Free Stuff

One of the best things about Scotland is that there are loads of free and "cheap" things to do.  Museums, healthcare, and even prescriptions are free, and student discounts abound for pretty much everything.  You can get discounts on public transport, movies, food, and even in certain clothing stores.  This seems to be a thing perpetrated "nation-wide" (England doesn't really have the same amount of free-ness, sadly), and makes Glasgow in particular an awesome place to be a student.  Today, I took advantage of a free museum that's just 10 minutes away from my flat and in between my route to and from the university.  Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum  is, like every other museum I've encountered thus far, free. It's located in a building built in 1901, which to my uneducated American eyes looks really, really old and quite majestic even without it being a museum.

You can trek the entirety of the museum in an afternoon if you don't read every single exhibit, and there's a good mix of gallery and history, though I would say that the art gallery on the upper floor is definitely superior to the sometimes strange taxidermy and preservation.  It's one of the most visited attractions in the entire UK, and worth a visit for Dali's Christ of the Saint James of the Cross alone.  There is also an organist that plays in the main hall at least once a day, which is worth just sitting in on even if you have no intention of walking the museum.

Best of all, it is again, all free!  The idea being that knowledge (and well-being) should be accessible, and not hoarded just for those who afford it.  As a student on a budget, I'm all for it!