Another week has come and gone WAY too quickly!!! Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:
I took a day trip to the Cairngorms National Park
Last Wednesday, my friend Brennan and I met at the bus stop at 6:30 am so that we could make it to Braemar — a town located in the Cairngorms National Park — with plenty of time to hike. The trip was about four hours long, but thankfully we didn’t have to deal with any connections since there’s a stagecoach bus (the 201) that goes all the way from Aberdeen to Braemar.
On the way to Braemar, we passed Balmoral castle which is where the Royals stay when they visit Scotland (and where the Queen just recently passed away). A few minutes after we passed the castle, Brennan pointed out a Rolls Royce on the road. Apparently those are one of the most expensive cars here, and they cost about half a million pounds. I laughed and jokingly said, “what if that’s the King”.
As we passed through towns, Brennan pointed out several Royal Warrants hanging on the local businesses. If a business has a Royal Warrant, it means that the Royals regularly get their bread, meat, etc. from there.
We arrived in Braemar at about 11:00 all ready to hike… until we realized how cold it was! Thankfully, there were shops open that sold scarves, hats, gloves and sweaters. I had been meaning to get winter clothes anyway, so it worked out. Once we were dressed in much warmer clothes, we made our way to Creag Choinnich for a hike. I used the handy app “All Trails” to make sure we were following the right path. I didn’t want to get stuck up in the mountains!
The hike started out as a gradual incline through the woods… and then all of a sudden we looked back and realized we were on top of a mountain! The view from the top was incredible. There was a natural spring just below us and a huge castle in the distance (which was just someone’s home, by the way).
One of the best parts about this hike was that we didn’t see a single other person out there. I guess that’s the perk of going on a Wednesday rather than on the weekend!
We made it back to town after a few hours and decided to eat lunch at Farquharson’s Bar and Kitchen. It was exactly what you would imagine a restaurant in the mountains to look like: forest green walls, tartan curtains, and comfy leather sofas. While we were eating, I overheard the family sitting at the table next to us talking about Henry Villa Zoo which is in Madison, Wisconsin! They had American accents as well. I was so curious to know if they were from Wisconsin but not quite bold enough to admit that I was eavesdropping.
Another crazy thing that happened while we were eating lunch is that Brennan saw an announcement that King Charles had just arrived at Balmoral castle a couple of hours before… which means it may have actually been the King we saw in the Rolls Royce!
On the way home, we checked the flag at Balmoral Castle to see if they were flying the Royal Standard because that would mean that the King was still there. Sure enough, it was flying! I could not believe that we just happened to go out to Braemar the same day that King Charles was out there. Apparently, it’s not uncommon to see Royals out that way though. The lady that we had bought sweaters from that morning said that she once saw the Queen just strolling through town!
I spent time with friends
On Thursday night, I went out to dinner with Alyssa and her parents who were visiting from Canada. I hadn’t seen Alyssa for almost an entire week!!! It was so nice to spend some time together and be able to meet her parents. Last night (Tuesday), I was actually able to meet four of her friends from home as well! They arrived in Aberdeen a couple days ago and will be going to Amsterdam with Alyssa this weekend. We took them on a wee pub crawl to our favorite places: The Bobbin, Slain’s, and Prohibition.
After class on Friday, I spent a few hours doing school work and then spent the rest of the night with Merit. We met up for dinner at the student village’s bar and stayed until they closed at 10. Then, we went to her flat and talked for several more hours. It was so much fun! We listened to music of all kinds. Merit showed me some of her favorite songs and I showed her mine. At one point, I had made a comment about how country music makes me feel at home and she goes, “I know exactly what will make you feel at home”. I was expecting her to play some well-known country song, but instead she played… The Star Spangled Banner 🤣 I laughed so hard. She was right — it did make me feel at home!
I have also been running into the same group of people from Adam Smith (my dorm) a lot lately. I had gone to the caf for a quick brunch on Sunday morning and ended up staying for TWO HOURS talking with them all! It was so much fun. Then, I ran into them again the other night on my way back to the dorm… and again at dinner last night! I’m hoping to make plans with them soon.
I saw dolphins at Aberdeen Beach!
I was exhausted after going all the way to Braemar and back on Wednesday, so I decided to stay in Aberdeen for the weekend. I slept in as late as I could on Saturday morning and then went for a 6 mile walk along the beach. And I’m so glad I did because I ended up seeing dolphins! The water was calm and blue making it easy to spot them from a distance.
That’s all for now!
Until next time,
Clara