Time in the Churchyard and in the Tropics

Street in Old Aberdeen
see all photos »

On an initially (still in Scotland, here, remember) gloriously sunny afternoon in October, Tim and I made our way up to Aberdeen to tour the 'Granite City'. Aberdeen is notably larger than Dundee, and had a real bustling feel to it . We strolled through the downtown core (pretty metropolitan), almost had lunch at the Lemontree Cafe (that day's menu was a little dull) and bought books about Scottish ghosts and legends at a tourist shop.

The bulk of our day was spent exploring Old Aberdeen, a neighbourhood north of downtown comprising many historical buildings, all several hundred years old. The most notable one was St. Machar's Cathedral, which was a beautiful stone church with pieces in it dating back as early as the 800's (yes, 800's not 1800's). The front walk to the cathedral (churchyard) was essentially a graveyard, in the old fashioned style, and we enjoyed visiting it as well (we're always keen to rub shoulders with the souls of yore).

University of Aberdeen
see all photos »

We spent a good deal of time running around (in the rain at this point, no less) Seaton Park behind the cathedral in a vain attempt to locate Tillydrone Motte, thought to have once been a defensive site in the 2nd century A.D. Alas, we could not find even a signpost to aid our quest. We did meet a greyhound in the park, however. Almost as good.

We eventually took shelter in Europe's largest greenhouse at the Aberdeen Winter Gardens. It was a great chance to relax in tropical/ desert/ temperate 'climates' and enjoy all of the beautiful plant life. We also enjoyed the mediocre cafeteria food as we were quite hungry by this point (truly, my mac and cheese wan't all that bad, and mmmmm -  marzipan cake!) Tim took dozens of photos, and we took 2 plants home with us (one of which is the orange flower you see in the accompanying photos). R.I.P. Mimosa.

St Machar's Cathedral
see all photos »

There was not better way to end our wee city tour than with a couple of pints at the pub, after which we climbed aboard the trusty Megabus, plants and all, and slept all the way back to Dundee.