Adventuring in the City

May 11, 2008 on 9:00 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

It is our tenth wedding anniversary and I decided to take Anna on a surprise trip. I would have liked to do some hard core adventuring but as I am look forwards to another 10 years I thought better we opt for the weekend in Glasgow with some soft adventure.

I love Glasgow, the architecture is stunning and I wander round looking up, like you see the tourists in New York doing, except Glasgow is prettier. The people always appear to me to be more friendly than in Edinburgh and the airport is closer to the centre of town.

I booked a suite in One Devonshire Gardens in the west end and we had dinner there on the Friday evening. Over the years I have had the pleasure and displeasure of staying in many hotels and I think they gave one of the best experiences I have had. I have been trying to think why that was and have come to the conclusion it was the staff.

All to often the staff don’t look you in the eye or you can tell they are bored or not enjoying their job. This was not the case here, to a person they were always smiling, friendly and would go out of their way to be helpful. If this had been my first experience of Scotland I would have left with a very positive image.

We also went out to the Burrell Collection and with out the children we were able to amble round and really spend time studying the collection, I love my kids but it is nice to have some time recharging the culture batteries. What I was most fascinated with by the collection was the paintings, we turned one corner and almost missed the Rembrandt ! I will be taking the children next time we are down.

Our anniversary dinner was in the Ubiquitous Chip in Ashton Lane just off the Byres Road and over the years Anna and I have eaten there many times, consistently it has been great food and good service, it was no different this time.

I think there is much to be learned from all three of these experiences to be passed down even to the little lady in her B&B. Sadly, particularly here in the Outer Hebrides, there are so few places where I can recommend knowing my clients will have a fantastic experience.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire