Stop Two: Aberdeen

Having not visited Aberdeen during any of my previous trips to Scotland, I made a point of doing so this time. My review is "mixed," but more on that in a moment.

The bus ride from Glasgow to Aberdeen was nothing special, which is "saying something," because there are numerous bus rides and train rides in Scotland that take you through some breathtaking landscapes.

While in Aberdeen I visited the Maritime Museum (it was excellent), visited Pittodrie Stadium (home of Aberdeen F.C.), and Bishop Skene's (pictured)- the oldest private residence in the city. I enjoyed all of these things.

About that "mixed review"... Aberdeen is a "boomtown." The problem is that the North Sea oil that caused the "boom" arrived almost 800 years after the city was chartered. Thus, a city with beautiful architecture ranging from medieval to Victorian is also full of ugly, poorly-placed, and unimaginative office buildings from the 1970s. It is almost impossible to take a picture of one of the beautiful buildings without having the corner of a building that looks like it was plucked out of East Berlin jutting into it. For example, Provost Skene's house is surrounded by just such buildings. If one has any appreciation of architecture or history is just gets depressing after a while.

Add this to the fact that all of the money coming into the city makes the cost of living very expensive (even moreso for a visitor) and that the rides to and from the city are underwhelming and I probably won't return to it. I'm glad I went, but given how many better places there are in Scotland to spend time in, once was enough.