Aberdeen 14 - 15 June 2012

We travelled from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on Thursday 14^th June.  Luckily we got to sit with 2 locals from Aderdeen so we managed to find out all the important things like the best places to eat and what they think about the upcoming referendum on scottish independence.

Here you can see the old train track across the river (it collapsed, we were told).  Luckily they finished the new one in time for our trip.

Aberdeen is fairly ‘non-descript’, or maybe ‘god forsaken’is a better description. They made the whole town out of granite, so it glints in the sun, but don’t let that fool you, it is very windy and cold. First we went to the maritime museum. Not worth the entry fee, and that is saying something as it is free. It needs a good overhaul (hence, no pictures as there was nothing worth taking). We decided to take a tour of a whisky distillery, Glenfiddich, still family owned, which is a rarity in Scotland. 

It was an OK tour as tours go.The best part was the ‘wee drams’ of whisky we tried at the end of the tour, 12, 15 & 18 year old whiskys.Chris bought a 15 year old, it had been aged in an old sherry barrel so it had a nice spice to it (now I sound like one of those really pretentious a……s!).Part of the tour also included a castle owned by Lady Russell.She has lots of photos strategically placed around on tables and walls of the royal family i.e. Christmas cards from Charles and the boys, wedding invitation to Kate and William’s wedding, letters from the Queen mother etc.The castle wasn’t that grand as far as castles go, but we could tick it off the bucket list. It had a nice garden, a stream for salmon fishing and a couple of llamas (as you do).  Picture below. 

We stayed 2 nights in Aberdeen (1 too many really). Had a great meal at Bistro Verde (read my review on trip advisor) and the next night had a curry at the Jewel in the Crown. Lesson No 3, the restaurant portions are huge in Indian restaurants in the UK. One naan took up half the table (we originally ordered 2 but the waiter said one was enough) and would have fed a small 3^rdworld country for a day.