Center.  The sign describes it all.

How about an official Red Nose Day?  Is that on your calendar?

And lastly take the story of the statue of the Duke of Wellington installed in 1844 on the Royal Exchange Square.     Evidently a traffic cone appeared on the head of the respected military leader  in the 1980s.  The police would take it down,  but one would appear again.  Eventually they just left it and now that cone has become part of the branding for Glasgow and appears in many marketing materials.  I spotted it on a vending machine at the airport on my way home.

I did a little reading about it and learned that there is some controversy of the cone-ing with in the City Council ranging from some who don’t think it safe, other’s who think it is undignified and the ones who think, that the be-coned stature represents Glasgow’s quirky spirit and of the residents’ refusal to take authority figure–or themselves–too seriously.

Donna Yates, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, reported on Mentalfloss.com, “It’s silly.  Glasgow likes silly,”  and that explains exactly why I like Glasgow.

For more about the Cone-head in Glasgow, check out “Keep the Cone” on Facebook.