http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11888 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11888 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11728 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11728 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11723 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11723 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7936
Half way up Buchanan Street an arched doorway beckons through into a huge open expanse of an Atrium stretching upwards for four stories. What was once a large court, surrounded by brick-faced offices that stored documents for the legal firms in Glasgow, is now a variety of small specialist shops and eating places. The Atrium is criss-crossed by scissors of escalators that rise without visible support through the space.

Princes Square, elegant with its Art Nouveau wrought iron, is a welcome haven populated by a plethora of tiny restaurants and intriguing nooks of shops. A great place to browse for an hour or two, or if it’s raining! The Rennie Mackintosh Museum nearby is worth going to if you’re at all interested in the Arts, especially considering the influence he had on design.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7936 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7923
The market has expanded from its humble beginnings to include hundreds of stalls and shops selling everything and anything. Barras are rented out on a daily basis, meaning an ever-changing stock and providing an ad-hoc sales channel for anyone with stuff to shift.

Never one to miss a trick, the Barras has evolved with the times, reflecting the changing needs of a varied clientele. Nowadays, Maggie's original fruit barra has evolved into a farmers' market, which takes place on the last Saturday in every month from 8 am (but get there quick, because stock sells out by lunchtime), and the modern market does a roaring trade in computer software of perhaps dubious origin. Never mind, it's all yours for a tenner.

The Barras was there long before Versace and the Italian Centre, and despite constant raids from overworked and frankly exasperated trading standards officials, it will still be there a long time after they're gone too. Margaret Russell would be proud.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7923