BEFOREHAND there had been the inevitable naysayers: those who griped about the amount of money invested in hosting the event, the controversy over the Team Scotland parade uniform for the opening ceremony and grumblings that the 2014 Commonwealth Games wouldn't be a patch on the Olympics in London two years earlier.

By the time the first day's action had concluded, the lion's share of detractors had been silenced.

To say Glasgow shone this summer would be colossal understatement. It was as if someone had flicked a switch to full-on technicolour mode. For 12 days the city blossomed as it welcomed 4,500 athletes from 71 nations and more than million spectators.

It helped that we got the weather, of course. In the months leading up to the Games, people laughed when I told them I envisaged a glorious heatwave. "It will rain every day and you'll be in the loos trying to salvage your soaking clothes under a hand drier," they scoffed.

In my mind's eye, however, I always pictured being a sweaty mess, running from the press tribunes to the mixed zone to interview athletes, damp tendrils of hair clinging to my forehead and rivulets of perspiration running down my back. It happened, people - in all its pit-stained, puce-faced glory.

Save for the final day of the cycling road races when the weather gods reminded us exactly who was boss and the heavens opened. Yet, that only added to the mesmerising spectacle. Let's be honest, a bunch of cyclists doing loops round Glasgow in baking sunshine was never going to be as exciting as what unfolded on that rain and wind battered Sunday: road surfaces as treacherous and slick as if they had been greased with butter and the Isle of Man's Peter Kennaugh almost taken out by an errant turquoise brolly flying across his path.

Away from the big sporting venues, Glasgow embraced its rich cultural roots with a packed programme of events that included the Merchant City Festival, Glasgow Green Live Zone and BBC at the Quay, each offering a vibrant cornucopia of outdoor performances in music, art, dance, comedy, drama, fashion, film and food.

But it was the joyous mood and buoyant atmosphere which permeated almost every corner of city life that most salved the soul. With the hot pink hues of the slogan People Make Glasgow emblazoned on billboards, bus stops and even the entire sides of buildings, Scotland's largest city more than lived up to that boast, dishing up its famed charm and banter with aplomb.

The phrase #commonwealthie became part of the popular lexicon as people posed for "selfies" and shared them on social media. Even the Queen got in on the action, brilliantly photobombing a snap by Australian hockey player Jayde Taylor.

There were many unintentional comedy moments throughout the games. Who can forget six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy having to step-in and help when Prince Imran of Malaysia, the Commonwealth Games Federation president, struggled to open the baton during the opening ceremony at Celtic Park.

Afterwards Sir Chris likened it to grappling with a Rubik's cube as his proud wife Sarra posted on Twitter: "Chris Hoy always opens the jam jars in our house."

The dancing Tunnock's teacakes and "speed date" homage to Scottish history and heritage in the opening ceremony may not have been to everyone's taste, but the kiss between actor John Barrowman and a male dancer provided a real shot in the arm given the appalling human rights records against gay people of many of the nations at the Games.

Team Scotland did look rather swish in their Jilli Blackwood-designed parade uniforms - despite those who had previously compared them "to something a 1970s dance troupe would wear". Although even the athletes would probably concede the cute and cantankerous Scottish terriers that led the way2 into the stadium stole the show.

Then came the sport. I was fortunate to cover all 11 days of action for this paper. I was there in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome when Scotland claimed its first medal of the Games, a silver for visually impaired cyclist Aileen McGlynn and her pilot Louise Haston in the women's para-sport sprint B tandem.

In the hours that followed, the Team Scotland juggernaut would rev into action as the host nation began its campaign for medal table glory.

Coatbridge sisters Kimberley and Louise Renicks each took victory in the judo. Two siblings winning gold on the same day is a rare beast, two within an hour surely a first? By the end of the Games, judo would become Scotland's most successful sport in Glasgow with 13 medals, including six golds.

At Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Hannah Miley defied the odds to take gold and successfully defend her 400m individual medley title, while Ross Murdoch performed his giant-slaying moment in the pool to beat compatriot Michael Jamieson and be crowned Commonwealth champion in the men's 200m breaststroke.

Murdoch had been one of the Six to Follow to Glasgow 2014 on our sister title, the Sunday Herald, and in the year leading up to the Games we had spoken regularly as I documented his preparations.

When we caught up three weeks before the Games opened, he casually dropped into conversation that he thought he might "do something special" in the 200m event, but even so, I stood slack-jawed with the rest of the nation as Murdoch stormed his way to victory.

As journalists, it is instilled in us to always be impartial, non-partisan reporters of any event, but in that moment, I realised simply how much I had emotionally invested in the journeys of many of the Scottish athletes.

When it came to triumphant underdog stories, these Games had them in abundance.

One of my favourites was seeing Neil Fachie and Craig MacLean coming from behind to claim their second gold of Glasgow 2014 in the men's para-sport sprint B tandem. Beforehand Fachie had tweeted: "[The] odds are against us, but isn't that what being Scottish is all about?"

With it 1-0 to the Australian duo of Kieran Modra and Jason Niblett after the first race, some would have written off Fachie and MacLean, but the 4,500 spectators packed into the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome didn't doubt them for a second. The Scots came back to win the second race and suddenly there was a glimmer of hope.

It went down to a nail-biting finale, a spine-tingling energy rippling through the humid, cauldron-like arena. As the bell signalled the final lap, there came a deafening, thunderous sound as thousands scrambled to their feet to roar them home to victory.

Fachie and MacLean surged across the line in first place. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers rang out as, accompanied by rapturous applause, they took their lap of honour, a Saltire fluttering in their wake.

Later that evening as I left for home, a vibrant rainbow illuminated the flint-grey sky, appearing to dip down into the velodrome, marking the spot where Fachie and MacLean had claimed their pot of gold in true gladiator fashion.

Another standout moment was seeing gymnast Daniel Purvis spin and somersault his way into the history books in the men's individual apparatus finals at the SSE Hydro. The stage could not have been more perfectly set as Purvis stepped up to compete for his final chance at Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow.

Blaring from the speakers around the arena was the ominously thudding beat of Lose Yourself by the rapper Eminem: "If you had one shot or one opportunity/to seize everything you ever wanted/one moment/would you capture it or just let it slip?"

Then silence fell. You could have heard a pin drop as the 24-year-old began his parallel bars routine, the crowd holding their breath in unison.

I watched with the rest of the press corps from up in the stands then galloped down the stairs to the mixed zone. I ran into the arena just as the score flashed up on the board. A roar erupted so electrifying that it raised goosebumps. Gold.

His success capped off a momentous week for Scotland's gymnasts, one which saw the men's team take silver, with Daniel Keatings winning individual all-around silver and gold on pommel horse, and Purvis a bronze on rings.

One man who'll never need to buy a pint again is Charlie Flynn, the lightweight boxer who became a legend as much for his colourful one-liners as his gold medal heroics. After his victory in the SSE Hydro he proclaimed himself to be "buzzing like a jar of wasps", praising the partisan Scottish crowd that "looked like ants" but "roared like lions".

The 21-year-old from Newarthill, who before turning pro earlier this month juggled his boxing career alongside working in a Royal Mail sorting office, even coined his own catchphrase "the mailman delivers".

That same afternoon, Josh Taylor also won a hard-earned gold, claiming the Commonwealth light-welterweight title after the crushing disappointment of silver in Delhi four years earlier.

I was in the Hydro to see both Flynn and Taylor claim their medals. I'm not ashamed to say I had a huge lump in my throat as the strains of Flower of Scotland rang out.

It's impossible to list all the incredible achievements that Team Scotland racked up on their way to a record haul of 53 medals: 19 golds, 15 silvers and 19 bronze.

They included visually impaired sprinter Libby Clegg and her guide runner Mikail Huggins winning the T12 100m at Hampden Park. After back-to-back silvers in the Paralympic Games in 2008 and 2012, it was fantastic to watch Clegg claim her well-deserved golden moment.

Then there was Lynsey Sharp who, only hours after having a hospital drip removed from her arm following a bout of sickness, took silver in the 800m with the bold words "Get out strong, commit," etched on her hand in black marker.

There was silver, too, for Eilidh Child in the 400m hurdles. The Kinross athlete refused to buckle under the pressure of being the poster girl of the Games and in the end only world No.1 Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica was faster.

Alex "Tattie" Marshall cemented his place in the sporting history books at Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre by taking double gold to become a four-time Commonwealth Games champion. The 47-year-old from Tranent, dubbed the "Lionel Messi of bowls", was sublime on the greens and delighted his legions of fans with his "get it up ye" salute after a hard-fought semi-final victory over England.

He wasn't the only one who made a statement. Dan Wallace's war cry of "For Freedom" as he celebrated triumph in the 400m individual medley was the standout contender for unabashed Braveheart moment of the Games.

The award for winning smile of Glasgow 2014 goes to 13-year-old para-swimmer Erraid Davies from Shetland, Team Scotland's youngest ever Commonwealth competitor, who took bronze in the SB9 100m breaststroke and won the nation's hearts with her cherubic charm.

There would be memorable medals, too, for the host nation in shooting, badminton and wrestling. Yet it wasn't all about Scotland. One man reminded us of that with lightning precision: Usain Bolt.

Who can forget his lap of honour after Jamaica's 4x100m relay victory which saw the bold Bolt saunter around Hampden wearing a tartan scarf and tammy while wrapped in a Saltire? Gallus. And in a word you have the essence of the Games.