Tuesday 18 May 2010

Aberdeen- the Silver City


Whoever is responsible for the weather- please step forward!! You are going to stay permanently on board Fram! It was our last port of call today- and again it was great weather! No matter where we were on this trip the weatherforecase often said rain. And then we reached the places- and it was beautiful (except a really tiny rain shower on Iona- but that does not count)! Honestly, we can not complain!

Even in Aberdeen we had fascinating weather today. Our Captain had to go into the harbor backwards for quite a while but that meant that we had a berth nearly in the town center. Only a short walk up the road and you were at Union Street, THE shopping street in Aberdeen. All buildings seem to be built out of granit, hence the name "The Silver City". It is quite an impressive place, that is for sure. It seems to be bustling with life, around 10% of the inhabitants are students and you can really feel it. The university is from 1495 and is the third oldest in Scotland and the fifth oldest in the UK. Many just enjoyed the day in town, others went on excursion to a distillery, or to see the highlights of Aberdeen and Crathes Castle or experience the area of River Dee. Crathes Castle is absolutely impressive - it not only has a beautiful garden, but it is one of the nicest tower houses in Scotland.

And as we leave Scotland, here a few Scottish sayings for you...
"A Scot, half human, half God."
"Don`t marry for money, you can borrow it chepaer." (I like this one!)
"There is always life in a living man." (Fancy that!)

The pictures today are from the excursion "Royal Deeside".