the trip to Dundee (Wednesday 20th June)
A couple of weeks back I went back to Dundee for my graduation. Would have liked to have made a holiday of it but due to lack of leave, we had to keep it to a long weekend, regardless it was good to return there!
Whilst my crazy parents took an overnight bus from Cardiff, Rob and I went up by train. Not accustomed to UK train travel, I was quite looking forward to it, deluded soul that I am! Found our reserved seats, to discover a rather disgruntled couple who realised they didn't have a table to themselves - and once I heard their accent, realised we were sitting next to them for the 6 hour duration! The bloke who sat next to me was a miserable sod who spent most of the trip either snoring or trying to push my arm off the armrest, and grumbling whenever I needed to get up for the loo. The view out the window was nice though, despite the weather!
Newcastle
Alnmouth, Northumberland
crossing the Firth of Forth
arrival in Dundee
The train ran a tad late and we arrived at Dundee 30 minutes later than scheduled. I had asked my Dad to go to Caird Hall to pick up the graduation tickets, which was a good call as it was pretty busy by the time we arrived. Somehow managed to find my parents, as we happened to arrive just when that day's graduands were exiting the hall and I went in to pick up my robe.
Caird Hall
rather posh robe collection room!
me travelling light - rucksack only - in practice for Mexico!
Checked into our hotel and I tried on my entire wardrobe with the robe to decide what to wear. The University's website expressed a dresscode of white shirt and black skirt/trousers, which I didn't really want to wear (not worn a white shirt since my school days!) - but after seeing what half the students were wearing, I'm glad I rebelled and brought a few extra options.
and my hair perfectly matched the hood!
I had booked dinner at a posh fish and chip shop, which we went to with my parents.
Dundee has lots of cute art
It was rather lovely. Great food and a fantastic range of local gins. After dinner, Rob and I went off for a quick drink, heading uphill to the University area to find a pub or two which had been recommended to me. My parents meanwhile went back to the hotel with a bottle of sherry to have in their room! ..... the major bone of contention between my mother and myself all weekend, she kept complaining that I was spending too much time and money in pubs, whereas my view is that its far healthier and more enjoyable to be out in a social location people-watching, instead of drinking alone in a hotel room!
more cute art - lemmings!
and an unfathomly tiny bandstand
Caird Hall at night
Dundee is famously the home of Dandy and Beano comics
and a dragon
The full gallery of pics for Wednesday and Thursday here
Whilst my crazy parents took an overnight bus from Cardiff, Rob and I went up by train. Not accustomed to UK train travel, I was quite looking forward to it, deluded soul that I am! Found our reserved seats, to discover a rather disgruntled couple who realised they didn't have a table to themselves - and once I heard their accent, realised we were sitting next to them for the 6 hour duration! The bloke who sat next to me was a miserable sod who spent most of the trip either snoring or trying to push my arm off the armrest, and grumbling whenever I needed to get up for the loo. The view out the window was nice though, despite the weather!
Newcastle
Alnmouth, Northumberland
crossing the Firth of Forth
arrival in Dundee
The train ran a tad late and we arrived at Dundee 30 minutes later than scheduled. I had asked my Dad to go to Caird Hall to pick up the graduation tickets, which was a good call as it was pretty busy by the time we arrived. Somehow managed to find my parents, as we happened to arrive just when that day's graduands were exiting the hall and I went in to pick up my robe.
Caird Hall
rather posh robe collection room!
me travelling light - rucksack only - in practice for Mexico!
Checked into our hotel and I tried on my entire wardrobe with the robe to decide what to wear. The University's website expressed a dresscode of white shirt and black skirt/trousers, which I didn't really want to wear (not worn a white shirt since my school days!) - but after seeing what half the students were wearing, I'm glad I rebelled and brought a few extra options.
and my hair perfectly matched the hood!
I had booked dinner at a posh fish and chip shop, which we went to with my parents.
Dundee has lots of cute art
It was rather lovely. Great food and a fantastic range of local gins. After dinner, Rob and I went off for a quick drink, heading uphill to the University area to find a pub or two which had been recommended to me. My parents meanwhile went back to the hotel with a bottle of sherry to have in their room! ..... the major bone of contention between my mother and myself all weekend, she kept complaining that I was spending too much time and money in pubs, whereas my view is that its far healthier and more enjoyable to be out in a social location people-watching, instead of drinking alone in a hotel room!
more cute art - lemmings!
and an unfathomly tiny bandstand
Caird Hall at night
Dundee is famously the home of Dandy and Beano comics
and a dragon
The full gallery of pics for Wednesday and Thursday here