Scotland, First Impressions

Looking up Union Street in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Even before the plane landed I was absorbing some of the differences of my new surroundings. True, I was at the end of a long flight and probably a little delirious, but you'd be one of blind or asleep to miss the rolling green hills with bunches of trees and bunches of little stone buildings.

Everything here seems to be made of stone. A friend informed me that there aren't any trees here, at least not big ones like in the forests of North Vancouver. Sure, Aberdeen itself is quite green with all the street trees and well-kept house gardens but getting a hold of wood for construction must be difficult.

So walking about the neighbourhood you see stone and steel walls instead of wood fences and houses that look like small castles. It's true. Many of the homes have features learned from castles even though there's really no modern use for crenellations (battlements). Even looking down a residential alley feels different just because of the stone walls that run down either side.

The grey walls and often grey weather does make the city feel rather dull. And while the bright and colourful dress of a young woman contrasts so sharply as to seem out of place, I'm always thankful for it.

A view down a street in a residential area of Aberdeen, Scotland.

If you think that the local construction materials are any indication of personality you'd be only partly correct. The people here do strike me as being quite tough but they're also real friendly. Unfortunately, I never took the name down, but there was a particular take-away shop that had every fast food you could think of including burgers, pizza, and kebabs. I got to talking with the guys working there and decided to sit and eat at one of the two tables in the tiny place. We chattered across the counter while watching Euro Cup, Austria vs. Croatia (0-1).

Another day, while queued up in a corner shop in a quiet area an older gentleman asked me if I watched much football. When he heard me speak, the conversation quickly shifted to my travels and of Aberdeen. He wasn't a fan of the city. As you often hear, the old days were better. The city had changed a lot and nowadays kids drink too much and do foolish things, he said, noting the oil money as a possible cause. He wasn't bitter about it but rather sounded nostalgic about days gone by.

One of the locals out in the sun working on their garden.

At that point, I remembered wandering around in search of food at nine in the evening on Saturday night. Seemed most everyone was tipsy and bunches of people a year or two short of my age were arguing with bouncers or wandering from pub to club. Live music bellowed from open doors and cop cars were already racing down the streets. Still jet-lagged, I was far too tired to stag it in a foreign bar but I couldn't help but notice how early the party had gotten started. And how late, I wonder?

I'll definitely have to go for drinks and live music before moving on!

In any case, the old man from the corner shop was excited for my going to Edinburgh, which he boasted was a beautiful city. He added that the people in Edinburgh were much nicer, pointing out that this was coming from an Aberdonian.

So there you have it, the Aberdonians (my new favourite word) are friendly and humble, too.