We went up to Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago to go visiting ‘Helena’s Blog‘ aka our eldest daughter! We were intending to fly but as they seemed to want us to pay an arm and two legs for each ticket, we decided to drive. I know some of you are saying ‘You must be mad’ driving from Cardiff to Aberdeen but to be honest once you’ve passed all the hustle and bustle around Birmingham to Preston then it’s actually a lovely and incredibly scenic drive. And there’s the added benefit of being able to stop in the Best Motorway Services Ever  – Westmorland Services and do a bit of serious shopping as well as have a decent cup of coffee!

We decided not to do the whole journey in one go, although with sharing the driving it is doable. We stopped off in Glasgow as I’d arranged a meeting knowing I would be in Scotland anyway. I’ve been up there a few times with work but had never stayed at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow before. No idea why, as it’s right next to the SECC and only a short walk from the city centre. It’s the perfect stop-over in many respects: it’s very close to the Motorways (M74 and M8, it’s conveniently close to the centre of town, has an easy-to-find large car park and the views from the rooms are to die for.

I thought the carpeted, heated tunnel leading from the car park to the reception area was a good idea as it was flipping freezing when we got there! The reception staff were friendly and helpful and made light work of getting everything sorted for us. They told us there was a fantastic dining deal available – two three-course meals, with a glass of wine each for only £29! How marvellous is that for a 4-star hotel!

After checking in, we entered the lift up to the twelfth floor, where our room was and after watching a few concrete girders pass by we were confronted with a fabulous view of the city which got better and better the higher we went. The same view from our room was the icing on the cake.

We decided to go out for a walk to stretch our legs and it was an easy, quick walk into the City. There we ‘happened upon’ a lovely, little festive Christmas Market. And after making light work of German Bratwurst, churros, cinder toffee and hot chocolate we walked back to the hotel and promptly cancelled our dinner reservation – great dining deal it may have been but we’d eaten way too much at the Christmas market!

In the morning we woke to an absolutely beautiful sunrise over a cold and frosty Glasgow and after a full English (or was it a full Scottish – what with the Haggis and all that?), we hit the road again and arrived in Aberdeen late-morning.

So all in all it was a really nice way to break what would normally be quite a long drive into two parts with a convenient and enjoyable interlude to refresh the senses and the mind.

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