I live in Aberdeen in the North-East of Scotland and I do actually love it. I mean yeah okay I am constantly making plans to leave after graduation, and I bitch and moan about the small-town mentality of its people, and when it rains and I'm stuck outside I bemoan our northern weather BUT I do love it really.
Aberdeen is the Silver City and it really truly does sparkle in the sunlight, it sometimes even sparkles in the rain and that's just pretty!! But due to a council more pre-occupied with doing up their own offices than the city as a whole, the city has developed a bad reputation. There are parts that need a lot of work and there are people willing to invest (or should that be were people...) but Barney Crockett and his ilk seem content to let our city languish behind places like Dundee and Hull, when it comes to City of Culture races, and forward movement in any way.
In a mood about the city not being recognised I decided to take a walk and just started taking pictures of some of the prettier sides to our fair city. These are things that I think we ignore in our busy day to day lives...sometimes you can walk through a place and not really see it. So I decided to take you on a walk with me through the medium of pictures :-)...
This is our gorgeous art gallery, I mean inside is full of amazing pieces of art AND the outside looks like this...I can't help but be drawn towards it.
This is the piece that welcomes you the second you walk in the door of Aberdeen Art Gallery, and my favourite piece by Tracey Emin ever. If i'm feeling really down then I head straight to sit in front of this for 5 minutes, and it truly grounds me.
Cowdray Hall...so often the subject of many a drunken student photo-op this war memorial is actually a really nice side of Aberdeen. It just looks majestic and is such a tranquil place to sit (despite the three roads of traffic that converge there.
HMT home of many a play. The theatre has it's too modern for my liking extension, but the true history lies in the main building, with it's opulent red velvet upholstering and gorgeous gold trimmings, it is a lesson in what theatres should look like. I still remember the moment I say my first "proper" play here, I remember crying through my first Opera here, and the excitement that rippled through the dress circle when Susan Boyle herself appeared to sing on stage after the story of her life. Many of my dreams were borne out of this theatre, and many a good time has been had.
Honestly how many of you have actually noticed these shields? These make up the fencing around the wee garden opposite the theatre. Pro Libertate Patriae means "For the Freedom of Country"- surrounding William Wallace's crest these are supposed to be in keeping with the GIANT William Wallace statue that sits just outside this pocket garden...I couldn't fit the whole statue into a pic on my phone...but maybe next time.
The Central Library! This is my library people, this is a big, gorgeous, granite building FULL OF BOOKS. I don't think I need to say anything else.
Joining the theatre to the library is this pretty little church. It's not my church, I don't even know what denomination it is...but it is pretty!
This surprised me...I don't think I've ever noticed these mouldings, or windows before, but again that's kind of the point of this blog post. Can anyone that lives in the city tell me where these are- I mean obviously I know but I'm intrigued to see if anyone else has noticed them.
There you go, a wee walk through a wee part of my wee city. Hope you liked it. In fact why not take a walk through your own city and share your pics with us?
Update: Lovely reader Lisa shared a picture of the William Wallace statue that she took (and developed herself) so here you go...
Much Love
AJ
xx
