People Make Glasgow: A City Guide - Part 2

It's time for the second installment of my Glasgow city guide! Last month I caught a plane from Bristol to Scotland for the Scottish Style Awards 2015. I've visited Edinburgh a few times in the past but this was my first time in Glasgow. We had a packed itinerary (you can read what I did earlier on in the day, here) and on Saturday night we made our way to the beautiful Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum for the style awards.

The awards were held to honour Scotland's most stylish restaurants, businesses and individuals. Dubbed as 'Scotland's most stylish night of the year', it didn't disappoint... and the food was incredible. As it was the 10th year of the awards, it was even bigger and better than ever before! The host of the show was the beautiful Sophie Kennedy Clark, an incredible actress and all-round total babe. We had such a fun evening being wined and dined. 

I struggled to decide on an outfit but opted for this Thread & Needle tutu dress which I love. Everyone looked so glamorous but thankfully the event didn't feel at all pretentious so we were able to fully enjoy it. We were treated to catwalk shows from Cruise and Jane Davidson, and live performances from WHITE, an up-and-coming Scottish band who are about to take off (seriously, they were awesome).

Our table gave a loud *WHOOP* when Hutchesons won an award for the 'Most Stylish' restaurant in Scotland. If you're planning a trip to Glasgow, their 'Bubbles and Brunch' is a real crowd pleaser. Once the awards had finished, we made a quick appearance at the official after party before it was time for bed back at Citizen M.

The Glasgow School of Art Walking Tours

In the morning we headed on a walking tour of the city to explore Glasgow’s beautiful architecture. It's led by students from the Glasgow School of Art and I thoroughly recommend it - I genuinely found it fascinating! We were shown Glasgow’s finest city centre buildings, from the Victorian greats to Mackintosh's unique ‘Glasgow Style’. 

I think walking tours rely heavily on the knowledge of the guide and luckily for us we had one of the most passionate students leading us around. His passion was contagious. 

Cambridge Satchel Company

Once our walking tour had ended, we made our way to Royal Exchange Square (a great shopping area) to stop by Cambridge Satchel Company's Glasgow store. After chatting with the lovely staff and drooling all over their exclusive Scottish styles, we were each given a personalised luggage tag. I already have a few of these bags but I just adore them, they are so well made - I'm even thinking about buying Sam one for Christmas.

How awesome is the Harris Tweed satchel? Oh boy.

Trakke

After a quick coffee pit-stop, we made our way across town to visit the Trakke workshop. Handmade in Scotland, these bags are something else. I have a real fondness for outdoor brands, I love adventure and travel so there's just something about a good practical bag that gives me the warm and fuzzies.

The materials they use are all British-made, so every bit of fabric, padding & even the hardware is sourced from Great Britain. Founded by the super cool Alec, Trakke believe you can find adventure everywhere. Their designs are simple and made from reliable materials which will last the test of time.

As soon as I spotted the Krukke backpack, I knew Sam would want it. It's the perfect bicycle bag and I love the colour combo. All of their products are customisable so you can create your ideal piece. They aren't cheap, but once you appreciate that the guys make every last detail of the bag in their workshop, you can understand why. So much effort and love goes into each and every bag! 

If you know an adventurer, a Trakke bag would make the ideal gift. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm rather partial to the little Arklet pouch ha ha. After spending some time in the workshop, we said our goodbyes to Alec and headed to our final stop in Glasgow, The Gannet.

The Gannet

Oh how we saved the best until last! First off, the interior is great. It's strip-backed, relaxed and has a slight 'homey' feel to it. The service is delightful and the meals are extremely affordable but the food has that little something extra. It's special. We had some great food during our trip but none compared to The Gannet's offering.

Deciding which 3 courses to have was difficult, but in the end I settled on the below. The highlight was probably the dessert but that's no surprise as I'd happily eat my dessert before my mains. Every time.

The restaurant was busy while were there and it's been receiving rave review after rave review - it was even featured in The Telegraph a few days ago. I hope the prices and atmosphere remain the same the more popular it gets, because this place is an absolute gem.

I had such an incredible time in Glasgow and I will definitely be returning in the future. We're thinking of visiting Scotland for our mini-moon so it would be nice to head back to the city and explore some more.

Have you ever been to Glasgow? 

T - Planning my next adventure.