Single girl and dog.

Now then, I would like to apologise for the one woman pity party I embarked on in my last post but if you can't have a minor breakdown in front of friends every now and then, well I don't know what the world is coming to. Anyway, I have gotten over myself, did the France thing for a bit which I will tell you about another time and have arrived in Glasgow on my mission to discover dog friendly places. The story so far.....

Travelling as a single female can occasionally be quite daunting but travelling with a dog on your own can throw out a whole new set of problems.

As a locum veterinary nurse, I travel up and down the country for work with my trusty sidekick, the blind, one eyed jack russell otherwise known as Ringo.

At the moment I am saving up to buy a camper van so the question of accommodation will be solved when on my travels but until then I have to rely on finding dog friendly accommodation and places to go especially when the weather is too hot to leave Ringo in the car (which he seems to love for some reason).

At the moment I am in Glasgow working for the Glasgow university small animal hospital and they have put me up in the ibis budget hotel which is not as horrendous as it sounds. The rooms are nice and bright, has a window that opens, TV, passable wifi and a shower and toilet in the room. They do charge a £5.00 supplement to have the dog but I don't begrudge paying that if it means I can have my best friend with me. The staff are nice and friendly but not overly in your face and the reception is open 24 hours a day. They will even cook you pizza when you roll in at 1am drunk as a skunk. So I've heard....

The selection of food available is not amazing but it's a budget hotel so what do you expect? But on the plus side they do sell alcohol and chocolate and there is an array of restaurants within the complex should you wish to venture out for food. Now, if you are travelling alone with your trusty sidekick and you fancy a spot of lunch in the sunshine I would steer clear of Frankie and Benny's in Springfield quay. I was turned away from their outside seating area because I had Ringo in tow even though I could see that they had let children into the restaurant who (in my opinion) are just as smelly and germ ridden as my four legged friend and about a hundred times more noisy. Hardly conducive to a relaxing dining experience. Thus rebuffed we went across the street to the Harvester where I dined on an adequate meal of fish and chips and Ringo sat quietly under my chair occupying himself with a dentastix.

The area surrounding the ibis budget hotel is not lush green fields to walk your furry friend but it is enjoyable to wander along the river Clyde and cross the bridge into town to see the Duke of Wellington statue complete with traffic cone proudly atop his head. Having said that, there is plenty of space to go for a late evening, pre bedtime wee walk with the pooch and several of the restaurants (chiefly the Harvester and Papa Tony's) offer take out menus that can be enjoyed within the comfort of your hotel room. Crolla's ice cream parlour also does pretty awesome coffee and ice cream.