Merkland Guesthouse Aberdeen

... Edinburgh soon though..

Anyway, day trip to Ellon, which is just half an hour out of town. Yay! Friend from uni lives here so went round, watched movies etc etc. Nothing too interesting, but it was nice to be away from the dorm for a bit! Leaving for holidays in a few weeks so things will finally get just a little more interesting. Until then, back to the books I go..

Okay, random and exceptionally early entry, but here we go -

So university decided to give me three nice holidays to work with, Christmas, Spring and Summer. Christmas is Barbados, Summer is the Eurotrip, but what to do with the Spring Break?

After looking at several options like much cheaper getaways to Europe, I decided I wanted to actually do something with this vacation, something that could help people. Heading down to ...

... a crapload of work. And I'm also trying to find one of those "job" things so I can get some extra £ for travelling purposes. So no real time for immediate fun, grrr. But I'm hoping at some point I'll be able to do a bit of mountaineering, and also planning on heading down to Glasgow and Edinburgh sometime. There's a couple other Travelpodians scattered around somewhere too, but I think it's ...

... all taken care of the adventuring will begin. I'm starting to think Ill hop over to Dublin for a day or two before I start traveling south because I am dying to taste their Guinness! Ill write as soon as I know, but I think Ill be lounging around Scotland for two weeks while I get my ducks in a line. Obviously there isn't much to log yet but i promise it will get interesting soon!!!!

Tomorrow I'm catching the a 2pm flight out to Heathrow, a couple of hours of transit and off to Istanbul...arriving just after 11pm. There's no public transport other than taxis and its probably gonna be expensive to Sultanahmet where I'm staying. But the flight's cheap so can't complain really. 

For the past few days I've been packing and repacking, readjusting my inventory each time, trying to strike a balance between travelling light and having the ...

... I'll be back in Tucson by 8:35 p.m. I've drawn some conclusions from my trip to Scotland. First, it's not as foreign as I expected. Once you get over the accent and the fact that they drive on the other side of the road here, it's easy to forget that you're abroad. The day-to-day life seems very similar to that in any town of a similar size in the U.S.

Even so, there are a few things I've liked about Aberdeen ...

... to the supervisor when the second person couldn't figure it out. I ended up with seat 8A. But at the airport, they couldn't check my bag initially - apparently something with a phone checkin. I did finally get out of Aberdeen. A couple more photos from the plane of the Forth bridges in Scotland.

... had faded slightly we all sat down for a good catch up and then as the evening arrived Seumas and Kathleen came round for Dad's surprise Birthday meal at the Cults Hotel.  A lovely meal, even if me being home meant that the planned table in the conservatory wasn't big enough so we have to make do with the main dining area.  Still great, even if the service left a little bit to be desired. After that it was back home for a nightcap and then off to bed after walking Spencer - poor ...

... various kinds of breads, baguettes, bagels with cream cheese and salsas and chutneys and pickles and guacamole, chicken tikkas, garbanzo hummus, pita breads, samosas and pakoras, fruits, juiceS. Subu AND aJANTA complemented that with a selection of indian snacks and laddoos. Eating, drinking, catching up and makin merry, all the while minding chb who is as mobile as ever, unleashed. JJ is cooler, quietly munching away on chbe rice cakes. A couple with a kid plays ...

A new trip: going to live in Aberdeen, Scotland, for 3 years. Just GREAT !!! Scots are good people (except maybe with brits), lots of encounters, and even more to see and to do in this country. I went back there twice when I was a student. Just 2 pieces of ...