Glasgow is hard to define. This spontaneous free-spirit has cast off its industrial past to become a modern, design-conscious city with an energy and exuberance that is simply not found anywhere else in Scotland. Firstly, it looks different. None of that sober grey stone that gives other Scottish cities a restrained, slightly austere appearance. Glasgow is a beguiling blend of old red sandstone and quirky ironwork, laced with glinting contemporary glass and steel. It is often described as Scotland's most European city, but it could also be compared to Manhattan, with its grid of streets, its tall, narrow buildings, and its wisecracking citizens. And then there are the people who have an air of Celtic edginess like Liverpool, a distinctive city swagger like London, and a lingering sense of Victorian civic pride like Manchester. Definitely a different place.