The 2014 Commonwealth Games are in full swing and Glasgow (and Scotland) is buzzing.
For the last few months there has been frantic cleaning, polishing, building, demolishing and painting going on across the city, and the results are quite something to behold. Scotland’s largest city looks gorgeous, and of course the glorious weather lets everything shine that little bit brighter.
All in all I’m feeling very proud of our fair city and of my fellow Scots and Glaswegians, who have been the welcoming, hilarious, cheeky lot that they always are. 2014 has been dubbed ‘the friendly Games’ – and its certainly living up to that so far.
I settled down to watch the Opening Ceremony at Parkhead with a lot of anticipation and some trepidation. Opinions have been very mixed, but I thought it was quite magical; a joyous, colourful, tongue in cheek celebration of Scotland and all things Scottish. Just the kind of thing that we do so well, and very reflective of the Glasgow spirit. A wee bit panto – yes, sure – but a lot of fun. And whats wrong with a wee bit of panto anyway?
John Barrowman’s gay kiss was a perfectly pitched political message that left the world in no doubt about our views on equality and acceptance. The big screen was jawdropping, and the Scottie dugs adorable. And even a little spontaneous comedy involving a tricky-to-open torch and a patiently waiting Royal (although sadly no parachutes this time).
But of course the highlight for us was the amazing dancing teacakes! Tunnock’s have seen sales soar by 62% since the ceremony and we’ve also seen a huge increase in traffic on our site. Shame they weren’t real chocolate ones!
Yes, Glasgow is definitely in party spirit this week. Can we do it all again next year please?
