Raemoir House Hotel Aberdeen Banchory

... 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 ...

... 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!!!!

... 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 made it back to Stonehaven today. Amazingly, the sun was out in full force, a complete contrast from yesterday. I walked along the North Sea for a bit, enjoying a Cornish pasty, and then made the roughly three-mile hike up to Dunnottar Castle, also overlooking the sea. The hike was amazing, but largely uneventful. The photos say more than I could hope to.<br><br>I leave for the U.S. tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m ...

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 ...

... example of a vice business operating inside what used to be a cathedral. It's really unusual.<br><br>I returned to the house, and Heather and Hannah (Heather's friend) explained to me that a typical Scottish Saturday involves going to the pub and socializing, watching sports, etc. We went to a pub and spent the afternoon doing The Times crossword puzzle. Not ...

... 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&#8212;it made the place somehow more real.<br><br>I spent last evening with Heather ...

... will be right.<br><br>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 ...

... of down time. Later that evening we were taken to a lovely evening at the Banchory Hotel which is right on the River Dee. I must admit that I have never seen so many pieces of silverware in a place setting. Fortunately we all made it through dinner without any major faux pas. We then drank our first toast from a quaitch and it was back to our host families for the rest of the evening.