Aberdeen in depth

With its consecutive growth in the number of bustling passengers that pass through each year, my mum and I landed in Aberdeen International Airport to be greeted by my brother, one of the many who live in the third most populous city in Scotland. 

A beautiful coastline and a bustling city centre are only two of the reasons why Aberdeen is such a wonderful city to visit ... as well as my brother living there of course!

Its striking granite architecture gives reason to the nicknames: Granite City, the Grey City and also the Silver City, as the buildings sparkle due to their high mica mineral contents. The city holds an insightful history and displays a wide selection in arts and culture. Since the 1970’s discovery of North Sea oil, another nickname which Aberdeen has been given is the Oil Capital of Europe or the Energy Capital of Europe. 

Walking and exploring being two of our favourite things to do, my mum and me discovered places in Aberdeen which were marvellous to see whilst my brother was at work. We visited the Central Library with its amazing architecture, as well as Aberdeen Art Gallery, where we were in for a fabulous treat; the House of Annie Lennox exhibition was open for the public to see. I can remember how wonderful it was with the setup of her colourful and creative costumes from videos such as Walking on Broken Glass and Little Bird, Annie’s sentimental memorabilia and awards; all of which paid tribute to the creativity, style and passion which she pours into her work. 

One day during our wonderful summer stay in Aberdeen, my brother took us to Ballater, a beautiful burgh in Aberdeenshire which is located on the River Dee, east of the Cairngorm Mountains. 

Ideal for walking, hiking and mountain biking, Ballater is such a gorgeous spot to visit, especially when the weather turns out to be as glorious as it was for us on that particular day. 

On mountain bikes, we took an amazing route through Ballater and being confident in our abilities, we crossed over into the forest. Going deeper into the splendiferous undergrowth of green lushness and smelling the pine scent from the trees as we passed on vehicles consisting of a light frame mounted on two wire-spoke wheels one behind the other; bikes of course, the sounds of birds around us and crackling of branches beneath us was simply splendid.

The sunlight was breaking through the branches as we settled to have our picnic near a lake within the forest. After our tasty picnic, we continued to cycle through the forest.

There were other cyclists who passed by and we exchanged a few words about the weather as it seems to be everyone’s favourite subject! Few walkers could be spotted through the trees as we cycled on by, and I thought what a beautiful location this was indeed.

My brother explained when to use the brakes and which way to turn when going down slopes, and so, having grasped the knack, my mum went after my brother down this steep rocky slope, and cleared it. So I went straight after her, and knowing me, I had to head straight for a massive rock, boulder, whatever it was, and flipped over, falling on stones. But it was as if I went in slow motion, knowing I shouldn’t have headed for the only big rock there was, screaming whilst I did so. My mum turned round when successfully reaching the bottom, but due to the screaming she heard from me, continued into a little stream with her bike. She was tangled with the bike on top of her leg, so it was a matter of urgency to get up and fish her out. The handlebars on my mum’s bike had a clump of grass from the bank of the stream; funny to see but sore nonetheless. Despite the bruises and cuts, we continued to cycle further and back along the beautiful River Dee.  

Another day we travelled to Stonehaven, yet another beautiful town in Aberdeenshire. My brother took us on a fabulously stunning walk to Dunnottar Castle, 3 kilometres south of Stonehaven. It’s a ruined medieval fortress on the north-east coast of Scotland that towers above the ground on a rocky cliff and spreads across 3.5 acres of land. The Castle was spectacular to see, as well as the stunning views around. There were many people visiting, both tourists and locals, all taking photos of the scenery and listening to a boy playing the bagpipes, music to our ears, on the edge of the cliff which overlooked the castle. The perfect setting it was with a castle, the wonderful scenery, and people who were ever so friendly.   

50 metres below the Castle, we sat on the white sandy beach enjoying our picnic, listening to the crashing waves next to us and admired how breathtaking the Castle looked up on the cliff.

Dining out every night was lovely as we got dressed up and enjoyed what Aberdeen had to offer during the night-time. My brother took us to Tropeiro, a Brazilian restaurant based on a ‘Rodizio’ concept, a Brazilian style steakhouse. Their mouth-watering meats are cooked on an open fire and carved at the tableside, and with the vast choice of meats, it was lovely to enjoy the variety on offer. However, there were baby lamb’s hearts and other strange but exotic meat to choose from. Every time the baby lamb hearts came round, we all mentioned Mary had a little lamb, the poor lamb, haha! It goes without saying, we declined the offer of it.

One particular night after dining in Tropeiro, we went to the cinema to watch ‘Brave’, a computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Being set in Scotland, it seemed apt to watch the film in Aberdeen, and with a voice cast including Julie Walters, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson, to name a few, it was a great film to see. 

The B&B we stayed in was just wonderful. A massive TV came in handy to watch some of the 2012 Olympics, as well as a full cooked breakfast, freshly cooked ... simply fabulous every morning.  

To summarize our visit to Aberdeen, I’d have to say we had such a splendid stay and explored wonderful places thanks to our brilliant tour guide, my brother.