This past weekend Mike and I went to Aberdeen. We arrived on the Saturday to some nasty weather. It was raining, cold, and extremely windy at times almost blowing me over. We decided to start our day off indoors at the Maritime Museum. It was very interesting seeing what the city was all about since Aberdeen is a port town with giant ships. It reminded Mike and I of Halifax. In the museum there were models of ships and giant sail boats that reminded me of Laura Mitchell and her dad since they both love sailing so much. They also had illustrations of whaling that showed how people killed whales in the past. It was upsetting, but crazy how they actually managed to kill the whales with the tiny arrows they had when compared to the size of the whales. After spending a few hours at the museum we then decided to grab some lunch in a pub.
For the afternoon we walked throughout the city and tried to take cover from the drizzling rain as much as we could. We went to the King’s College campus, which was founded in 1495. It was a very pretty campus with cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture. For dinner Mike and I tried out the Old Blackfriar pub that everyone says is a must to visit. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the food. I had cannelloni and it was some of the best food I’ve had in a very long time. After we had dinner we then went to another pub that the girl at the travel centre told us to go to experience the Scottish culture. There was a live band playing songs we both knew. The funny thing was, Mike and I were probably the two youngest people in that pub. Everyone around us seemed like they were mostly older than 40. We just sat there listening to the music anyways, and then went back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest for the next day.
On Sunday we got up and took the train to Stonehaven. The train ride was beautiful with a view of the North Sea the whole ride there with the sun shining brightly. It reminded me of being on the GO train back home looking out at Lake Ontario by Rouge Hill, except to be honest, the view from this train was prettier. You could see rolling hills and cliffs beside the sea, but these cliffs were larger and more colourful than the Scarborough Bluffs. When we got to Stonehaven we had to walk from the train station to town, and then find our way to Dunnottar Castle. We didn’t know what we had in store for us. We ended up having to walk almost 3 miles in total from the train station to the castle, but the walk was well worth it. It was still pretty early in the morning so there was ice on the trail we walked along. It was called the castle trail, and was right on the edge of the cliff on the North Sea with farm fields on the other side. The view was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Right when Mike and I came up a hill we could see the castle in the distance on a cliff surrounded by water. There was moss on the cliff faces and the fields were almost emerald green. We stopped there for a minute and just stared in awe at the view. From that point, we still had a half hour walk ahead of us to actually get to the castle.
The castle itself was built inside the cliff it seemed. We were able to wander all around the castle grounds and check out all the rooms. Of course, it was just castle ruins. For what was left, it was in pretty good shape though. After spending a few hours inside the castle and around it by the beach and neighbouring fields of view with sheep, we then started the trek back to Stonehaven. By the end of the walk, we were both extremely tired. We decided to go back to Aberdeen, grab lunch there, and then just take it easy for a couple hours in the apple store playing on the ipads with free internet. We then had a 3 hour bus ride ahead of us and we were thankful for that because we needed to rest our legs and feet. Mike thinks we walked more than 6 miles that day, and it was up and down hills full of mud that melted in the afternoon after being frozen in the morning. Overall, Sunday made up for Saturday to make the weekend amazing. I think everyone that visits Scotland MUST see Dunnottar Castle and experience the long relaxing walk to it beside the North Sea. If possible we want to go back and do it all again. Next weekend, we’re off to the Highlands, Inverness, and Loch Ness to find Nessie!!!
