Week-End in Aberdeen

The city of Aberdeen - The Granite City - is on the east coast of Scotland facing the North Sea and Norway. It is a three hour train ride north from Edinburgh. It was nice to glide through the country side on the quiet, smooth train and have a look at the coastline, villages, and fields of the area. Lots of wheat, potatoes and other vegetables, and soybeans.

The city itself is known as the "granite city" because there is a large deposit of granite that has been mined over recent centuries to build the city, and the granite has been shipped out all over the world. There are buildings built with this granite that date back to 1300 bc.  They say that when the sun is shining in Aberdeen the buildings, 50% of which are made with this high grade granite, sparkle and shine. 

I will have to take their word for it, as the sun didn't come out while we were there. Many of the streets were done in beautiful granite cobble stone too.

Another prevalent aspect of Aberdeen is the oil industry.  In the 1970's, some of you may remember, oil was found in the North Sea, and off shore oil rigs continue to pump oil from beneath the ocean floor, making the port of Aberdeen very busy indeed.



While traveling around the area, we met a couple on the bus, and the gentleman had spent many years working on the oil rigs and now teaches continuing education courses to oil rig workers all over the world. It was very interesting to talk with him about the industry. The city has grown rapidly since the time of the oil rigs, so people talk about the "before and after" , as it changed the city significantly.

At the end of our ride together, they brought us to the two oldest pubs in the city. There is a disput as to which is oldest, so we had to go to both. The first was The Old King's Highway, established by local monks in the 1600's. However, I liked the second one, The Prince of Wales, best because there was no TV and no jukebox - just suds, old wooden floors, and folks talking and laughing.

We used the bus system in Aberdeen to make a couple of outings into the country side.  On Saturday we went to Dunnottar Castle, which is a castle ruin near the small town of Stonehaven.   From the brochure:

• William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles, all graced the Castle with their presence. Most famously though, it was here that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell's army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the 'Honors of Scotland' from destruction.
• A darker chapter in the history of the castle is that of the 'Whig's Vault'. The gruesume story of the imprinsoment in 1685 of a group of Covenanters who refused to acknowledge the King's supremacy in spiritual matters.
• The Castle was home of hte Earls Marischal once one of the most powerful families in the land. The last Earl was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and as a result his estates, including Dunnottar, were seized by the government.
• The buildings were thereafter much neglected until 1925 when the 1st Viscontess Cowdray embarked on a systematic preservation of the castle, which was offically made open to visitors thereafter.

It was a little soggy for hiking with sporadic rain, but still, with proper gear, not unpleasent. We hiked for about an hour each way to get to the castle from Stonehaven. The following are some photos from the hike.

On Sunday we went inland, following the River Dee, to the town of Banchory, and there we hiked up Scolty Hill.  Scolty Hill is a small hill south of the Deeside town, Banchory. Its best known feature is the 20m tall tower monument, a memorial to General Burnett who fought alongside Wellington. It was cool and very windy, especially at the top of the tower, but less wet that day.



The River Dee

 

 

 

We are back at Dalkeith House again, and today we will meet with the rest of the faculty and begin our orientation. There is a group of 10 students and 2 staff who are coming from the UW system specifically for a week of the Fringe Festival, which is a course the students will take, and an event that will warrent a posting all its own.  The fall semester students will begin to arrive next week as well, with classes starting on the 17th.

I have an appointment with the Jewel and Esk college in Edinburgh on Friday (the 12th) to meet a director there to begin looking for ways to make connections for our WITC students in the future. Today I will take a walk to the Jewel and Esk, Dalkeith-campus.  It was a great week-end in Aberdeen - now we're back to it.

Arrival to Dalkeith

...and just like that, we're in Scotland.  All of the preparation and travel now being over, I am sitting in the teacher's lounge, having a coffee, and looking out the window at the rain falling as I am tapping this note out.

Modern travel is amazing. It took almost 24 hours from door to door, but when one thinks about the boat ride that our predecessors took to get across the Atlantic, our short term discomfort was nothing.


We were greeted kindly at the door by, Katie, one of the Dalkeith House employees, and shown to our room.  The place, or technically, "palace" is...well...interesting. "Faded Elegance" is the term I heard used by the staff at UW River Falls, which rings true being here now. The building itself is impressive from the outside, and it is set in what is now used as a park by the town of Dalkeith.  Tall wooden doors and lots of marble have caught my eye first.


We were brought through a labyrinth of doors, hallways, and staircases to our small, comfortable, plain, clean room and shown where the kitchen and bathrooms are.  There is a group of art students and faculty from River Falls here for a couple of weeks this summer, so the room we're currently using is not our permanent room - no unpacking yet. Below is an arial view of the building I got from a photo here.

We took a walk around the city of Dalkeith last night, a bit groggy from being up for so long, but enjoyed the walk and got a nice meal at an Indian restaurant called the Bombay Lounge that was spicy and delicious.  After a good nights sleep and getting some outlet adapters this morning from Katie (yes, the outlets are different) we're back in business. We'll bus the ride into Edinburgh today to see the sights and plan a quick trip to Ireland before being back for Faculty Orientation on the 10th.


So far it's been great to be out in the world, but one of the highlights so far was flying over our home near Red Cedar Lake shortly after take off from the airport in Minneapolis.  I had a window seat and was able to discern the chain of lakes that we live near by their particular shapes and islands. I saw windmills and fields of tulips along the canals in Amsterdam as we landed and took off on a connecting flight there. We have seen people from all walks of life, speaking various languages, exibiting varied accents, throughout the airports and streets. Travel is a treat for the eyes, ears, and mind - if not the body.

Thanks to all for the well-wishes prior to our departure (even those who kept asking me if I was going to wear a kilt - the above picture is for you). We apprciate your interest and will report more as it happens.


So far, so good.