[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 22 September 2014]
29 January 2014, Wednesday
With last night’s match at Old Trafford done and dusted, it was time to say goodbye to Manchester and hello to Scotland. We checked out of Hatters Hilton Chambers Hostel early and walked to Manchester Piccadilly train station, where we caught the 7:15am Virgin train to Glasgow. The 343km journey would take us 3 hours and 16 minutes.
Travelling by train across Europe is an experience in itself. The trains are clean, comfortable and well equipped. Best of all, the scenery as you gaze out of the window is nothing short of breath-taking at times – rolling plains of greenery set against a stunningly clear morning sky, giant wind vanes harnessing the power of nature, blankets of forests, or even just a seemingly mundane scene of a tractor isolated in a farmland. In three hours, you get to see a kaleidoscope of images, from urban city buildings to natural landscapes and back to city dwellings as you pull in at the train station at the end of the journey.
I also love taking trains and plugging in to my earphones to listen to music. My favourite music to listen to when travelling on planes or trains are Ed Sheeran’s “+” and Diana Krall’s “Live In Paris” albums. Always puts me in the right mood.
We arrived at Glasgow Central station just after 10:30am. From there, we walked for about 15 minutes to Millennium Hotel Glasgow, a 4-star hotel located at 40 George Square, which is right smack in the city centre. It was the most luxurious accommodation for our entire trip and it came courtesy of my American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend credit card, which gave me a complimentary night in one of the over 80 participating Millennium Hotels and Resorts properties worldwide.
Millennium Hotel Glasgow
Address: George Square, Glasgow G2 1DS
Tel: +44 (0) 14 1332 6711
Website: http://www.millenniumhotels.co.uk/millenniumglasgow
As it was before 11am, it was still too early to check in, but when I flashed my Millennium & Copthorne Loyalty Club Gold membership card (that came free with the hotel booking), the staff graciously gave us an early check-in. Ahhh, the powers of a Gold membership card. Our room had a fabulous view overlooking George Square, a huge bathroom (with a bath tub), two comfy single beds and free wi-fi. For once, we didn’t feel like backpackers anymore.
We took some time to relax and enjoy the comfort of the room, to just laze around and lie in bed. It took quite a bit of effort to peel us off the bed and to get out and explore the city. As we only had one day in Glasgow, we wanted to see as much as we could.
We crossed the road to George Square, the principal civic square in Glasgow, named after King George III. It is widely regarded as the de facto centre of the city. George Square boasts several statues of important figures in Scotland’s history, including Robert Burns, James Watt, Sir Robert Peel and Sir Walter Scott.
After some snapshots, we went to St Enoch Shopping Centre to find some lunch. There was a big food court there and I bought a plate of economy rice for a whopping GBP5.75 (almost S$12). The cost of living here is very high indeed.
Being a huge football fan, IJ caught another match in the evening – Celtic vs Kilmarnock, while I was content to just roam around the streets without any agenda and take photos. Here’s Glasgow at night:
After having my fill of shopping, I bought some food from the supermarket and went back to the hotel room to lounge around and just slack. After travelling for 11 days, it was time to relax a little…
