I belong to Glasgow

I love Glasgow. You mighta guessed that by now though, huh? I lived in a little town 20 minutes outside the city with my family until I was 21, and for the past 5 years have lived in and around Glasgow. At the moment I'm in the South Side, and it's so handy for jumping on the train into the centre (takes about 5 minutes!)

Even if you are very familiar with Glasgow, or have never been to visit at all, I really hope you enjoy this post. Travelodge asked me to 'flaunt my haunt', so of course I was more than happy to do so. Last week, Ashley and I got all wrapped up and headed into the city for a whirlwind trip to some of our favourite haunts.

We started off our day by going for breakfast at Bills on West Nile Street. Ashley had the vegetarian breakfast, and I went for strawberry, banana and blueberry pancakes with bacon (hold the banana) and a coffee each. I've been to Bills for lunch quite a few times now, but this was the first time I'd been in town early enough to nab their breakfast menu. It was DELICIOUS! I really don't like the massive american style pancakes that are the size of a dinner plate. These ones were small and perfectly formed, and I scoffed every last piece. Ashley isn't even veggie but the breakfast caught her eye, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

After breakfast, we climbed what felt like a thousand steps to the top of The Lighthouse, Scotland's national centre for design and architecture. This was a bit of a slog with full bellies, but the view at the top is worth it. You can see across the whole of the city, with the vast mix and styles of buildings which make up the grids of Glasgow city centre.

After burning off a few calories from our Lighthouse climb, we popped round to the Gallery Of Modern Art, which has the famous Wellington statue on it's doorstep, complete with traffic cone on the Duke's (and sometimes the horses) head. This cone has become quite an iconic part of Glasgow's heritage, and the council had plans to raise the statue higher up to stop the cone being placed there (which they apparently spend £10,000 a year in sending staff to remove... whoops!) However this proposal was protested fiercely, with thousands of people signing a petition against it. Stay classy, Glasgow! I bloody love you.

On display outside the GoMa at the moment is Ross Sinclair's light installation 'We Love Real Life Scotland'. The gallery steps are quite a nostalgic and special place to me in Glasgow, as I have early memories of first meeting my Dad just around the corner from here at George Square when I was a little girl. My Mum often used to drop me off at these steps to meet him at weekends. It is a very central spot, and when you are arranging to meet someone in town it will often be a choice between 'meet me under the big clock in central (station)' or 'meet me at the GoMa steps!'

Just around from the gallery is another favourite place of mine and Ashley's - Tempo Tea Bar! Delicious bubble tea served in the cutest of surroundings, owned by brother and sister Liam Tan and May Gem, who saw a gap in the market and decided to bring this tea based drink from Taiwan to Glasgow. Business is thriving and I've just spied that they are about to open a second shop at Silverburn Shopping Centre (which is just a 10 minute drive from my house, result!) This is another great place for a mate date. I'll always swing by for one even on my lonesome if I have popped into town.

As if coffee, breakfast and bubble tea weren't filling enough, we took a walk through the Merchant City and stopped off at the ice cream parlour Jelly Bear (planning to have another coffee) Did we have that coffee? Nope! We went for an absolute sugar coma instead! Ashley got the chocolate brownie waffles and I went for this smarties, marshmallows, sprinkles and candy floss creation. It was ridiculous and fantastic at the same time (that's what I get asking for the girliest thing on the menu) For £6, I easily could have shared this! I won't be so greedy next time.

Our eating was well and truly done for the day at this point, so we went a walk around some of the shops before heading for the train home. I have so many favourite places in Glasgow for shopping, drinking, and evening meals too. So if you are ever visiting and would like some recommendations let me know. I know a lot of people who visit Scotland come to Edinburgh, especially for the history and the beautiful old buildings and streets. I love Edinburgh too, but for different reasons! Compared to Glasgow they are like chalk and cheese. Let's just say Glasgow is Edinburgh's edgier, trendy and slightly rough younger cousin! I am very proud to call this place home.