… don’t forget the cliches.
The Granite city, grey buildings glistening in the rain, pints costing a fiver due to oil riches, a place full of craft keg fanatics with a BrewDog on every corner, a last stop before the ferry to the beer paradise that is Lerwick, etc etc.
Possibly.
It felt very quiet at 8am as we hopped on the bus the mile north to Old Aberdeen, now home of the University and not much else. I’d have asked Mrs RM to walk to save the £2.20, but I valued my life at more than £2.20, and the University were pleased she’d saved the taxi fare.
Frost was on the ground outside the admin block where I left Mrs RM. It looked very Cambridge.
I popped in to Starbucks in the Crombie Annexe, saving 25p on city prices, and then walked down the cobbled old High Street in search of ticks. Or basic boozers with a red “T” outside them.
Of course “wowser” Scotland just taunts you with coffee in their pubs till 11am. EVEN THE SPOONS.
And it’s only 9. So I admired the decade-old football stickers,
the street art,
the scary alleys,
and the council building, possibly the grandest in the UK.
All very beautiful, just as it was on my last visit a decade ago (before Brew Dog).
Not very grey, apart from my mood as I realised I had 90 minutes till opening, and those boats weren’t taking me to Kirkwall for a tenner either.
So I jumped on the 9.39 to Stonehaven. I was the only passenger.
NB Here’s the song. No “Mary’s Prayer“, but what is ?
retiredmartin 
“The beer paradise that is Lerwick”! I nearly fell off my chair! The solitary handpump in Captain Flint’s stands unused, craft keg is available at the Dowry and the String and a decent pint of Staropramen at Fjara, otherwise it’s Tennents. Luckily I like Tennents. Oddly enough, no Foster’s to be seen (No loss)
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I meant to say I look forward to your Stonehaven post, it’s a nice wee town with a couple of good pubs.
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The age of that top McEwans sign suggests that Aberdeen had a police theme pub long before the Pump and Truncheon opened in Blackpool.
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The Spoons on the square at the head of Union street would’ve been open. I love Aberdeen. Rare to see a working port in the UK these days. Real people doing real work. My favourite there is the Grill. I don’t know if it is in the guide or not.
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Indeed, the Archibald Simpson was open, but not licensed till 11am. So I had two more flat whites in there waiting for the bus, in the company of about half a dozen coffee drinkers. By the time I got back at 3pm, there must have been a hundred Tennents topers ! Same applies in N. Ireland I think.
Grill still a Guide regular. Sadly no time to redo the old favourites this trip.
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Real people doing real work should mean plenty of proper pubs with good session beers.
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“Should you go to Aberdeen”……..
Whenever I go to Aberdeen (not very often) it’s on the overnight train from London Euston, current timetabled arrival time of 0739. Shortly after 0800 I will normally be in Aitchie’s Ale House just across the road from the station. A great little pub and a pint of Orkney Dark Island to set up the day. No idea how this place is able to serve alcohol before the 1100 everywhere else (inc Spoons) but they do – legitimately I believe !
https://whatpub.com/pubs/ABE/000008/aitchies-ale-house-aberdeen
Looking forward to your report of Stonehaven ……
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Aitchies was closed for a repaint when I arrived, luckily it opened up just before our return journey 👍
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I’ve read that some Scottish pubs can sell alcohol earlier than 11.00 but I don’t know whether this is under local rules or what. Apparently some Spoons can sell you a beer before 11.00 but it has to be with a meal. This does not include a snack like a bacon roll but a full meal off the menu. https://www.pieandbovril.com/forum/index.php?/topic/237361-wetherspoons-saturday-licensing-hours/
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Good grief that’s complicated. So you can only get a beer over 2.5% when Partick Thistle win a corner?
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Back in the late 80’s you could go out in Edinburgh on a Friday, last places shut at 4am, go to the all night bakers for a pie; the pubs down Leith walk then started opening again at 5am. So you could, theoretically, start at 5am on a Friday and drink for 47 out of the next 48 hours.
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Wow.
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Mark,
Don’t tell everyone !
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That’s about it, yes. Only when there’s an “R” in the month obviously and when St Nicola (AKA Wee Jimmy Krankie) is smiling upon you.
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“but I valued my life at more than £2.20”
LOL! Many of us married men can relate to that. 🙂
“Entrance to the Starbucks”
Surely that’s the back entrance to Hogwarts?
“The sign of quality”
Red B down south, red T up north?
“Scotland just taunts you with coffee in their pubs till 11am”
Ah, like Canada then.
“the street art,”
Is that the Scottish equivalent of ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’?
“The Marischal”
I’m beginning to see why Hogwarts was set in Scotland.
“So I jumped on the 9.39 to Stonehaven.”
Hopefully it’s in a different time zone? 🙂
Cheers
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Oh yes, I get that Hogwarts feel now.
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