rachel.blog

Tag: Aberdeen

  • Igloos and ice-skating

    It’s another beautiful day here today with sun and blue sky. The only thing missing is the snow but it’s so warm there’s no chance of that happening. One day I’d love to visit Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Lapland where there is guaranteed snow and where kids can also visit Santa Claus. Kakslauttanen have these fantastic-looking glass…

  • Aberdeen Christmas Village

    There’s a Christmas village in Aberdeen this year! This is apparently the first time the city has had one so we went and had a look. We went first on Saturday afternoon and it was heaving. In fact it was so busy that we decided to leave and come back again first thing this morning…

  • Soul Bar

    Yesterday afternoon I took the kids swimming and when we returned to Busby afterwards I discovered I had forgotten to chain him up! He was sitting there without a lock for at least 45 minutes but thankfully, no-one stole him. Perhaps it’s just as a friend of mine said, “No-one can steal Busby because everyone in…

  • In town without my car day

    Today is “In town without my car day” and as big advocates of the pedestrianisation of city centre streets we thought we should go along and lend our support. They had closed off some streets to cars which was marvellous and put lots of fun activities in their place like a giant water slide, a…

  • We’re famous

    There are a couple of photos of us in today’s EveningExpress taken at the Wee Jaunt yesterday. Not such a great one of me because it looks like I’m flashing but fortunately you can’t see anything. Ben showed his photo to a PhD student at work hoping to impress him but his response was, “It would look more…

  • Cycling infrastructure in Aberdeen

    We went for quite a stressful bike ride today. It was supposed to be a pleasant afternoon cycling along a newly discovered bike path but traffic and a lack of suitable crossings for bicycles made it stressful. I took a photo of one of the crossings we made to point out how inadequate it is for bicycles.…

  • Surviving a haircut and learning to swim

    I took Daniel to get a haircut today at the first barber’s I came to on our way to swimming. The hairdresser was a short and muscular middle-eastern-looking man with tattoos up and down each arm. It all seemed to be going fairly well except that Daniel kept moving his head. He’s not the easiest customer and indeed for…

  • A new cycle path for Aberdeen

    A new cycle route opened up in Aberdeen this week. It’s a shared walking/cycling path which runs right next to the River Dee. I went and checked it out today and it was just lovely. It’s hard to believe this is in a big city (maybe big is not the best word for Aberdeen?) because it’s…

  • Stromness to Aberdeen by ferry + train

    My post yesterday about Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar was rather rushed because we had to dash for a long day of traveling. But both places were absolutely fascinating. Skara Brae was particularly good. How often do you get to see the house, including furniture, of a Neolithic human? All the walls were…

  • Duthie Park and buying a house

    I took this photo of Duthie Park back in April this year just before all the buds on the trees opened up for spring: Today I went for a run through the park and took some more photos. Here’s how it looks now: I love watching the plants and trees change with the seasons. Duthie…

  • We bought a house and Slains Castle

    We went out for a celebratory dinner tonight because we put an offer on a house today and it was accepted! We decided it was probably a good time to buy because interest rates are ridiculously low (<2% for a two year fixed term at the moment) and a dip in the price of oil…

  • From Aberdeen to Crathes on Deeside Way

    This is my last day of the five-day blogging challenge and because I’ve had quite an eventful day I’m going to post a number of photos. I am absolutely knackered. We went out for a cycle ride on Deeside Way today all the way out to Crathes. According to Map My Ride it was 22km…

  • You’ve Been Trumped!

    Here’s my image for day three of the five-day blogging challenge. The image is not mine. It’s the work of artist David McCue and is the poster for the film, You’ve Been Trumped, a documentary about Donald Trump’s development just north of Aberdeen. I bought the DVD online and we watched it last night. I…

  • Cycling the Deeside cycleway in the rain

    We went for another ride this afternoon along the Deeside cycleway. It was raining all morning and so I had to force a somewhat reluctant husband to join me. The kids were warm and dry in Busby so they didn’t mind. It didn’t rain very much in the end and the sun even came out…

  • Deeside Way

    We’ve just been out for a cycle ride on Deeside Way. This is the old train line which used to ferry Queen Victoria and entourage out to Balmoral Castle every summer. It was closed in the 60s and has recently been converted into a cycling/walking path. The pathway goes all the way out to Ballater,…

  • Duthie Park and ice shelves

    I took this photo of Duthie Park today. I love watching the plants change as we move deeper into spring. There’s about to be an explosion of green there as all the buds on the trees open up probably in the next week or so. Duthie Park is a gorgeous place: great for running, walking,…

  • Daffodils and vote cycling

    The days are getting really long here. I’m surprised by how light it is and for how long. The vampire in me is wondering how I’m going to get to sleep mid-summer. I might have to get some blackout curtains. Sunrise is at 6:03am and sunset at 8:13pm but it starts getting light sometime around…

  • Litter bugs and pissing in the street

    Ever since I read Gemma’s post about her Bishop’s Meadow litter pick, I have been thinking I should do the same. There are some lovely rose gardens and a small field of daffodils very close to our home and both seem to be permanently spoilt with litter. One afternoon this week as I was cycling…

  • Job losses at the University of Aberdeen

    Aberdeen University are calling for voluntary redundancies in a bid to save money. At this stage it is just voluntary but typically in these situations, if enough people don’t volunteer, they progress to forced redundancies. The physical sciences and mathematics are usually fairly safe so I think the chances of Ben losing his job are quite small,…

  • Aberdeen Jazz Festival

    We spent a couple of hours at the Aberdeen Jazz Festival this afternoon. It was terrific. I love jazz. Especially live jazz. We used to go to the Christchurch Jazz Festival every year which was at a similar time of year; April I think. I wonder whether it still runs? The Aberdeen Festival was just…