Thistle Aberdeen Altens Hotel

... for a week or two would be fun, but who would really benefit from it? So I decided to use the time I have to better the world community and do some volunteer work. That sounds exceptionally cheesy, but I would much rather be helping out the long-term development in a country I have significant interest in than just frolick on a beach drinking way too much alcohol.<br><br>I had researched some volunteer gigs previously, just for loose ideas for ...

A month in and no activity? What's going on, Sarah?<br><br>WELL.<br><br>Moved in OK, Freshers week was a blast, but I just haven't quite gotten to the exploring part yet. Made a trip down to the beach, a few around town.. And it's actually quite nice here. It's cold yes, but it's a fairly quiet city. Not too big but not too isolated.<br><br>However uni [the evil *******s] have decided to give ...

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 ...

... 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. <br> <br>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!<br>

... 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>

... Not for myself this time, but to pick up Sophie, who was flying in from Perth to spend firstly a week with me, then a week with friends in England and Wales and then finally a week in the Netherlands with her family there... The flight was early (unheard of!) but I'd checked that out and was in plenty of time to be there to meet her and get her home safe and sound. It was pretty late by the time we got back to the house, with just enough time to ...

... realize that we were actually looking for Queen Rd. So back another mile or so the other way to Queen Rd, past the burbs where the hostel actually was. Thank god for walking so much in the last few weeks as it was not a problem to carry the pack for about 4 miles. Abderdeen is a quiet city full of not much to do. They do have an incredible beach that is only a short walk (1 and a half miles) from the hostel. The day that we went it was a ...

... location during this whole trip would have to be the beautiful pack horse bridge to which a tiny sign alerted us on our drive into Aberlour (South end of the village. Located next to the cemetery). I'm glad we stopped as I love to look at the pictures we took that day. There are two little stone bridges that cross over the "Burn of Aberlour", which flows into the river Spey ...

... reason to be sad to leave Aberdeen, but I'm sure that Elaine and the rest of the crew there will do there level best to keep her out of mischief... The London flight went off without a hitch, although I was convinced my bag had gone missing, until I realised that it was deemed 'oversized' and was on a different conveyer belt... One collected bag and pint later things were much calmer and I was on the bus to the Thistle London Heathrow hotel...