Indianapolis promotes Glasgow

Because Glasgow, Scotland is home to numerous bands and live concert venues, Time magazine called it "Europe's secret capital of music." The city also boasts hip new restaurants, a thriving arts scene, stunning Victorian architecture and enough rollicking pubs and clubs for the party set.

Oh, yeah, and the men like to dress up in skirts.

Glasgow is a must-see destination. Once a haven for shipbuilders and textile mills, this Scottish city of 600,000 has blossomed into a stylish place that even a hipster could love.

A number of boutique hotels have recently swung open their stylish doors. ABode Glasgow sports 60 guest rooms and a chef who's earned two Michelin stars. Instead of "standard" or "superior," rooms are categorized as "enviable" or "fabulous."

At Oshi Spa inside the Park Inn Hotel -- across the street from the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall -- guests are pampered with a variety of treatments, from pedicures to aromatherapy.

I was surprised to learn that after London, Glasgow is the United Kingdom's second-most-popular shopping destination. That's old news to the thousands of shoppers I saw marching along Buchanan Street each day.

Buchanan Street is a bustling pedestrian shopping lane. Retailers rush to rent space near the likes of Hugo Boss and the new Apple Store. In fact, Buchanan Street rental fees rank seventh in the world behind New York's Fifth Avenue, London's New Bond Street, and a few other stellar shopping haunts.

And yet there's a down-home feel to Glasgow's retail paradise.

Somewhere between Russell & Bromley (shoes) and House of Fraser (department store), you'll see performance artists entertaining schoolkids, business types, green-haired punkers and those quintessential Scotsmen in kilts.

At night, an equally large and often inebriated crowd cruises Sauchiehall Street. Sauchiehall (pronounced Sa-key-hall) is a raucous gauntlet of pubs and nightclubs frequented by students from Glasgow's three universities.

Because I'm well past 25, I preferred to sip Guinness on Ashton Lane. Located in the West End, this cozy street is lined with pubs that cater to a less rambunctious crowd.

Rambunctious or not, the crowds are swelling in Glasgow. Since 2006, Glasgow's two international airports have attracted 30 new routes from Boston, Orlando, Toronto, Vancouver and a number of European cities.

Between visits to George Square in the heart of the city and tours of the University of Glasgow (Scotland's second-oldest), tourists come to see the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

As Antoni Gaudi did in Barcelona and Frank Lloyd Wright did in Chicago, Mackintosh left an indelible mark on Glasgow. The Scottish architect and interior designer, born in 1868, favored smooth lines and geometric shapes over the ornate Victorian design of his time. Many of his innovative furniture designs are on permanent display at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the most prominent museum in Glasgow.

His greatest architectural achievement, the Glasgow School of Art, is a stunning example of art nouveau design, with its simple stone facade, expansive windows and wrought-iron gates.

Glasgow-based bands like Franz Ferdinand and local supergroup the Reindeer Section play gigs at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, where the group Oasis was discovered. On any given night, you can step into a pub and hear musicians playing everything from folk music to rock and soul. For these reasons, as well as the growing success of local record labels like Chemikal Underground, Glasgow is often compared to Detroit during its Motown glory days.

And yet Glasgow is striving for more. A 12,500-seat Scottish National Arena is scheduled for completion in 2011. Scotland's largest hotel complex (a 300-room, four-star Holiday Inn) is currently under construction in the city center. And by 2014, the $2.4 billion Glasgow Harbor development will have converted 130 acres of derelict property along the Clyde River into offices, bars and restaurants.

By then, Glasgow might be a mandatory stop on everyone's European itinerary. I'm happy to have visited before the crowds showed up.