Aberdeen

I love Aberdeen! It’s a bit of a marmite city, I know. The most common negatives I hear are that it’s ugly, it’s unfriendly and there’s nothing to do and I would disagree (and frequently do) on all of those points. I get surprisingly defensive of this city that is absolutely not my own, as in I didn’t grow up here and I haven’t lived here that long!

Now, having said that, when I came up here to meet my now supervisors, I flew and then took the bus into the city from the airport. The stretch of Aberdeen that bus route follows is mostly pretty bleak and as soon as I could I phoned my mum all teary that I didn’t think I could live here. My memory of Aberdeen from my navy days was really shoddy, I remembered bits of the harbour, the maritime museum and the beach but that was it. It wasn’t enough to make me feel better about moving here. Luckily though, I stayed at the Carmelite hotel near The Green and the harbour and walked to the university through old Aberdeen and the Cruickshank botanical gardens. This turned things around an awful lot. I mean, obviously! I live here now and as I said I love it. Now, if my friends fly up I tell them to close their eyes on the bus! When they’re here, at some point in their stay, I take almost everyone on the same walk…or at least portions of it, because altogether it’s a long one. As lockdown has now eased a little and we have some more freedom to move around I thought it seemed a good time to mention my favourite places along that walk. Maybe it’ll give you some inspiration.

Old Aberdeen

The ‘tour’ starts with a solid walk from Mounthooly (because that’s where I live) to Old Aberdeen and that takes about 20 – 30 minutes. I found out very recently that Mounthooly lies on an old leper colony, which was mercifully unnecessary by the early 1600s. Luckily, the bodies weren’t buried along my street so I didn’t have to lie awake at night thinking about that for too long! The first stop on my tour is what remains of the ‘Snow Kirk’ which was originally founded way back in 1497. This is a tiny little Catholic graveyard hidden behind high walls within college bounds. For me, the most exciting thing about this is that barely anyone seems to know it’s there! I don’t really know the ins and out of the reformation but I do know that it wasn’t a great time to be a practicing Catholic. Many held Mass secretly and buried their loved ones in secret Catholic kirkyards in keeping with their faith. The Snow Kirk, or the kirkyard of St Mary of the Snows, was, for a time, one such secret graveyard.

From the kirkyard I take people through Powis gate, which looks like a classic Disney castle tower and towards Kings College. Kings College was founded by William Elphinstone in 1494 and there’s a fetching memorial to him outside. The interesting thing, I think, is that the memorial was meant to be fitted on top of his tomb, inside the chapel. But, when it was transported to Aberdeen it turned out to be too big to go through the door. Doh!

Just up the road from Elphinstone is my favourite university campus café, Kilau. Great coffee, great food, magnificent brownies! This place on my ‘grand route’ is a great time to stop so I normally encourage it!

Sometimes, I take people through the alleyway near Kilau to go and look at the library. It’s pretty impressive and although I rarely take people inside it has a cool internal structure too. I gather there are some mixed opinions about the practicality of this though! Another rare but occasional detour is the Cruickshank botanical garden and rarer still the universities zoology museum. Both are definitely worth a visit though. The gardens are a nice spot for a picnic, I saw my first red squirrel and my first waxwings here.

Seaton Park and the River Don

This next stretch is again about 20 – 30 minutes…obviously much longer with stopping for coffees, taking photos or just generally looking at stuff!

The next ‘stop’ is St Machar Cathedral. To get there you have to walk down the Chanonry. This is a pretty area but it was once terrorised by ‘Spring-heeled Jack’. ‘Spring-heeled Jack’ could silently leap over high walls and breathed fire. He had clawed hands and red eyes and wore numerous disguises. This assailant normally resided in London but appeared in Aberdeen in the late 1800s. People saw him well into the 20^th century. Crazy!

When I first arrived, I read on the internet somewhere that the left upper quarter of William Wallace was rumoured to be buried behind a star in St Machar cathedral. I’d tell my friends this in my best impression of a castle tour guide’s ghost story voice but just at the beginning of this year I found out that was certainly not true. Damn internet facts! Despite the lack of famous historical body parts the cathedral is still worth a visit. The ceiling in particular is pretty astounding.

Just behind St Machar is the enormous Seaton Park. There are areas here where I feel like I am absolutely not in a city anymore. The walk along the river to the beach is really lovely, I’ve seen seals from the Brig o’ Balgownie and although I haven’t seen them here personally, people have reported really good views of otters.

After Seaton Park is left behind (and I’ve taken my friends across a super busy road) the Donmouth nature reserve starts. There are some little paths that wind through the estuary and there’s a small hide just off the road. If I’m honest I find this section a little disappointing but without it it’s a long stretch of boring pavement until you reach the sea.

Aberdeen Seafront

I don’t have an awful lot to say about the seafront. I mean, it’s just nice to be by the sea, isn’t it? Between Donmouth and the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom it’s just you and the sand but after that there’s one or two things I sometimes point out. The first thing is ‘the last tram line’ which is on the Links between the Hilton hotel and the beach there’s a little stretch of tram line still visible. I normally point at them and say “that’s Aberdeen’s last tram line”. That’s it! That’s all I have. I’m pretty sure no one but me has ever thought this was cool. But I’ll keep trying!

Just as a little interlude (because I’ve never taken anyone here), there’s a place nearby called Trinity Cemetery. Within it is the unmarked grave of the Cornish steersman and quartermaster, Robert Hichens, who was on the Titanic. I’ve read somewhere that at the time of the accident he was at the helm…of course steering under the orders of an officer. He survived in one of the few lifeboats alongside an American millionairess, but life wasn’t particularly rosy for him following the tragedy and ended with him being placed in an Aberdonian cemetery without a marker.

Incidentally this cemetery is very near Gallows Hill, which, as you can probably guess is where people enjoyed watching the odd hanging up until the late 1700s. The last fellow to lose his life there was Alexander Morison, who murdered his wife with an axe. The death wasn’t quick or clean and he was left there hanging in chains as a warning. If you haven’t noticed by now I’m drawn to some of the darker parts of history!

But anyway, back to ‘the tour’! Carrying on down the Beach Boulevard from the Beach Ballroom there are some shops and cafés plus adventure golf and a funfair. But, for me, the place of note is the Highland Bus. Again, I don’t have any pictures but it’s an old double decker bus by the sea with a café in it! I mostly just really like the novelty but the food’s pretty good too.

Footdee

After tea and cake in the bus, the next stop is Footdee. Footdee, pronounced ‘Fittie’, is about a 20-30 minute walk from Donmouth along the beach. Footdee is a really pretty old fishing village full of little cottages that surround squares mostly containing ‘sheds’ and garden areas. I put ‘sheds’ in apostrophes because this doesn’t quite do them justice, they’re very cool and very creative. The whole area has a really folksy, arty vibe. I think it’s important to remember that people do actually live here though. It’s great to enjoy the space but with the respect owed to any residential area.

One of my favourite stories relating to Footdee is that, at some point in time, when the fishermen went out to sea their wives would not wash any clothes. They feared that by churning up the wash water they would also churn up the sea causing potentially fatally bad weather for their husbands. I think I read that at the Aberdeen maritime museum, which is just along the harbour and definitely worth a visit.

Aberdeen Harbour

From Footdee I like to walk along the harbour all the way towards Union Square, which takes about 20 minutes. Aberdeen Harbour is apparently Britain’s oldest recorded business, first being mentioned way back in 1136. These days it’s full of standby and supply vessels from the oil fields and the odd ferry. A lot of this is about reminiscing for me…I mean, I really didn’t enjoy the navy but I like to think about it sometimes and, objectively, I still find the ships, the big anchors and huge chains pretty cool. I always hope my friends will too! I also love some of the ship’s names: “Standard Viking” is among my favourites. As you get closer to Union Square there’s also a very cool Nuart painting. Nuart is all over Aberdeen but this, I think, is the first one featured along this walk.

The Green

Just before reaching Union Square I turn off and head into ‘The Green’. There’s not a huge amount I have to say about this area but there is some great Nuart around, including my favourite, the doughnuts. There’s also a fab little café called Contour café here and a great pub called CASC, which sells good coffee, ale, Scotch whisky and cigars.

Home

From The Green there are a couple of options. Not far away are a couple of my favourite pubs, Fierce beer and the Castlegate Brewdog, enough said. If we’re not ready for a drink and my friends aren’t ready to kill me after a brutally extensive ‘tour’ there’s the Tollbooth museum. I love this place, which, like the maritime museum is free. The Tollbooth is an incredibly well preserved 17^th century gaol and has loads of sweet information about the evolution of the city, witches, the people that were gaoled there and escape attempts. If my friends weren’t ready to go home before, they almost definitely are after the museum. Home is passed another Brewdog and along Gallowgate. Gallowgate was the execution site before Gallows Hill and I’ve read somewhere that it saw the end of multiple witches but I haven’t been able to find this information again since! Aberdeen has an incredibly rich (and terrible) witch hunting history that I really want to learn more about.

This ‘tour’ is bloody long and it only covers a small part of what the city has to offer. Aberdeen is full of history, art, nature, good beer and although I agree it’s pretty shite at advertising itself, it’s normally full of cool events. I feel like people can give this Northern city a hard time but, although its not perfect, it’s 100% worth a visit, or exploring more if you’re already here.

Most of this information is gathered from a couple of books and an extensive website, which I’ll mention below, and the rest of it is from who knows where! They’re just tidbits of information I’ve gathered from here and there and they may or may not be true! I’d reckon that those tidbits are from museums and castles I’ve visited but you know how those facts get skewed once you’ve not touched on them for a while!

“Hidden Aberdeen – History on your doorstep and under your feet” by Dr Fiona-Jane Brown

“The guide to mysterious Aberdeen” by Geoff Holder

The “Doric columns” blog – https://doriccolumns.wordpress.com/

Lockdown

There’s only one photo in this post and it’s me pretending to take my temperature after I returned from my PIPS project with a cough and a tight chest (I was fine!).

Having seen endless Tweets, texts, TikToks and Instagram posts about people being on the struggle bus with this whole situation I almost feel a bit guilty that I’m here in my cosy little flat pretty much living my best life. It’s kind of left me with a weird feeling. I don’t really know what to say to people, I don’t really know what to post. I think it’s super important that everyone can voice their difficulties and share negative experiences but, in this situation, I’m hesitant to do the opposite and say anything positive or share opposing struggles. It just feels awkward, making this post incredibly hard to write. I have literally no idea how to pitch the tone and as it all feels a bit sensitive, so I’m just going to make a couple of things clear before I start…

I’m obviously just talking about my personal experience of being locked down in my flat, I’m thinking about the whole pandemic part of it as a separate issue entirely. Obviously, lives are being lost, essential workers are having to put themselves at risk every day and lots of people are living in housing situations that are far from ideal. I’m not going to touch on that.

Also I’ll try and keep the ‘gratitude vibe’ to an absolute minimum (that’s sickening at the best of times) and I certainly won’t be talking about how you should make the most of this opportunity and come out of it smarter, fitter and with a new skill. I certainly doubt I’ll be any of those things by the end of it!

Finally, I’m definitely not, in any way, meaning to invalidate the feelings of people who are having a really difficult time…it’s just that I haven’t heard much from people who aren’t!

To be fair, I am a natural hermit! But I also feel like I’ve been training for lockdown my whole life…in good ways and bad!

I’m an only child from a small family. I’ve lived alone in my car and a tent in rural North Yorkshire for a few months, I ran away to the outback with two other people for a while and then travelled around Vanuatu alone, I’ve lived and worked on a couple of British islands that would be considered ‘remote’ to many, and internet and mobile signal was shoddy in all of these situations! That was the fun part, albeit occasionally a little bit lonely.

In between pitching my tent on the moors and ‘finding myself’ ‘in the bush’ came the not so fun part! I joined the Merchant Navy. Which, is admittedly, an odd jump and one of the poorer life choices I’ve made! During the sea phase of my training we did four weeks on ship and four weeks off. I don’t think I’ve ever hated something so much in my life. I was an outsider in a way that went way beyond me being the only woman on ship and I found it brutally, relentlessly boring. Once I’d finished doing everything I’d brought onboard with me I slept as much as I could so I was awake for the experience as little as possible. I couldn’t use the internet (it was broken) and there was no mobile signal. I could phone my parents from the ship’s bridge but everyone would listen in, so my parents asked me yes/no questions. It honestly broke me. I’d involuntarily start sobbing, I struggled to hold conversations because I had literally no idea what to say to people and I felt irrevocably lost. I didn’t think I’d ever feel that alone again.

Then, in my last year of undergrad, I got ME. I’ve written three other blogs which go into more detail about that, but I’m not sure I mentioned the loneliness. Fairly early on, when I was at my worst, I couldn’t see my friends, sometimes I’d get out of breath trying to talk to my parent’s, I wasn’t able to watch TV for long because processing the images was exhausting, I struggled to read, I was too nauseous to enjoy food and I lost my tolerance to alcohol (tragic!). I had no idea if I’d get better, there was no prognosis and no treatment. I had to try and come to terms with the idea that I might never stand on top of a mountain again or swim in the sea or run…anywhere. While I reclaimed by teenage bedroom lying in the dark and the quiet, everyone else was carrying on with their lives. I felt totally left behind. When I mercifully started to recover, I still had to meticulously ration my energy so I ‘missed out’ on a lot of things. When I went to do my masters, I still spent most of my time in bed recovering between lectures and social interactions. I was isolated a lot, because ultimately, I knew that was how I might get better and luckily, gradually, I did. Knowing that it was the right thing to do didn’t make it easier. Something as simple as waiting for a friend to reply to a message felt like an eternity and I was constantly checking my phone. I have never felt so achingly lonely. Merchant Navy Amy had no idea what was coming!

So, those two things were pretty shaping and maybe I wouldn’t have found lockdown as easy if I hadn’t experienced them. We’ll never know.

Anyhow, in comparison, this feels like a cakewalk. I’m able to easily access the internet, I can smash through a Netflix season in a day, I have all my crafts around me and I have the energy to do them, I can drink again, I can enjoy my food and I don’t have to take a nap after phoning my parents. Plus, everyone is in this situation, so I’m not alone and I’m not ‘left behind’.

I’m actually pretty grateful to be able to slow down and take a bit of a break. I’ve finally got back into yoga again, I’m finishing craft projects that have lain around half done for years, I’ve read…fiction, I’ve even downloaded some PC games and commandeered my boyfriends Nintendo Switch so I can play animal crossing! I’m totally unashamedly addicted, if anyone fancies giving me some fruit other than peaches then hit me up. Of course I’m looking forward to when I can get out of the city and into somewhere wild, but the outdoors still exists, and it’ll still exist when this is over. Whilst I can’t do the outside things I enjoy, I’m indulging in all the inside things I like instead.

It’s also given me a chance to think. I went to university because I wanted to be an academic, my goal was always a PhD. But the more I see of academia the less I want to be involved. So, after about 5 years I’m suddenly having to reassess what I like, what options are out there and what I might like to do after I’ve finished. I’ve got plenty of time, but it’s nice to have space to process things and play around with some ideas. I think that’s been weighing on me more heavily than I realised.

So, of course I’m not walking around in unencumbered bliss!

For a start, I’m worried about how I’ll adapt when lockdown finishes. I’m an introvert that’s normally pretty good at pretending not to be. I find social interaction ‘a lot’ and I don’t think I’ll be running to the nearest crowded pub as soon as we’re allowed to, I have a feeling I’ll be creeping out of my cave tentatively. I’ve also gotten used to this slower pace of life and I got used to not seeing people very quickly. I already find myself hoping for a lockdown extension and feeling a bit anxious when people talk about going back to work and when that will be. I’m not ready to put down my crochet! These weeks are going very quickly to me.

Another minor struggle is dealing with the pressure to ‘connect’…although I am starting to get over that a bit now.

Mostly, I hate Microsoft Teams. I’m at home, in my sanctuary. I’m hermiting. It feels like an intrusion. People who I’d never normally have in my house are suddenly, in my house. There was a moment in the beginning where I though it was something I should throw myself into so I’d just get over my Teams anxiety…but that quickly turned into complete avoidance. I started to wonder why I’d put myself under undue stress to hang out with people online that I don’t hang out with in real life. Plus, it’s awkward. When I’m in the pub with a group of friends and suddenly all the individual little conversations come to a natural end and it’s just me talking and I have all the attention, I hate that. That’s what videocalls feel like to me.

We now have to have a weekly ‘informal’ lab meeting on Teams, I’m pretty sure it’s just because my supervisor is under pressure to get us to ‘connect’. It’s one of the low points of every week. In general, I stay as quiet as possible, turning off my microphone so I’m on screen as little as possible. I’m pretty sure none of us need it, no one has anything to say and it’s always dragged out over an hour.

You will not see a cheery Teams screenshot on Twitter from me!!

I totally understand that these group chats have been a complete lifeline for some people and that’s great. I guess I should just hold on to the thought that the lowlight of my week is another person’s highlight! I see some people are really making the most of this new type of interaction. But, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I haven’t heard from many people that are feeling like me and I know they exist. I guess the whole point of this blog post was as a self-indulgent processing point for me, so I could explore why I apparently feel differently to most folk and to say to the other people who feel the same way I do, “you’re not alone”…if you didn’t know that already!

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, I wish you as happy a lockdown as you can manage. Take care and stay inside…obviously. (Although this post is going out later than I anticipate so if you’re in England you don’t need to stay inside anymore, or you do, or you don’t as long as you’re two metres from your mum in a park, but you should stay inside as much as possible, unless you can’t work from home, in which case cycle to work far away from everybody, or wear a diving suit on the tube or something…).

Tiny Adventure: Nairn!

I think this was the start of the COVID-19 tipping point for me. Everything had been more or less ‘business as usual’ before. My boyfriend was supposed to be meeting me up in Nairn for us to spend the weekend together before I finished the last two weeks of my internship in Raigmore hospital. But, as a diabetic he’s in an ‘at risk’ category for the virus and was concerned (understandably) about being on a busy train…so, he didn’t come. We had had our first positive case in the community but I considered the risk and it seemed a little early, up in the Highlands, for me not to jump on a 20 minute train to a place where I would be predominantly alone for the weekend. So, I went!

14th March

I already had all my important picnic and Perk donut supplies before I arrived in Nairn which meant that I could head straight off on my walk. No messing around!

I walked from the train station to the harbour where I was greeted by a tonne of redshank (pretty little wading birds with red legs) and a turnstone (another pretty little wading bird!). I wandered passed the harbour and along the harbour wall to stare at the sea for a bit and figure out that the land in front of me belonged to the Black Isle.

I carried on along the beach to RSPB Culbin Sands where I found a delightful, pretty much undamaged, conch shell and watched a pair of bar tailed godwits and a load of black headed gulls. I kept walking until I could cross a little river onto the salt marsh next to Culbin Forest. I’ve been trying to wrack my brains but I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere where the forest has met the beach in quite the same way before. The forest comes to the edge of the cliffs between Aberystwyth and Clarach in West Wales and the woods follow the clifftop walk around the Robin Hoods Bay area in North Yorkshire but it’s different. It just seemed super magical for the forest to meet the saltmarsh and then for that to become sandy beach.

I decided that as I was on my own, and for once didn’t really want to be, I’d cheer myself up by finding a few geocaches in Culbin Forest. Geocaching is like an adult treasure hunt! All over the place and all around the world are hidden caches. Some are magnetic and look like a little blunt bullet and others are big boxes. They all have paper inside where you can write your name and the date you found the cache but the bigger ones have toys or trackers inside that you can take and swap. If you take a tracker you can log it and move it to another geocache around the world and see where it has travelled. To find them you just have to sign up for the geocaching app and that tells you roughly where they are. There’s often a hint if you’re struggling and sometimes, if you really can’t find the cache, pictures and comments from other geocachers. The general idea is that its all a bit of a secret and that you don’t want somebody (especially a ‘muggle’) to know that you’re geocaching, which makes it difficult when you’re searching for a tiny cache in the middle of a busy city!

I found two in Culbin forest.

I was knackered after my walk about in the forest so I headed to check in to my Airbnb. I dropped my things, sat down for a while and then went out to buy food and bubble bath because I can never pass up the opportunity to get in the tub.

So, I noticed when I was mooching about the kitchen that the sponge was really old and well used and that there was half a bottle of sour milk in the fridge plus old bread and eggs in the cupboard. I thought it was a little gross but I shrugged it off because I thought maybe it was an environmental choice. When I got back I couldn’t get any of the electric wall heaters to work but I shrugged that off too because I guessed I’d just figure it out later. I tried to run a hot bath but there wasn’t enough hot water. I boiled water on the stove and in the kettle, but because the air temperature was so cold I couldn’t heat water quick enough to offset the bath cooling! I stayed in there all of 10 seconds before I decided it was just too sad. When I got out I also made more of a concerted effort to get the heating going but actually none of the power sockets worked, I couldn’t find anything that would resemble a ‘master switch’ and there was no welcome book or instructions to follow. The place was freezing. There was no hot water bottle or blankets and by this point it felt to late to be messaging the host to ask for help, so I just wore my scarf hat and down jacket inside! What I did find when I was searching about was just how dusty everything was. There was even a sad face drawn in the dust in the bedroom. The whole place wasn’t actually that clean. I think the nice décor had fooled me! I heated up my microwave curry and ate it wondering when was too early to go to bed. When I did decide to go to bed and I pulled the covers back there were hairs on the pillows and in the bed. Fucking grim. It makes me wonder whether they bothered changing the sheets or whether they just made the bed again. I put my t-shirt (which was dusty because I dropped it on the bathroom floor) over the pillow and laid the frayed and holey towel where I was going to sleep. I slept in my down jacket and hat but I still felt a bit grossed out anyway! If I’d have noticed these things earlier I would have just gone home to the Raigmore!

I fell asleep to the sounds of drunk people buying kebabs outside my window and woke up at 5.45 am to the sound of a persistent car alarm. I couldn’t get out of there quick enough!

I obviously left an extensive review with my host and a more measured, less defamatory public review but I haven’t heard back from the lady yet. All I can say is stay somewhere other than the Royal Apartments in central Nairn!

15th March

In the morning I headed to the Basil Harbour Café for a breakfast of ‘eggy bread’, bacon, maple syrup and a much needed cappuccino. In hindsight it probably wasn’t a good call in terms of social distancing but it was all still very much a grey area at that point and it was only just creeping in to Northern Scotland. The breakfast was super good though! My plan was to walk to Whiteness Point, West of Nairn, using the ‘Walk Highlands’ inland route and then return along the beach. The walk inland was ‘nice’, I saw my first skylark of the year, singing. It was fine, but it was long and a little relentless. There weren’t any wow moments and it actually got to a point on the beach where I could see the point but decided it wasn’t actually worth walking to it!

When I looked up the beach towards Nairn the thought of walking 4 – 5 miles (ish) along pebbles and sand just seemed brutal so I decided to walk along the same inland route I arrived on. There were three geocaches along the route so I thought ‘why not?’, it made it more interesting.

By the time I got back to Nairn I was knackered so I picked up another Cappuccino from Basil and then headed to the station early.

It definitely wasn’t my greatest mini-adventure but I was glad to get lots of fresh air before the inevitable COVID lock down and I managed to walk over 15 miles on the last day which must be more than I’ve managed to walk in years. So, that’s something!

Nano Adventure: A Weekend on the Black Isle.

During my PhD I have to do a PIPS project, which is essentially a three month long internship in something that has nothing to do with my PhD. My PIPS project is up in Inverness, at the Raigmore hospital. My pal, Anneli, did hers in Brussels at the European Commission, and as I went to visit her, she decided she wanted to visit me whilst I’m doing mine. This time another friend, Alysha, joined us.

Anneli and Alysha arrived on Thursday evening and after checking into our Inverness Airbnb we pretty much headed straight out to the Black Isle Brewery bar for a pizza and beer (I really like it in there). After dinner we went for a little night cap in The Malt Room (I also like it in there). They have an epic range of whiskies and do some great cocktails. I had work on the Friday but Anneli and Alysha explored the city; they toured some of the coffee shops, mooched around the antique and book stores and climbed the castle tower. After I finished work, I met them at the bus station and we jumped on a bus to Fortrose on the Black Isle.

I’d been reliably informed that IV10 in Fortrose was an incredible place to get dinner and luckily, despite not having a table booked, we managed to sneak in. As soon as we walked in we loved the atmosphere, it was suitably hipster for us millennials with water served in recycled gin bottles, marine artwork and lots of re-used wood. The food was amazing too. I had some sort of wood fired cod with a mussel sauce and fries with a really nice glass of Grenache. For pudding I had a pear and frangipane tart with a Lagavullin whisky. Definitely a good start to the weekend.

7th March

After a fairly relaxed morning and a brunch consisting of cake back at IV10 we walked towards Rosemarkie, popping into a couple of the gift shops along the way. Once in the little town we headed towards the beach so that we could follow the bay around to the first couple of Rosemarkie caves. I didn’t realise but apparently there are about 20 old sea caves just up the coast and there’s a cave project (although this might be over by now!) which aims to explore and excavate them.

We only made it as far as Caird’s Cave which my potentially outdated web source tells me could potentially have been a site of occupation since the iron age but was certainly an active Pictish site. I have literally no idea who Caird is and why it’s their cave, google didn’t help me.

On the way to the caves I found a stone with a perfect circular hole worn away through it. When I was a troubled teenager into wicca I used to keep my eyes to the ground looking for these ‘hagstones’ at the beach or along riversides. I seem to remember they’re supposed to have lots of mystical uses. Now, I just think it’s an awesome feat of nature. What I did think was pretty cool is that there’s the legend of Kenneth…better known as the Brahan seer. In short, his mum acquired a stone with a hole in it from a Norwegian ghost princess and that stone allowed him to see the future. He predicted a tonne of stuff, seemingly with great accuracy but his downfall was in telling a lady on the Black Isle that her husband was cheating on her in Paris. She wasn’t chuffed about this foretelling and boiled the Brahan seer upside down in a barrel of tar at Chanonry Point. Incidentally Chanonry Point is only a short walk up the beach from where I found my stone. I haven’t yet seen the future through it though. I’ll keep trying.

So, not only did I find my ‘hagstone’ on the way to the caves, but Alysha also found her dream stone…An ammonite! Awesome find. Anneli did not find a prize rock but she did do a mini beach clean, picking up all the plastic she could see.

After exploring the caves we walked back along the beach to Chanonry Point to look for the bottlenose dolphin. I’d heard loads of different advice about when the best time was to try and see them but the most common timing seemed to be as the tide was changing/starting to rise. Unfortunately, the dolphin did not show up. It was super windy and choppy at that point though so I have a suspicion that even if they were out and about it would have been difficult to see anything. We did find a few hermit crabs along the point though which was, for me, almost as exciting as seeing dolphin!

On the way back from Chanonry point I started to feel a bit ME relapsey…probably for lots of reasons. So, by the time we reached The Anderson pub I wasn’t quite with it. I’d been told that there were two pubs in Fortrose and that one was dodgy and one was dingy. So, we went for dingy. It was a weird place. It definitely wasn’t immediately welcoming. Once we found our way to the bar and located a space in a dark corner, which was a journey in itself, we were all too awkward to go the bar because it was blocked by lots and lots of men. All of them standing quietly watching the England vs Wales rugby match. You can probably guess who they were rooting for! Once Anneli gathered the courage to go and order drinks for all of us (what a star?!), she was promptly told by the barmaid ‘you’re in Scotland now’ after part of the order involved a bitter shandy. Delightful! It hadn’t really crossed my mind that it wasn’t really ‘a thing’ up here.

After the rugby was over, a few of the men cleared out and the barmaid came over with the menus as we’d originally gone in there for food. She seemed a lot more cheerful, maybe we’d redeemed ourselves somehow after awkwardly stumbling in and ordering an English ale. The menu actually looked great and the barmaid pointed over to the butcher who supplied them, which seemed like a great sign. There were some mixed opinions about whether we should stay or go but the ‘ayes’ had it…just. The food was amazing! I had a lamb burger with feta and mint sauce, Anneli had a beef burger with haggis and Alysha had a veggie burrito. We pretty much licked the plates clean! Although our Anderson experience had a bumpy start I actually really liked it in the end…I’d go back! It probably helped that after a sit down, one of Alysha’s babybels and half a pint I started to feel a bit more like myself again.

8th March

In the morning we had a quick look around Fortrose cathedral…which was ‘nice’. I wouldn’t tell anyone to go out of their way to visit it, but if you’re in the area and you have a spare 15 minutes it won’t ruin your day!

Once we’d seen all we wanted of the ruined cathedral we grabbed some outstanding breakfast baps from the Fortrose Café on our way to catch the bus to Cromarty. I had link sausage and tatty scone just in case you’re interested!

The bus took about 25 minutes and brought us pretty much all the way to the Cromarty lighthouse. It’s one of the University of Aberdeen’s remote campus locations and they run a field course there every year. Unfortunately, because of a re-shuffle, Alysha and I are in the year that don’t get to go, so it was good to go and explore the area on our own.

The Cromarty Firth is unusual in that there are loads of oil rigs ‘parked’ there whilst they’re undergoing ‘refurbishment’. I’m not sure I know what that really means but it’s an unusual and strangely cool sight. We talked a bit about turning one into a bar or a hotel but then realised we have no money.

Before embarking on a damp walk in the unpredictable weather we had a coffee and cake stop at The Slaughterhouse Café. It was a pretty cosy space but lovely, definitely worth squeezing yourself into. Our walk took us through the town where we stopped in a couple of shops. I bought a wooden Cromarty butter knife in a Scandi style shop because Anneli insisted that my life would change for the better if I owned one. I’m yet to use it but I have great hopes!

After leaving the town we headed round to the coast path to the Sutors of Cromarty and then back into town to catch our bus back to Inverness. It was a nice walk with stunning views across the firth and out to sea. We saw a couple of deer on our way back, which is always sweet.

The bus took about an hour to get from Cromarty to Inverness and only cost about £3.50, which, I think, is an absolute bargain! Back in Inverness Anneli and Alysha had enough time to grab some absolutely essential M&S train snacks before they were back off to Aberdeen. And I bought some sushi dinner and wandered back to the Raigmore on the phone to my parents, giving them the low down on the weekend.

I’m not positive yet but I think next weekend I’ll be in Nairn. These weekend trips won’t last forever by the way…just until I stop living in hospital accommodation!

Mini Adventure: A weekend around Loch Ness.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the thought of spending the weekend in my Raigmore flat doesn’t fill me with joy. So on this particular weekend, my boyfriend came up from Aberdeen to drive around Loch Ness with me….much better.

29th February

Mattia ‘alighted’ in Inverness about half 10 but I’d already been in town for a while excitedly buying maps, shopping and picking up a donut in Perk (essential)! We collected the keys for our hire car at the train station from ‘Focus Rentals’. The guy who met us and introduced us to our car was very friendly and as the car we originally wanted wasn’t actually available we’d been upgraded to a brand new car. Winning!

As soon as we’d picked up a few picnic supplies we headed off out of the city towards Loch Ness. I was actually pretty excited and as soon as we hit Dores the views across to the Loch had me buzzing! Also, Mattia loves driving (I do not) so I just got to sit and watch out the window, pointing things out.

Our first stop was Farigaig where we just climbed straight up to the viewpoint and had lunch. It needs to be said that the toilets were delightful! A great place to stop if you’re out kayaking or hiking the trail from Inverness to Fort Augustus. Loads of people had left their post it notes of thanks behind which were really sweet to read.

After our Farigaig lunch we followed the ‘Walk Highlands’ route to Foyers Falls, down to the shores of Loch Ness and then back to the car through the village of Foyers. The falls were epic! We’d been told with a grunt earlier in the day that they weren’t that impressive, but they blew us away. The falling water was so powerful that as we approached them I thought someone was having a bonfire, the spray of water being forced upwards looked like smoke. In fact, the Gaelic name for the falls, Eas na Smùide, means the smoking falls…I can totally see why.

I couldn’t get the video to load – you’re just going to have to go!

We were both pretty knackered after climbing back up to the car, so after refuelling (the Foyers shop at the carpark is crazy cheap), we pretty much headed straight to our Airbnb home for the night just above Drumnadrochit. The only other time we got out of the car was to experience the crazy weather in the hills above Fort Augustus. Such a change from 10 minutes down the road! It was insanely windy. I had to crawl out of the car over the drivers seat because the wind was too strong for me to open the passenger door and it was blowing snow and little bits of ice off the hills which made it hard to face the wind. As painful as it was, it was fun leaning into it and trying to catch flight!

The accommodation was unreal. I thought it was going to be pretty special but it definitely surpassed expectations. It was a little wooden shepherd’s hut lit with fairy lights. It had a little wood burner inside, a bathroom hidden behind a ‘secret’ door, hot water bottles, some milk and biscuits for when we arrived AND some free whisky decanted out for us. They’d thought of everything. It was so cosy. I kind of wish I’d taken more pictures but I was too busy enjoying the space.

(Despite the fact the place/day was very romantic and it was the 29^th Feb on a leap year I did not, like one friend thought, propose! Bit early for that.)

1st March

We stayed in the hut as long as we could and enjoyed a lazy breakfast. I don’t enjoy cooking in the hospital accommodation so it was just really nice to have something more exciting than tortellini, pizza or super noodles (yep, I have indeed regressed)!

We decided to head to a place called Abriachan for a walk on the way back to Inverness. It was a recommendation from my office mate who has so far nailed it with everywhere that she’s suggested. Almost as soon as we drove away from the shepherd’s hut we saw a red squirrel. Or, more accurately, I saw a red squirrel, yelled ‘SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL’ and made Mattia reverse back up the hill so he could see it too!

I didn’t think the day would get much better after that but as soon as we parked in the Abriachan carpark my spider senses were tingling about some birds chirping about in the tree next to the car. They were only bloody crossbills! Sorry, if you’re not into birds or wildlife in general, maybe skip this little paragraph, because I need a little moment! I honestly never thought I’d be lucky enough to see these birds. I mean other things are hard(ish) to spot like otter, red squirrel, waxwings… but I’m happy to head to a hot spot for that species and have a go. I thought it was so unlikely I’d ever see a crossbill that there was no point actively trying! I knew they were shy and secretive and I mistakenly thought that all types of crossbill were only in certain parts of Scotland (I’ve now learned I was wrong on that point). But anyway, here I was, literally stood next to the car in a fairly busy car park watching both male and female crossbill in a tree a few metres away. No idea if they were Scottish or Common but that wouldn’t have changed how I felt. I was so excited! They were around long enough for me to stare and check in disbelief that they weren’t anything else and I hadn’t made an utterly stupid ID mistake but they left after a small group of kids ran screaming through the snow into the car park!

With me still chattering away about the birds and clutching onto my binoculars hoping to see more we headed off up the hill to the 434 metre summit of Carn na Leitire. We stopped via the pond to poke the ice, at the Lochside bird hide to see if we could spot anything, at the bronze age hut to talk about what people would’ve dressed in back then to stay warm and in the forest a couple of times because we were tired!

The views from the top were awesome and I’m sure my photos don’t do it justice. I’m often afraid to push myself to climb big hills or little mountains because last time I did (about 2 years ago now) I triggered another little ME relapse. It felt right though and luckily this time I’ve suffered no payback from it. It was a really nice moment to be up there in the snow, nobody else around, just taking in the scenery.

Once we were back down I finished the Perk donut I’d been nursing for two days (honestly the best donuts ever) and Mattia enjoyed watching another couple struggle to get their car out of the icy bay.

And that was pretty much it. We stopped for a late lunch in a place called An Talla at the Dochgarroch lock (not loch), dropped the car back off at the train station and then Mattia got his train home. I walked back to the Raigmore but avoided Burger King for once!

Next weekend I have a couple of friends visiting from Aberdeen and we’re exploring the Black Isle. Only time will tell if I’ll write about it!

Micro-adventure: Isle of Skye and Kyle of Lochalsh in 2 days!

Now, I hear you already…’you can’t possibly do Skye AND Kyle of Lochalsh in two days, especially without a car’! And I would not disagree with you! But I could get there by public transport (easily from Inverness where I’m currently staying) and spend two days seeing as much in that area as I could and have a great time doing it! Plus, my accommodation at the Raigmore hospital isn’t the most inspiring place and I didn’t really fancy spending the weekend with my door slamming flatmates so I thought I’d go out and explore instead.

I wasn’t actually planning to write anything about my trip but I went on my own and writing in my journal, which isn’t something I often do, came naturally during some of the quieter moments. I also took a fair few pictures! …This is what I wrote…

22^nd February 2020

So, I’m on Skye! I got the two and a half hour train here from Inverness which must be THE most beautiful train journey I’ve ever been on. It started out quite sedately – a few nice rivers and rolling hills but before an hour in it transformed into something more dramatic. It probably helped add to the drama in that it had snowed on the high ground and was still trying. The weather flipped between sun to rain to snow to sun again to hail! I stared out of the window the whole time, sometimes it didn’t even click that my music had stopped.

Once I’d reached Kyle of Lochalsh I ran to the bank to get some hard cash. It didn’t seem super clever to go to an island without any (even an island with a bridge) and with that hard cash I ran into a wool shop because I managed to leave my super warm gloves at home and I was going to need something more for the West coast weather. Now fully prepared I found the bus stop and went across to Skye. I was buzzing! The bus journey was much shorter than I expected but very pretty.

I was staying in Broadford so that’s where I got off (funnily enough) – in hindsight I might’ve gone further up to Portree or Uig but without knowing how I’d feel after a week of work or how long it would take me to get anywhere, the middle of the island seemed like a safe bet.

Straight away I headed to Irishman’s point (Rubh an Eireannaich) – in the end I wasn’t actually sure what ‘the point’ was! The walk was lovely though. I saw loads of hooded crows, a couple of redshank but mostly the usual wee brown birds and oystercatchers I’m used to. I had lunch in a really sweet bay whilst the sun was shining and took some pictures. About 10 minutes up the track it was heavy hail! It was brutal! I sheltered behind a little dip in the land with my back to the wind and waited for it to pass.

I carried on for as long as the ‘land’ would let me and then had to turn back along the same path. I hit another hail shower on the way back, this one even worse, and sheltered behind somebodies boat.

I checked into the hotel (The Broadford) and ‘warmed up’. I was pretty warm already to be honest but as soon as I sat down I didn’t want to get up and I didn’t know what I wanted to do next.

Eventually I went back out with the vague thought of looking for otter and watching the sunset. I walked down the road back towards Kyle but it soon became uninspiring. Then I walked back on myself and started down Broadford river but the track quickly petered out leaving me to walk on the road and didn’t fancy that in the fading light dressed all in black. So I walked back to where I’d walked before, towards the harbour. No otter to be seen and no view to a dramatic sunset over the hills. So, I went back to the hotel to dine on instant pot ramen (I wanted to save some money for the bar!).

After dinner I headed to The Gabbro bar (where I wrote the first part of this). Not quite what I expected! If I’m honest I wanted the sanitised, Americanised stereotype; tartan, dark wood and stags. I didn’t want real Scotland/normal life, which in this case, was a fairly normal, faceless sports bar with a limited choice in whisky and drunk rugby fans who would occasionally let out a high pitched scream making the old bar lady grumpy! I wanted to drink my Talisker (made on Skye) and Drambuie (invented on Skye) wrapped in an island fantasy! At one point a dog came in that wasn’t happy to find other dogs in it’s pub. It started fighting and then a drunk girl started ineffectively yelling at the dog, Cesar, to sit. This went on for too long! The Drambiue was better than I remembered (I drank way too many as a teenager with coke). After I left the bar, I got one from the hotel restaurant to take up to my room so I could drink Drambiue and eat crisps in the bath. Classy. Incidentally the hotel restaurant did deliver the Scottish fantasy…if only I’d known that earlier!

23^rd February 2020

Got up early so I could eat lots of breakfast (French toast with bacon and maple syrup plus a starter of muesli and yoghurt with lots of coffee. I also stole a banana!) before catching one of the only buses to Kyle that day.

Once in Kyle I wrapped up against the rain and headed to ‘The Plock’. I had pretty low expectations but it was much bigger and prettier than I thought it would be. A lot of it skirted the coast so I looked for otter (didn’t see any). I did however see a golden eagle which I almost missed because I was texting my dad!

I headed to a place called Hector’s Bothy about midday for a sit down and coffee and cake. I wasn’t quite sure what to do next but I had a quick look at the map and a google and decided to walk out along the path the Balmacara for 45 minutes and then head back so I could make the only train of the day.

Once I found the path there was a signpost to Scalpaigh burn (which is spelled differently on the map) and thought ‘well I can definitely make that’ – once I got there, there was a signpost to ‘’Loch Scalpaigh ½ mile’’ and I thought ‘hmm, pushing it but I’ll get a tab on’. Made it! Just! I made better time on the way back so was able to take another quick track for some good views over the bay. As with the Plock the walk was far prettier than I anticipated. I really enjoyed myself.

Made it back on time for the train and managed to sit on the opposite side for different views. So.Many.Deer! I made a little mark in my journal every time I saw one and by the time it became too dark to see I’d marked for 93 red deer! Mental.

Anyway, so I had a great weekend. For the next one I’ve hired a car to explore around Loch Ness and I’m staying in a shepherd’s hut just North of Drumnadrochit. I honestly cannot wait!

Inverness

As much as I love Aberdeen, I decided I needed to get out of it for a weekend. There’s a tonne of places I want to see but it seemed like Inverness would give me loads of options, plus, it’s on my ‘bucket list for the year’ to see Loch Ness. Bit of a cliché I know!

Day One

It’s only one train and 2 hours up to Inverness from Aberdeen so it’s super easy, and armed with my new student railcard, pretty cheap. As soon as I got to Inverness I hunted down the tourist information place, which is in a different place to what the tourist signs suggest and not where google maps say it is! But, I found it and the lady working in there was super helpful in helping me figure out how to do what I wanted to.

I still had a few hours until I could check in to my hotel and I didn’t have a lot of stuff so I jumped straight on a bus to Culloden visitor centre. I didn’t keep my timetable but I seem to remember it was the number 5 from Queensgate, possibly to Croy. I think they’re pretty used to tourists because there was a little sign on the bus stop telling you exactly which bus to get on and as soon as I walked onto the bus the driver knew where I was going. Apparently, I looked like ‘the type’! The bus drops you off right outside the visitor centre though, which is super handy. I’m making a massive assumption here that people know what I’m talking about when I say Culloden! Depending on your definition of ‘battle’, it could easily be considered the site of the last battle fought on British soil and was where the Jacobite uprising came to a very bloody end in 1746. In short, bonnie prince Charlie (who’d never actually been to the UK before) popped over to Scotland to raise an army and reclaim the British throne for his father. It was pretty clever timing because most of the British army were tied up fighting in Europe. Obviously, the British government weren’t super thrilled about this and they put the Duke of Cumberland in charge to put an end to the nonsense! Bonnie prince Charlie did fairly damn well and got as far as Derby before having to turn back around. But he also made a fair few poor decisions which ended with Culloden. After losing, bonnie prince Charlie got to skip off back to Europe where he was hailed as a hero, which is bonkers when you think he left Scotland and the men that fought for him deep in the shit. The government killed as many of his supporters as they could get their hands on, banned things like tartan and really tried to crush the highland life. Apparently he died as a bitter drunk with a wife that hated him which sounds somewhat like karma to me.

The museum is pretty extensive and really well laid out. I learned loads and some of the films and media displays really helped to give an idea of just how desolate the situation was. Going through the museum before visiting the battlefield itself gave an idea of perspective and helped to give life to what could be mistaken as any other field. From the Culloden battlefield you can walk to the Clava cairn which is a bronze age chamber tomb…unfortunately I didn’t have time…but I wished that I had. Maybe next time! Because there will be a next time.

*Culloden battlefield, with something pretty in the background. Is it the Black Isle? Is it the Cairngorms? Is it something else? Does it really matter?!*

When I got back to Inverness it was time for me to check in to my hotel. Now, the Mercure in Inverness looks absolutely tragic from the outside! I steeled myself with assurances that as long as it was clean it’d be fine, I wasn’t going to spending a tonne of time in it anyway. BUT…as soon as I walked into the foyer I knew I’d been completely wrong. It was really nice! It was super cosy and inviting and the staff were really friendly. I still had some marking to do so I sat in the restaurant and did it there over dinner. I didn’t need to book and I felt really comfortable to just get on with my work.

Day Two

My first priority on day two was to pick up some doughnuts from Perk for my day trip. A chap had recommended them to me on the first day and boy, was it a good recommendation. I got the two types of vegan doughnuts they had available; the lime glaze and the regular jam filled, sugared doughnut. Best.doughnuts.ever. And trust me, I’m a seasoned doughnut connoisseur! I really hoped that they were a Scottish chain with a shop hidden away in Aberdeen, but alas, no. If you’re in Inverness, even just passing through, get a doughnut!

*Seriously, get yourself here. It’s almost definitely worth the 4 hour round train trip from Aberdeen to pick up a load of doughnuts!*

The doughnuts were for my day trip to Urquhart. If I’m honest I was more interested in seeing Loch Ness and the castle was just a happy additional extra which I didn’t know about before I started googling the area. Like Culloden, there’s a bus that drops you off right outside the attraction from Inverness. In fact, there are a couple. I just rocked up at the bus station and jumped on one. So, Urquhart castle is beautiful and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area…here’s the ‘but’…! I got there as soon as it opened so there were only about 10-15 people about when I looked around. This meant that I could take in the atmosphere, read the signs easily and take pictures without people in. I hear that in summer thousands of people visit and the site gets packed. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I think it’s great that people want to engage with history and even more so, that they choose Scotland/UK for their summer holiday but I think it’s something worth preparing yourself for. You’re not going to get that Instagram ready, picturesque shot in mid-summer at Urquhart castle. This is one of the many reasons I like travelling in winter!

In terms of history, I think it was originally a Pictish site before St Columba wafted in and turned everyone Christian back around 560 AD. I’m never quite sure how that worked! Anyway, I think the earliest part of the castle remaining on the site now is from the 13^th century when it was all tied up in the Scottish war for independence. It’s now a ruin and it became a ruin way back in 1690 when soldiers blew up the gatehouse after a fight with the Jacobites. Once it was partially blown up and left unprotected it wasn’t long before locals started to pilfer the stone for their own homes.

As an aside, I think it’s also worth mentioning for both Urquhart and Culloden that they’re not cheap places to eat, although to be fair they’re not unreasonable when compared to any other major tourist site. I had lunch in both of them and it was again about what you expect, just fine! Had it been spring or summer I would definitely have taken a picnic.

Urquhart castle was actually quite a lot smaller than I expected so I had quite a bit of time in the afternoon to play with. The first thing I did was walk into Drumnadrochit, which is about a 40 minute easy walk from the castle, to visit the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition. I have mixed feelings about this place! It wasn’t a museum like I expected but a system of several rooms which you’d go into to watch a video about the geology, myths, explorations surrounding the Loch and it’s supposed monster. It was good and I learnt some stuff, but I think in the height of summer you’d easily feel like you were being herded. It felt like any typical UK attraction that is totally magical when you’re a child and then as an adult you feel slightly disappointed by the lack of substance and tired exhibits. I say that with fondness though, these places give me a feeling of familiarity and homeliness that I’m not mad about. They make me think of my parents and family holidays. As a lone adult however, those fuzzy feelings were pretty much the only thing that stopped me feeling sick that I’d spent £8 to get in there. One last thing before I move on and stop moaning, the last rooms you need to pass through are shops. If you had kids, you’d have to run a gauntlet through loch ness monster plushies and cute Scottish themed t-shirts. It’s clever marketing and I don’t blame them but it’s also a pretty disappointing display of commercialism. Nearby there’s an associated café, more associated shops selling tartan paraphernalia and kilts and a place to trace your Scottish history. This is cheesy tourism central!

All your Scottish/Loch Ness dreams come true!

After being bombarded with overt “Scottish” tourism I decided to take a walk in the Drumnadrochit woods up to a viewpoint I saw on the map. It was a nice little walk and there are much longer ones for next time. I was hoping for a red squirrel, but no luck, maybe that’s for next time too. I did see the Loch and a tonne of hooded crows though, I always get excited crossing the crow line! I’d definitely say it’s worth going for a wander if you’ve got time.

*Views over the Loch Ness from Drumnadrochit woods, unnecessarily excited to be there!*

Back in Inverness my first priority was getting to The Malt Room, an independent bar, for a couple of whiskies. It’s a really dark, cosy, sexy little bar with a million whiskies and cocktails and the staff really know their stuff. I had one of my favourites, a Laphroaig quarter cask (I’m definitely an island girl at heart) and then I tried one of the local whiskies, a 12 year old Tomatin. It was nice, an easy drinker but it was no smokey, peaty Islay! After recollecting my spirit blurred thoughts back in the hotel I went for dinner at Scotch and Rye, another Inverness independent.

The staff in there were super kind and managed to find a place for me. That’s one thing to be said for the people in Inverness, they are really friendly. The atmosphere was really relaxed in there with a real mix of people, I can’t remember exactly what was playing but I do remember enjoying the music in there too. I went armed with my book and my horrendously cheesy postcards (Nessie, a Scottie dog and a ‘true Scotsman’ caught out by the wind) and sat in there for quite a while. I had a chicken and haggis burger… I genuinely like haggis, I promise I wasn’t trying to be authentic! Then, for dessert, I had two variations on white Russians, and they were so, so yummy. They had quite an expansive cocktail list and if I wasn’t so full and if I earned more money then I think I definitely would have kept going.

Day Three

I had my train back to Aberdeen booked for the afternoon so I had all day to do something fun. I decided to walk out along the Caledonian way and see how far I got. I wandered up along the river Ness and over the Ness islands which are incredibly pretty. It reminded me a little of areas along the River Don in Aberdeen, especially near Seaton park. For both places it really doesn’t feel like you’re still inside the city.

After Ness islands, I was ready for a little brunch and luckily Inverness botanical gardens and their little café was open. I had a pot of tea and a toasted sandwich that was way better than the more expensive fair that I’d had at Culloden or Urquhart. I didn’t plan to spend long at the gardens because I wanted to be on my way along the Caledonian path but I did whip around. It was bigger than I expected and beautifully laid out, it also had one of the prettiest cactus and succulent houses I think I’ve ever seen.

Cactus house at the Inverness botanical gardens.

Back on the Caledonian way there was a rowing event taking place on the canal. Despite being mid-February, it was unseasonably warm and there were loads of people out walking, cycling and watching the race. The whole path up to Dochgarroch locks was easy to follow, felt safe and was really quite pretty. It didn’t feel particularly wild or remote, but it was definitely the perfect way to get out of the city. I wanted to keep going and see what lay beyond the locks but I needed to get back for my train and I wanted to try the Black Isle bar before I left.

The Black Isle bar was another place I wish I’d been able to stay a little longer. They sell a great range of craft ales, most of which are made by Black Isle brewery…obviously! They look like they do incredible pizzas too but I was in the mood for Cullen skink. The super warm and sunny day turned around pretty quickly on my way back and started raining as soon as I got back into town, so a warm and hearty soup was perfect. It was just what I needed and alongside the Black Isle ‘23 Trees’, citrus saison, it was a perfect end to a weekend in Inverness. I will definitely be back…and I’ll definitely be getting my hands on more Black Isle beers when I can.

GIN:NE 2019

So, I’m very keen to maintain work life balance as much as humanly possible and I’m always on the lookout for interesting things to do both inside and outside the city. At the beginning of February I was lucky enough to win myself and my gin loving buddy a couple of tickets to GIN:NE in Inverurie. This was the second year for GIN:NE, a gin festival celebrating local spirits, bitters, shrubs and beer just 20 minutes by train from Aberdeen. With our tickets we got a festival brochure, a tote bag and 10 tokens that allowed us to get 10 gin tasters. In addition, you could pay extra for a full measured drink, buy products from the distributors and also pay to go to a masterclass, where as far as I know different gin cocktails were trialled and most importantly tasted.

I obviously had a whale of a time! I learned loads about gin and I even got inspired about my own work because the passion the distillers had was infectious. Once I move to a place, I love exploring what the local area has to offer and what makes it special and in turn I love sharing that with other people. So, with that being said, here are my top 5 Aberdeenshire discoveries from GIN:NE.

Granite North – This gin was hands down my favourite and I deeply regret not buying a bottle on the day. Granite North is distilled in small batches just a couple of miles outside of the city centre near Bucksburn. I’m a sucker for things being local and this is about as local as it gets, the name alone conjures up images of all the buildings in the granite city. Beyond the name, the gin tastes like Scotland! The tasting notes talk of grand fir needles, heather and thistle and that’s no lie. All of these are botanicals found abundantly in this area and from the first taste I was taken away on a winter walk in the fresh Cairngorms air. Super cheesy, but honestly, it’s one of the most original gins I’ve tasted. It’s good enough to drink on its own but the distributor suggested a light tonic with a wee slice of grapefruit.

Blackford Craft Distillery Ltd – So, full disclosure, I didn’t actually try their gin! But my friend did and she seemed very happy. What I was there for was their Vesperis heather honey vodka. This is Blackford Craft’s pictish botanical vodka with raw heather honey added into the still during the distillation process. Funnily enough the honey’s provided by my supervisor, but I promise that didn’t influence my judgment! I don’t normally like vodka, it’s probably the last drink I’d choose in a bar, but this was something else. It was sweet and smooth enough to drink neat, especially as a dessert drink with some ice. But I imagine it would also work beautifully with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime like the distillers suggested. As Scotland’s only heather honey vodka it’s made about 20 miles North of here in rural Aberdeenshire where they’re very clearly influenced by the pictish heritage.

Hrafn gin – If somebody has a good story I’m easily sold and Hrafn gin has more than just a story they have a mythology. In short, Hrafn is old norse for raven and ravens were important to the Norse, they stood on Odin’s shoulder symbolising power to see into the future and also in welcoming warriors into Valhalla. More so than that though, the two brothers who distil the gin came up with their idea whilst in a campervan outside the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay. I love Islay, I love Bruichladdich and I love campervanning so as soon as they told me that I was emotionally invested! Their main gin was, and I think still is ‘thought and memory’ which is a soft, dry, warm, spicy, mandarin infused explosion of flavour. They have a tonne of cocktail ideas on their website but for an easy drink suggest a classic light tonic and a slice of lemon. Like Granite North they’re located just outside the city, but this time to the West in Kingswells.

Lost Loch spirits – I’m not sure whether these guys are most well known for their gin or their absinthe, which incidentally is the first one in Scotland. This distillery is based on the banks of Loch Auchlossan on the edge of the Cairngorms national park and if that doesn’t evoke some romantic imagery for you then I don’t know what will! Eenoo is the lost Loch spirits gin which is named after an inuit who arrived in Aberdeen on a whaling ship in the mid 1800s to learn about Western ways before leaving to embark on more adventures around the North. The most notable thing about this gin are its liquorice flavours which, even in a room full of gin, make it really stand out. The distillery suggests a light tonic and strawberries for something summery which is something I’m definitely going to try when the season rolls around. What stole the lost Loch spirits show for me though was their Murmichan absinthe. Now, as a former goth I’ve drunk a fair bit of absinthe in my time. I went all out with my image, which included drinking absinthe with the accompaniment of a proper absinthe spoon which I would melt sugar on before stirring it into my drink. None of that is necessary with Murmichan! I honestly don’t remember ever tasting an absinthe that was so smooth. Murmichan is, for a drink that’s 64% ABV, very easy drinking. Dangerously easy drinking!

Udny Provender – Last but certainly not least is this small, non-alcoholic, family run business based in Methlick near Ellon. These guys have a load of their own honey bee hives and live something resembling the good life, which I find crazy appealing. They sell local honey (from their own bees of course) plus vinegars and shrubs. I’d never heard of shrubs before meeting Udny Provender but now I’ve tried them I am sold. Shrubs are a fruity, vinegar cordial that can be added to pretty much any drink. The vinegar word can be difficult for people to get their heads around but trust me it’s absolutely nothing like what you put on your chips. Personally, I’ve only used them in prosecco and as an addition to a gin and tonic but I know you can get super cocktail creative with them. They’re also a great non-alcoholic alternative when added to something like lemonade or sparkling water. There are about 8 different flavours like crab apple, gooseberry and elderflower and blueberry and lavender which are mostly locally foraged.

As this is only their second year of running I’m not sure if they’re planning to continue with it as a yearly event, but I certainly hope so. GIN:NE was the perfect de-stressor after a week of work and I really valued meeting local distributors, hearing their stories and obviously trying their products. I’m already on the look out for my next event and would thoroughly recommend getting yourself to a local food festival.

If gin really is your thing and you’re super interested, then there is a university society that visits different distilleries and gets together to try different gins. Obviously! You can find them on facebook under the name ‘University of Aberdeen: Students’ Ruin’, which leads me nicely into the reminder…please drink responsibly.