The Quintessential Scottish Day

It's 4:56 am and I am currently being serenaded by the bartender on the boat as he belts out a rousing rendition of "Video Killed The Radio Star" and other 80s hits as they play on the sound system.

"Busy night?" I say to him, smiling (there is no one else around).

"Aw, yeah! Just muckin' about! Always somethin' to do" he laughs as he wipes a mirror off on the wall behind me.

Why doesn't everyone use the term "muckin' about"?? It's awesome.

Yesterday, sleep deprived and dilerious, I wandered around Aberdeen. I saw a giant statue of William Wallace, and tons of beautiful old buldings and quaint streets.












It was a beautiful, breezy, cool, sunny day in Aberdeen. It was probably low 60s, and the air was so fresh and crisp. I wandered around for about 2 hours and then happened across the Kirk of St. Nicholas, founded in 1157. The main church there was built in 1458, and the grounds contain the largest number of Mideval effigies in all of Scotland.



There are park benches throughout and many of the locals take their lunch there to eat. There were two adorable older men who were feeding the pigeons in the main square. The grounds are surrounded by the old headstones and memrorial stones. It's lush, and green, and mossy.

















And then I wandered to the other side of the kirk, where I happened upon 17 men in Kilts.

Quintessential Scottish Check List Item #1: Check.

And then, I saw another man in a kilt, kneeling down to a case. He pulled out the pieces of a bagpipe and started to put it together. I was far too excited for my own good. I had almost fallen asleep on one of the park benches before (having not slept for about 28 hours at that point) but I was instantly excited.






I found the nearest park bench and took a seat. I listened to him play the bagpipes for several hours. The sound filled the courtyard and echoed across town. It was amazing.

Quintessential Scottish Check List Item #2: Check.

I had only been in Scotland for 4 hours, and I had already seen kilts and bagpipers. I could not have been happier.

When I went back to the hotel to pick up my bags, I was telling the guy behind the counter that I had run across a bagpiper, he got excited and told me that I was among the very few travelers who got to see a bagpiper playing in sunlight in Aberdeen.

"They say it's a sign of good luck!" he said.

Yes!

Then I accidentally found myself in the Red Light district of Aberdeen while trying to find the ferry terminal to get on my boat. Whoops. Luckily it was daytime.

It was such a perfect evening to set sail.














It is finally startng to get light out. It's foggy and it looks like everything you'd imagine from a sea journey north of Scotland. The boat is rocking pretty good and you can see just how choppy the water is. But I am thankful that I have a stomach of steel when it comes to boats.

I will sign off for now, not knowing when I might have access to the internet again. But I will be writing posts as I go and then post them when I have access.

Until then...

Location:Aberdeen/Northlink Ferries