The Wild Side, A Walk On

This week my escape is to Aberdeen. 

I hesitated a lot about this one. I lived in the city for 7 years. One set of grandparents lived here. It has a lot of “past” for me at a time when the present is difficult and the future is… hard to predict. 

I got a great deal at the Residence Inn (yes, Marriott again) at £78 for a studio, including breakfast. With all that Aberdeen blood and heritage in me (Scots will understand), how could I resist?

The hotel was not even a twinkle in an architect’s eye when I lived here, but it is across the street from Marischal College where I graduated and the Kirkgate Bar where I… well, the less said about that the better. 

I broke my drive north at Stonehaven to visit Dunnottar Castle for the first time. Yes, I know. One of the country’s most photographed sights. I guess every time I pass by Stonehaven I am 30 minutes into a 2 hour drive, or 30 minutes from the end of one, so stopping to look at a ruined castle is not on the agenda. 

During my brief time inside the ruin, the steward on duty was called into action 3 times - once to tell someone to pick up their dog’s sh*t (because it is a national monument), once to tell someone to stop their child playing football (because it is a national monument) and once to tell someone to get off a ruined bit of the structure (because it is a national monument). 

Poor guy. A whole summer of that.

My Blip is me living dangerously... in a pub. I had to pass the Kirkgate on my way back to the hotel from dinner, and my wee leggies just went into autopilot. Only the one drink obviously. 

The Extras are dinner - Bajan flying fishcakes as a starter - and that castle.