Recently the Commonwealth Games took place in Glasgow, and I was there to see some of it. I spent five days in the city watching various sporting events. In this post I’ll tell you all about it.
Where I stayed
I stayed at the Premier Inn Glasgow City Centre South, which was in a good location. The hotel was 2 miles from Hampden Park and Celtic Park. It didn’t take long to get to any of the event venues.
I had an accessible room which was adequate. There was a decent amount of space, although we had to move the twin beds around to maximise the space for my mobile hoist. There was enough space underneath the beds, but it was still quite low for the carers who had to bend over the bed.
The food in the hotel’s restaurant was very nice. There was a good selection of healthy meals and more calorific stuff. I had Mediterranean chicken one night with hummus and salad, and the chicken was lovely. It was very tender and not dry or chewy at all.
We arrived on Tuesday the 27th July, spent three days attending the games, and returned home on Saturday the 1st of August.
What sports I saw
Swimming
The first morning we went to see a swimming session at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre. It was the first time I’ve ever seen competitive swimming in person, so it was an interesting experience. My view wasn’t great since I sat at one end of the pool, and following the swimmers became difficult once they reached the far end. I would have preferred that we sat at the side and a bit higher up.
Bowls
In the afternoon, we planned to go to watch bowls, but the AI-generated itinerary gave us the wrong location. So we wandered around Kelvingrove Park in the rain for a while looking for the bowls before realising it was actually at the Scottish Exhibition Centre. However, we took the opportunity to go to Kelvingrove Museum, which was on site. This was an interesting museum containing art, natural history, and Scottish history.
After this, we went to the SEC, which wasn’t far away, and watched Wales against Australia in bowls.
Netball
On Thursday afternoon, I went to see netball at the SEC. I’ve never watched netball before, so I didn’t know much about it. But I learned that players are not allowed to run with the ball and can only hold onto it for three seconds before they need to pass it.
It was entertaining, but I think basketball is better because players can run around with the ball, so it’s a bit more fast-paced. All the matches I watched were a bit one-sided as one team ran away with it.
Athletics
That evening I went to see the athletics at Scotstoun Stadium. We arrived late because we had to have dinner first. But I managed to see the women’s 5000 m final and some other races. I was sat at one end of the stadium so it was a bit difficult to see the finishing position.
Track cycling
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Track cycling in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome was fun to watch with people flying around the track. For some reason, it was very hot in the room, so after a while it made me feel quite uncomfortable. I don’t know if it was supposed to be that hot, but I wish it weren’t.
In front of me there was a solid wall so I couldn’t see the track immediately in front of me. I had to raise my chair to get a better view. But still I couldn’t see some of the track, which was a bit disappointing.
Again, it would be better to be seated at the side where the starting and finishing positions were. Nevertheless, it was a good experience.
Judo
My favourite was the judo, which was very entertaining to watch. I guess there is something about people throwing each other on the floor that appeals to me! I saw several finals and some English athletes won gold medals, which was great. My view for this was very good as we were sat right next to the platform where they fought.
What else I did
As I said earlier, we had some time to visit Kelvingrove Museum and learned about Scottish history, art, and culture.
We also visited the Burrell Collection, which houses 9000 objects such as Chinese art, tapestries, and suits of armour amongst other things. It’s an interesting place to go if you like art and history. Plus it’s in the middle of Pollok Country Park, which is also home to Highland cattle.
I had a chance to roam around Glasgow for a bit to explore. Near our hotel was the biggest terracotta Fountain in the world, which was built for Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee in 1888. It is 46 feet tall and 70 feet wide.
We went to Glasgow Cathedral but I couldn’t get in because there were steps down from the front door and the lift wasn’t working. Oh well, Lincoln Cathedral is better anyway!
Conclusion
Before I visited Glasgow, I thought it would be a bit of a rough place. However, it’s better than I thought it would be. The people were very friendly, and there were interesting places to visit, plus plenty of green spaces.
The place had good accessibility too. All the venues I visited were accessible, and there were viewing platforms for each one. Plus, I noticed that there was a mobiloo at least one of the events, which was great to see.
So I would recommend visiting Glasgow if you have the chance.
