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Published: February 18th 2015
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Just a few years ago, a 'city break' meant a lovely hotel, leisurely shopping, bit of culture, fancy restaurant or three, a lot of drinking, late nights, long lie-ins...
How times have changed!
Daddy had a work thing on the Friday night in Glasgow, so we decided to make a holiday of it and all tag along too. We found a central-ish budget hotel (family rooms aren't cheap you know), but not so central that I felt comfortable taking the kids out in the evening on my own, so while Daddy went out to play, sorry, work, we stayed put, ordered in pizza and had a grand time watching reruns of 'You've Been Framed' until bedtime at 9pm. Bedtime for me too, as being in the one room you can't really stay up while they're trying to sleep, but never mind, it's nice to have an early night sometimes.
Next morning, we enjoyed undoubtedly one of the highlights for J, the all you can eat breakfast buffet! Very exciting for a small chap having cereal and yogurt and toast and sausage and beans, and apple juice AND hot chocolate for breakfast! Set us up nicely for the
Science Museum , which was simply brilliant! Three floors of amazing things to do and play with, obviously all educational in some way, but so much fun you'd never know. Lots of water, magnets, robots, guts and body parts, whizzes, bangs, optical illusions, and lots of chances to explain to the kids that I know all about this because I trained as an engineer (although I'm not sure they really believe me, sometimes I wonder myself...) There was a planetarium too which we all really enjoyed. We would happily have spent all day in there, and then gone back the next day too, but bright lights, big city, so much to see and do!
So having dropped Daddy off at another show and tell, the kids and I went to a play park. Not the shopping, the culture, any of the restaurants or bars that Glasgow offers up to the discerning childfree visitor, no, just a playpark, not so very different from any other play park. But it was fun. It was sunny and cold, there were big old trees and fresh air, there was a cafe serving hot tea, and the kids ran themselves ragged till the light started to
fade. Different pleasures.
We collected Daddy and headed back to the hotel, the 'Furchester' we called it, after a muppets type kids program they like, although they said the furriest thing in it was Daddy. It was Valentine's Day, not really the best night of the year to get a table for two adults and two kids in a nice restaurant, but we finally found a curry house in the Merchant City who didn't mind us getting out the colouring pens and stickerbooks among the cooing couples all around. And so home to bed. 9.30pm.
Then on Sunday, Al took the kids to the Transport Musueum so I could go shopping! Joy! Except of course I did the usual thing of getting all a bit heady and overwhelmed in proper shops, and ended up just buying stuff for the kids. Sigh, can't say I didn't get the chance.
But the next bit is a bit more like it! Lunch at
The Gannet. Proper city break stuff! We should admit there is a family link, with it being Uncle Pirate's restaurant, but no bias required, because it was quite easily the nicest meal I've eaten in far too long!
(Sorry Aunty Lau, I didn't take plate shots and I should have.) We'd unwittingly booked the Valentine's Lunch Special, which included a glass of champagne to start (shame Al was driving, didn't let his to go to waste though). I won't do the food justice if I list what we ate, the descriptions were very precise, but it was three courses of simple, perfectly cooked loveliness. There was no kids menu, but they asked them what their favourite food was, they both said fish fingers. The chef created the most fabulous haddock goujons with handcut chips ever, and a huge saucer of ketchup, so J & G were very pleased, even G ate the lot, so Mummy was pleased too.
J is very into his writing and drawing at the moment. He has a notebook which he uses when inspiration strikes. The waiters in The Gannet were laughing that he'd beat us at hangman with the word 'poo'. Only because he'd missed an 'o', but that's the kind of thing he likes to do with it. Not many pictures were taken this weekend, but I've included an excerpt from his notebook which made us smile (well, made Daddy smile).
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