Crossroads Hotel Banchory

... not really a good time of year up in the Highlands to go aimlessly romping around :P

In December I'll be heading home quickly, nothing special - but then I have 2 big breaks coming up.. So many choices!

So no, I haven't died.. I'm just at university!

[also - having some problems with java because my university internet doesn't like me. sooo pics will come. eventually.]

... 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!!!!

... most things are labelled in arabic there. I'll let you know if it really helps or just extra deadweight when I get there. I shaved my hair off last night too(with the dodgy aid of the reflective side of a cd-rom) so I could do without hair gel or shampoo. 
 
To be honest I haven't really been excited about the trip till last night when I did a little more research on where I'm going. Now its all come in a rush and I wish I was leaving today instead!

... I wish I could find in my own city. It's nice that a city this size (roughly 200,000, I'm told) can be so pedestrian friendly. It's a wonderful thing to live somewhere where you don't have to own a car. Also, there're a lot of small businesses downtown, which is a nice change of atmosphere from our big-box store culture.

All in all, my vacation was exactly what I wanted it to be: quiet, simple, easy.

... Aberdeen, Hanna, Heather, and I went out for Loud Music Night. We went to a bar where they knew the person singing, and I just sat nursing a pint of McEwan's and watched as young Scottish folks trickled into the bar and, astonishingly, danced to such undanceable music as The Cranberries' "Zombie," Oasis' "Wonderwall," and so forth. A must-see for those traveling in Scotland for the first time.

I rose around 9:00 and went for a run down Union Street (the main drag). People looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently exercise isn't an Aberdonian specialty, particularly at 9 a.m. Afterward, I found a small out-of-the-way sandwich shop where I bought a roast beef and bacon sandwich with spicy English mustard. I enjoyed the sandwich on a bench facing Soul Casino— ...

... of the place was occasionally interrupted by reminders that this is in fact a lived-in city that uses the kirkyard as a place to find a moment's peace, to have a bite to eat, or just to relax. Teenagers were gathered in small groups around the place, irreverently curled up in alcoves of the great wall around the yard, smoking and carrying on as teenagers do. It was good—it made the place somehow more real.

I spent last evening with Heather ...

... will be right.

Heather picked me up at the airport, and we lost no time grabbing a plate of haggis (much better than I was expecting) and a pint of Tennent's (a local beer, roughly equivalent Pabst Blue Ribbon). As we walked too and from the pub, I got to see a little bit of the city, mostly along Union Street, the main drag. Many of the buildings in Aberdeen are made of granite, giving the city a very gray feel--just as I expected ...

... sandwich and an amazing lookout on Cairn o’Mount. Was super super windy…. Then kept going on the windy roads towards Banchory where we spend the night on a camp ground in another wigwam in the middle of no where!! (Lucky for sat nav!) Pretty cosy though and pretty cheap.

Have finished the last antibiotics now…phew..lets hope that chest infection is now gone!

... to escape, 15 were recaptured and tortured and the rest were eventually transported to the West Indies. It really is one of those places where you think 'if the walls could talk they'd have a lot of stories to tell'. Umberto went back to the farm that evening and although we didn't see him again, he called us before he left and we gathered his visit to Scotland didn't get much better. I hope we gave hime some happy memories at least. In the meantime we're back planning our next trip.... S & K