Having driven through England I finally arrived in Scotland, crossing the border and passing the well known "Welcome to Scotland" sign in Gretna Green. Soon the M74 turned into the M8 and I arrived in Glasgow, a good 400 miles and 6 hours after leaving Swindon.

First I checked in at the hotel and obtained a visitor parking permit. This is always my first priority, as the traffic wardens in Glasgow are very quick in handing out parking tickets. As I expected I saw several of them this afternoon, luckily after placing my permit into the car. As the weather was quite nice I decided to postpone the shopping and do some sightseeing instead. From Garnethill (the area where the hotel is) you have a quite nice view over to the west end of Glasgow (picture on the left). I then decided to explore what the Clyde had to offer. Through Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street and finally St Enoch I made my way to the Clyde.

The walk along the Clyde turned out surprisingly nice. The part from St Enoch up to the motorway bridge is not very exciting, but once you passed under the M8 it is not too bad. First I passed the Waverley, an old paddle steamer. It looked very nice in the warm evening sun (picture on the left). Then the new Glasgow Science Centre came into view, with the setting sun as a backdrop (picture on the right. The Science Centre is in the middle, in the left corner the IMAX. The tower is a viewtower (name escapes me) which can turn 360 degrees). I also passed the last remaining old harbour crane as well as the SECC, which is also known as Armadillo. Unfortunately I don't have a good picture of it, but you should find it on other Glasgow websites.

After a quick dinner it was time for a quick drink. My favourite pub close to the hotel is "Nice'n'sleazy" in Sauchiehall Street. Strange seventies design, but good beer and an interesting crowd of visitors.
Finally it was back to the hotel to write and upload this report. As well as getting some sleep for the next day, which I planned to spend in Argyll