Travel Review: Glasgow, Scotland

Ruaridh (5) and I spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon at The Theatre Royal enchanted by The Scottish Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker and then visited the National Trust owned property Pollock House on the Sundayfor a real festive thriller.

The Nutcracker was bold, bright and thoroughly entertaining and at just two hours, Ruaridh managed to keep wriggling to a minimum!

The ballet has you enthralled with equisite dancing, especially from Sophie Martin and Adam Blyde who played the roles of Marie and The Nutcracker Prince with aplomb.

The scenery is spectacular too and the music from Tchaikovsky, played under the watchful eye of conductor Timothy Henty, is some of the most beautiful around.

Ruaridh was spellbound as he watched Sophie and Adam perform some wonderful ballet, with perfect poise and elegance.

The performance has real energy and this lovely tale of the young girl determined to hold on to her Christmas present is beautifully told and danced and the audiences waiting to see it, as it tours the United Kingdom, are in for a treat.

And from the ballet, we were transformed to a 1930’s style Christmas in a grand country house in the heart of Glasgow.

Eat your heart out Downton Abbey, this beautiful house set in the scenic surroundings of Pollock Country Park, is a lovely place to visit.

And especially so at Christmas, when bears and penguins take over the house and entertain young and old visitors. Mrs Claus is also on hand to add to the magic of the festive season. The visitor can see the servants quarters and enjoy a bite to eat in the highly acclaimed café and then head upstairs to see some wonderful period furniture, as well as the United kingdom’s finest collection of Spanish art.

The gardens and, especially the maze proved a hit with Ruaridh, as did the visit to see the park’s collection of dray horses, all decked out in Father Christmas hats and tinsel. All we needed was some snow….!