It's the Aberdeen Advice Thread

[D-Rider]

So it's official - I'm going to spend the next year of my life (barring most weekends!) in Aberdeen.

HLab has given me a couple of good cycling links via another thread.

I already know there's good (well, as good as here) surf possibilities.

Anyone got any other pearls of wisdom? Things to do in Aberdeen of an evening? Decent pubs? Places to avoid? Areas to live in (or not)? Decent LBS? Sports centres?

It's the Aberdeen advice thread - all contributions gratefully received!

 

[Aperitif]

All the cattle are called 'Angus'

 

[PaulB]

Gaberdine Angus at the magazine rack
views the situation from the front to the back
nobody's looking for the man with the mac
stick it right back in the stack jack

Gaberdine Angus had a mean trick
had a mean wang - made women sick
here's one now - go on act the goat
Gaberdine Angus - open your coat

Why waste words - risk resistance
when you can climax from a distance
shock tactics - designed to stun
Gaberdine Angus - it isn't done

She don't run - she don't scream
your pink extremity has gone unseen
she doesn't give the usual nervous cough
so zip up Angus - then zip off.

 

[Piemaster]

I'm quite often in port there at work (supply boat), so tend to be around the docks area when out. Couple of cinemas (Vue in town and Cineworld on beach) and the beach boulevard amusement place.
Lots of pubs, us salty types tend to end up in the Crown and Anchor on shiprow. Take chips, cheese and gravy in for the barmaid, Val and tell her I sent you .

There is an Edinburgh bike co-op not far from the main shopping arcades /John Lewis

Posting this has just had me realise how little I actually know Aberdeen, but then I live at work and can only get off occasionally when in port, usually straight to a pub.

 

[D-Rider]

Take chips, cheese and gravy in for the barmaid, Val and tell her I sent you .

I reckon if I give her chips and cheese and say it's from the Piemaster I'll get battered!

Thanks for the tip - I'll know where to go if I want to meet any salty sea dogs!

 

[arranandy]

I lived in Aberdeen for nearly 2 years (I'm in the oil & gas industry) and it was actually not a bad place to stay. Pretty good nightlife - plenty of pubs in Justice Mill Lane, and some good eating places - the Nasma Tandoori is the best curryhouse in Aberdeen. Good mix of people although some of the local Aberdonians can be strange. In mid summer its light until 10.30/11 at night. Good mountainbiking at Countesswells forest and Tyrebagger hill.

One word of advice though - don't eat skirlie, it is digusting

 

[D-Rider]

.... it was actually not a bad place to stay.

Yeah I'm joking about it a bit but, other than being away from Mrs D-R, I'm quite looking forward to a wee change of scene.

 

[derall]

I lived in Aberdeen for fifteen years. Went to school at AGS then went to work at the Royal Infirmary. Family still live up there, and every time I go to visit them I am reminded just what a good move it was to leave Aberdeen.

Avoid living in the North side of Aberdeen - Northfield / Mastrick / Hilton / Powis.
Avoid living in the South side - Garthdee / Torry
There's a nice bit in the middle and to the west side though.

Learn to speak Doric if you want to understand the locals. They won't make any effort to learn English so as to understand you. Insular doesn't even begin to describe Aberdonians.

If you can get outside the town, Grampian area is a wonderful area for cycling, walking, climbing, canoeing; wonderful region.

 

[D-Rider]

Thanks derall - that's really useful advice. I don't really know Aberdeen at all - I've been sortof hoping I might be able to get a nice flat within walking distance of the beach/harbour for easy access to the surf.... What's it like round there?

 

[furball]

If it's a flat you are looking for, spare space for storage varies, but you probably get more space in older properties.
I had a tenement flat in the Ferryhill area which had the best storage space of all of the flats I looked at. It had a secure walk in section of the cellar space which belonged to my flat. I kept my bike in there. There was also an old wash house in the back garden and a drying loft at the top of the building.
I also looked at some flats which had air raid shelters in the back gardens.
As others have mentioned, the night life is good. If you are into playing music, you can find a session almost any night of the week. The Globe on Silver Street and the Blue Lamp used to be old haunts.

 

[derall]

Not really familiar with the east side of Aberdeen. I tended to stay on the inland side of Aberdeen, didn't spend much time down the beach in all the time I lived there - drawn more to the mountains than the sea. As far as I remember, there's tenement flats around the Urquhart Road / Pittodrie area - if you don't mind the hordes of footie fans on a Saturday - and that's close to the beach. Ferryhill, as Furball says, has lots of tenement flats - popular with students; my sister had a good flat there for a couple of years.

 

[HJ]

So it's official - I'm going to spend the next year of my life (barring most weekends!) in Aberdeen.

HLab has given me a couple of good cycling links via another thread.

I already know there's good (well, as good as here) surf possibilities.

Anyone got any other pearls of wisdom? Things to do in Aberdeen of an evening? Decent pubs? Places to avoid? Areas to live in (or not)? Decent LBS? Sports centres?

It's the Aberdeen advice thread - all contributions gratefully received!

I spent 3 years in Aberdeen.

Areas to avoid: Aberdeen & Torry

Ok it is not all that bad.

I lived in Ferryhill which is a reasonable place to live, easy access to the Deeside cycle path (I hear they have even put the bridges back now!!).

Pubs: Black Friars (corner of Marischal St and Union St), The Prince of Wales (St. Nicholas Lane), The Blue Lamp (I could walk there with out thinking about how to get there but can't remember the name of the road), The Globe and Under the Hammer (they are next to each other on Silver Street).

The Beach is difficult to walk to, you are only supposed to drive in Aberdeen! If you want a beach the go to Balmedie and walk through the dunes, before Trump puts them down to concrete...

The EBC in Aberdeen was pi$$ awful, better to use Alpine Bikes in Holburn St. there was also a half decent bike shop on Rosemont Viaduct.

If you do go walking down by the harbour, to go to the Vue for instance, or Drifters or such like, and a young lady asks you if you would like to do a "little business" well, just don't tell Mrs D-R, no not really, just start walking really fast...

 

[derall]

The Prince of Wales (St. Nicholas Lane),

Oh, dear god, the Prince of Wales. Lorimer's Pale and the Younger's No 3.

 

[mercurykev]

I'm from Aberdeen and feel that you need a real local perspective.

For a pint you can't go wrong with the Belmont Bar in Belmont Street. It's central, it's reasonably priced and the regulars are the salt of the earth.

If you're into nightclubs, why not try the Hotel Metro on Market Street on a Friday or Saturday. A welcoming mix of onshore riggers, seamen and available BBW. Actually, it's probably the only place in Scotland where you can easily pull a mother and daughter combination (which would also give you the opportunity to visit Tillydrone, Torry or Middlefield).

If you're interested in entertainment that doesn't involve alcohol, take your car down to the Beach Boulevard (known as the Bullie to locals). You can spend the evening drag racing souped up Corsas along a 1/4 mile strip. This activity would also give you the opportunity to hook up with the younger daughters of the ladies who frequent the Hotel Metro.

Aberdeen fun would not be the same without ending the evening by heading up to Chapel Street and queing outside a 24h baker to buy some pies and rowies. It is such an experiance that the council has had to employ wardens to control the queues: Aberdonians love a pie.

 

[derall]

Is that baker still on the go???

I remember going in there Saturday mornings around five o'clock, and that was twenty five years ago