Thursday 19 May 2016

Travel Caper: Glasgow

In early April, my friend Mary-Anne and I headed up to Glasgow for our final visit before our friend Anna moves back to London. While we're beyond excited for all the adventures we'll get up to here in London town, I have to admit I'll miss having such a lovely excuse to visit Scotland. However, on the other hand, this might be a good opportunity to venture beyond Glasgow since there are so many beautiful Scottish places to explore... Anyway, back to this visit where we were greeted with a tasty snack of deviled eggs, spicy rice snacks and, of course, plentiful G+Ts... 


Anna's Glasgow flat is not only super cute, but also eye-wateringly cheap to a jaded London dweller like myself. Note to Caitie: move literally anywhere outside of London. Immediately. This visit was unofficially billed (by me) as a tour of Caitie's favorite Glasgow spots... which is convenient since they are also Anna's favorite Glasgow spots. After we finished our cocktails, we headed off to the first of these locations... which we were horrified to find was actually closing its doors two days later! 


Squid and Whale was a fantastic little bar/restaurant that specialized in surprisingly authentic Mexican dishes. While there were the usual Tex-Mex classics such as pulled pork nachos, we also found a delicious variety of taco offerings. This time, we went with the achiote pulled pork, chipotle cauliflower, and chicken mole negra which were washed down with margaritas (naturally). 


For dessert, we tried to avoid being too greedy by sharing the churros and key lime pie. While the vanilla ice cream that came with them was not the best (i.e. kind of flavorless), who can turn down a churro? No one. Add in piece of my favorite pie and we're in business. Delicious! 


Our second day in Glasgow, we awoke to a relaxed morning featuring girly chat and Anna's incredible earl grey infused scones. Over coffee, we slowly got ready and headed out to the train station. Catching our train to Balloch, we were off to wander the shores of Loch Lomond and treat ourselves to a deliciously decadent lunch at one of my all time favorite restaurants: Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond. Such an indulgent lunch deserves its own write up so I've moved it to it's own post here. Coming home several hours later, we knew we wouldn't be hungry enough for a proper dinner so instead popped into Waitrose for nibbles. Chorizo, salami, brie, cheddar, goats cheese, tomatoes, olives, hummus and crisps - a perfect recipe for a perfect evening in. 


Sunday morning brought with it a visit to my favorite Glasgow brunch spot: Cafezique. Conveniently located just down the road from Anna's flat, I love the rustic, industrial decor almost as much as the locally sourced menu.


It was typically busy when we arrived so we bided our time at the bar by ordering some hot chocolate to take the edge off our hunger. Topped with a homemade marshmallow, this little cup leaves the coffee options in its dust. 


Knowing this might be my last visit, I couldn't resist the Big Veggie Breakfast - which is a twist on the traditional English fry up. Alongside the classic items such as grilled mushroom, tomato and baked beans, there was also shredded baby spinach, grilled halloumi and a homemade tattie scone (a savory potato based griddle cake). I went with poached eggs, rather than fried, as a belated nod to healthy eating and then promptly devoured everything. An added bonus was the little pitcher of chili oil that added an extra punch of flavor. 


After our brunch, we had time for a walk through the beautiful Glasgow Botanic Gardens and along the River Kelvin. We were so lucky with the weather on this trip - blue skies despite Glasgow's reputation as being home to some seriously wet weather. 


The walk along the river includes some seriously picturesque spots that my photos clearly don't do any justice to despite my constant attempts. I particularly love the bridges you see along the walk as they are each unique and almost haunting... 


Even though the day got gloomier as we headed back to the flat, that only served to add to the aura of the scenery. I highly recommend a wander along these paths if you're ever in Glasgow - they're free, not too crowded and offer plenty of dog-spotting opportunities... 


And with that, our all too short visit came to an end. We made our way back to the flat to collect our things and then headed back to Glasgow Central station to catch our train to London. Fortunately, we had been able to take advantage of Virgin Trains' seat sale and ended up with first class tickets for our return leg. I really hope I'll have more opportunities to visit in the future as I think this is such an underrated city...

So, this isn't goodbye... it's just farewell for now, Glasgow.

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