If you’ve read some of my most recent posts, you probably recognize the name “Slain’s Castle” as my favorite bar in Aberdeen. While I did go to that Slain’s a couple of times this past week, I also took a trip to the actual Slain’s Castle which is located in Cruden Bay. Here’s the story of foo (how) and fitwye (why) I went there:
My original plan for the weekend was to take a train to St. Andrews, but there ended up being rail strikes all day Saturday meaning none of the trains were running. I could have taken a series of buses, but I didn’t trust that I would get there early enough as the trip was expected to be about 3.5 hours one-way and the buses are difficult to catch sometimes. So, I decided to explore a bit closer to Aberdeen. I chose to go to the Newburgh Seal Beach first, since the best time to see seals is when the tide is low.
I was waiting at the bus stop when a group of students walked up looking for the same bus. We started talking a bit, and I found out that a few of them are also third-year exchange students from the States! They were going to Slain’s but not Newburgh, so I still ended up exploring on my own for the day (which I really enjoy).
The bus dropped me off close to the trail to Seal Beach, so it was very easy to find. I walked along a boardwalk for a while and hiked up a couple of sand dunes to reach the spot where the river meets the sea. As soon as I reached the water, I saw nearly a hundred seals laying out on the beach! It was amazing. I saw seals for the first time from a boat in Fort William about a month ago, but not quite this many. The best part was that some of the seals were swimming in the water just ten feet away from me! There was one seal that kept staring at me and floating down the river, just to swim back up the river and do it all over again. It was so sweet!
After I walked down the beach and back, I decided to catch a bus to Cruden Bay. The trail to Slain’s castle was a little less obvious, but Google Maps made it easy to find. I walked through town, into a forest, and then out into a field to reach the castle ruins which were situated right on the edge of a cliff. I enjoyed exploring this castle because, unlike Dunnottar, no tickets were required to see the inside. I just wandered around and used my imagination to visualize what different parts of the castle were probably used for.
From Slain’s castle, I walked about 25 minutes to a place called the “Bullers of Buchan”. I had to walk along the road which was a little less fun, but the views were worth it. There was a narrow trail that ran along the edge of the cliffs. One of the cliffs — the Bullers of Buchan — was collapsed in the middle. I have never seen anything like that before! I’m not exactly sure how that happens, but I would like to find out.
I kept walking along the trail for awhile until I found a flat spot where I could eat my lunch. I had packed a tomato & basil pasta salad from the campus store that morning, and I’m glad I did because there weren’t many food options in Cruden Bay (from what I could tell anyway). As I was sitting on the edge of a cliff eating my lunch, I noticed a big, dark body in the water. I jumped up to see what it was…
It was another seal!
On the way home from Cruden Bay, I ran into the same group of people that I had met at the bus stop earlier. They were getting on from Newburgh. I guess they liked my idea of going to Seal Beach and decided to go after Slain’s.
Saturday night, Isabella and I went out to eat at an Italian restaurant downtown called Amarone. I had linguini pasta with a tomato-based sauce and prawns, and it was the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. The dessert was amazing, too: Italian ice cream with dark cherries and chocolate — yum!
I ended up going to another castle on Sunday with the group from the bus stop. We took a bus to a town just west of Aberdeen and walked to Drum castle.
There, we went on a tour of the castle interior and walked around the estate. We found lots of interesting mushrooms and ate wild blackberries. I stopped picking blackberries when the biggest, hairiest spider I have EVER seen in my LIFE was dangling just above my head!!!! I have been training myself to tolerate spiders since there are lots of small ones in my dorm, but I absolutely lost my mind at the sight of this one.
I was so scared that I was able to sprint for nearly half a mile to the bus that we almost missed… so I guess something good came out of it.
One of the guys, Drew, sat next to me on the bus on the way home and we talked the entire time. At one point, we had been talking about how funny it would be to scare people in Seaton Park on Halloween and he said, “I scared a couple of American girls one night during move-in”. I laughed and asked him if he also told a confused driver that Wavell House (a student residence building) was called “Waffle House”.
That’s right — the two girls he scared that first night were me and Isabella!
Other highlights from the week
Tuesday night was the latest night I’ve had yet in Aberdeen… I didn’t get home until 3:30 am! Alyssa, Isabella, Brennan and I went to Slain’s and were there until closing time. Then, we went to Prohibition where we met a couple of guys — one Irish and one English — who had just gotten back from being out at sea for a few weeks. I cannot imagine being on a boat for that long. Anyway, we talked with them a bit and laughed at the fact that we were American, Canadian, Irish, and English in a Scottish bar. Who do the Scots hate the most? Definitely the English 😆.
Wednesday morning we went downtown for brunch and some shopping. We stopped at a convenience store to get some water and ended up finding a machine that made fresh orange juice! It was the best orange juice I’ve ever had. That night, we went back to Slain’s for a pub quiz even though we were exhausted. I had pinky promised the bartender the night before that we would be back… and you can’t break a pinky promise!
On Thursday night, Merit, Brennan and I went skating at an indoor ice rink right next to the beach. I had only ice skated once before, but by the end of the night I was able to keep up with them! On our way back, we were walking through a field in the dark and nearly stepped on not one but SEVEN deid mappies (dead rabbits)!!!! It was so strange. It felt like Voldemort was going to just pop up out of nowhere and curse us all!
Yesterday (aka the busiest day ever)
Yesterday was the busiest day ever but in a good way. I had class in the afternoon and then made apple crisp with Merit and Jasmin afterwards. Brennan also texted asking if I wanted to go for a walk at the beach, and of course I agreed. I was also invited to watch a movie with some people from my dorm. I figured I would easily have time for everything… but then we kept forgetting to turn the oven on so it took 3x longer than it should have to make the apple crisp! I wasn’t upset because that just meant that I got to spend more time talking with Merit and Jasmin, but it did make getting to Brennan’s house less relaxing…
I ended up RUNNING two miles to Brennan’s house so that we could walk before it was dark. It was raining throughout our entire walk, but I actually really enjoyed it. I don’t mind walking in the rain as long as I have my rain jacket and warm clothes. It was just nice to be at the beach, walking in the sand and breathing in the salty air.
By the time we were back from our walk, I had missed the dinner hours back at the student village. Thankfully, Brennan offered to make fajitas for both of us. They were delicious! The fajita mix was some sort of smokey barbecue flavoring which was different but so good. I was also happy to eat peppers and onions since the only vegetable I can find at the catered dinners are peas!
I returned to my dorm with the intentions of showering and going straight to bed. As I was walking down the hallway to my room from the shower, a girl shouted, “Hey! I don’t know you yet. Come to my kitchen… we’re having a PARTY”. She made me pinky promise that I would come meet everyone, so I put on some clothes and joined them for a couple of hours. I guess I can “sleep when I’m dead”, right?
I’m going to try to get some work done today, but tomorrow should be another fun day since I don’t have class. I might go hiking again since the days are getting shorter and rainier much faster than I anticipated. Check back next week to find out!
Until next time,
Clara