Marriott Aberdeen

... almost, my wonderful father is still covering the plane tickets but that's not me being a spoilt brat, that's me taking advantage of one of his few decent job benefits. Standby tickets for the win. *thumbs up*<br><br>But of course, why bother going to the other side of the world and just stay in one place? I have more vacation time than there is volunteering time, so I shall do an unfortunately speeded up tour of the south-east Australian ...

... 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 ...

Well I have finally begun my journey!!! It seemed like it would never actually happen, but as I boarded that plane reality began to sink in....As we all know, i have no idea when Ill be home, where ill go next, what Ill see or who Ill be spending time with....which makes it so much more exciting for me. Now i have only been here for half a day and have yet to settle, but once that ...

... in a 30 ltr something backpack. The photo here is what I've settled on so far plus the camera (minus the router of course). One really important item i realized i've forgotten till today is toilet paper.Thats in the red and white plastic bag so easy for me to find in case of emergency. The string if you're wondering is in case I need to wash my own clothes so at least I have something to hang the clothes from. Also a mini french dictionary for Syria ...

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

Heather and I should have known better. We left the house at 1:30 to catch the train to Stonehaven. It was overcast, but not yet raining, and in our haste we each forgot to grab an umbrella. By the time we arrived in Stonehaven it was raining pretty steadily. The walk from the train station to the city center only lasted about fifteen minutes, but by the end of it, my clothes were soaked ...

... exciting, but, as they say, when in Rome . . .<br><br>Things picked up as the evening wore on, and I ended my night at Cheerz, Aberdeen's gay bar and club. I took in a drag queen contest over a pint of Foster's, and even joined a conga line around the block. I called it a night after they played The Proclaimers' "500 Miles," as what evening is not complete at that point?

... their way downhill topwards the sea and the port. I duck into an HMV shop, to see what they have there, end up with a Led Zeppelin 4 CD and a Traffic compilation, it being the thing to buy these classic milestones in my musical evolution from the country the musicians came from. Also get a DVD of Bend it like Beckham for s who was ecstasic about this film, which has not been released in the US. This kicks off the shopping spree, soon after is a bookstore, The Works ...

... While the dolphins weren't around that afternoon, it was a wonderful walk. I also got to meet up with a friend who worked at Camp Cayuga during the summer that I did. It was great to catch up with Jamie, especially since it's been more than three years since we last saw each other. After traveling alone and meeting so many new people, I really enjoyed getting to hang out with old friends.

... passing thru towns like Banff, Cullen and Peterhead. The first stop was at the picturesque seaside town of Stonehaven. Stonehaven is what you would imagine a small Scottish fishing town to be. With a circular shaped harbour protected from the cold North Sea by a large sea wall. Boats enter and leave the sheltered harbour through a small opening into the North Sea. Stonehaven has all the requisite Scottish charm with its harbourside homes, local pub, restaurant, ice cream ...