I’d been wanting to visit Scotland for the longest time and since I had a decent chunk of time off over Easter, I decided to finally visit Karman in Glasgow!
Can’t believe we hadn’t seen each other in about 6 years, but I had the best time catching up – she was the best tour guide, host and an absolute dreamboat.
Friday 7th April
- Got on the coach at London Victoria at 8am and arrived in Glasgow by 7.20pm. The coach was delayed by 2 hours due to Easter traffic but was a pleasant journey overall!
- Stopped off at Tebay Services in Cumbria and honestly, it’s the fanciest and loveliest service station I’ve ever been to. Gorgeous views of fields and a river, along with a bougie farm shop.
- After giving Karman and Damien a big squeeze, we headed for dinner in The Butterfly and The Pig which was so yum. I had an amazing salmon on leek and potato stew dish (steer clear of the desserts though…)
Saturday 8th April
Starting off the day with a wander around Finnieston and we stumbled across a little shop called House of Black, run by the super friendly David.
He takes clothes that are damaged or unwanted and gives them a new lease of life. As he doesn’t pay for his fabrics because he mostly works with donations, his customers don’t either. Instead, everything is priced by how many hours were spent making each garment. This makes his prices more affordable for customers, easier for him to make an income and stops waste textiles from going to landfill, which is all right up my street!
For lunch, we grabbed some incredible breakfast tapas from Elena’s Spanish Bar and Restaurant. Everything was delicious, the portions were generous and decent prices – would highly recommend!
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
We arrived just in time to hear the organ player too, which was rad.
Kelvingrove Park.
River walk.
Botanic Gardens.
The Ferrero Rocher gelato was top notch.
I tried a bit of Karman’s and it was so fresh and tasty – super yum!
After refuelling, we went for a wander around Byres Road, Glasgow University and grabbed a drink at Hillhead Bookclub Bar before grabbing fish and chips for dinner at home.
I tried haggis for the first time and it just tasted a bit like a crumbly sausage – like totally fine and glad I tried it, but wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.
On the up side: winning the UNO Championships is possibly my life’s greatest achievement.
Sunday 9th April
Starting the day at the People’s Palace, home to a collection of objects, photos, prints and film all about Glaswegian history which was really interesting!
Barras Market, where I picked up a lovely purple cardigan in a vintage shop.
Stumbled across a creepy room full of stuff like this – simultaneously disturbing and fascinating.
A snack of the most incredibly fresh and sweet steamed mussels across the road at Loch Fyne Shellfish Bar.
This bowl of heaven was only £5.50 and I could have quite happily just sat here all day eating mussels if Karman didn’t have other plans for us…
Walked over to the Cathedral and Necropolis.
The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art was surprisingly interesting!
Lunch at Friends Chinese Café which was so simple yet sublime.
Proper comforting Chinese home cooking.
Wandered around the city centre and admired the iconic traffic cone on the Duke of Wellington statue.
Really good Crème Brulee Doughnut and Hot Cross Bun from Tantrum Doughnuts.
I’d heard mixed reviews about Glasgow before visiting but I really enjoyed it. Everyone was so friendly, there’s so much fun free stuff to do, it’s easy to get around and lots of great food options too!
Karman had suggested that it would be nice to do Glasgow over the weekend to see more of the ‘real’ Scotland and avoid the weekend crowds in Edinburgh. Such fab advice and I can safely say that I’m a big fan of Glasgow!
xxx