Tom and I had rail vouchers which were about to expire so we decided to take an impromptu trip up to Aberdeen and give our new couple's pass a spin.
Though I'd visited when I was little and we'd popped up a couple of times for gigs, it's a city we haven't much time in and we were keen to explore.
We started by walking down to the shore, passing by some impressive oil ships. There was a strong smell of fish throughout most of the streets which Lauren informed us is very common on the days when the fishing ships come in.
Keava had told us to walk along to a little town called Footdee which was on the shore and filled with adorable little houses that looked like they should be made from gingerbread.
Though the sea was a little stormy, the waves weren't nearly as bad as the ones I'd seen on Pinterest crashing against the lighthouses. I was a little bit disapointed.
We continued along the beach to the esplanade where Keava had promised tacky souvenir shops and arcades, two of my favourite things.
I'm not sure if it was just off-season but the Boardwalk House Of Fun felt like a funfair from a ghost town. It didn't help that there were eerie remains from a restaurant which had burnt down a few weeks before right next to it.
I was thankful for the cloudy sky which added a lot more drama to my photos. Tom got excited when he spotted a Wimpy as he'd never been to one before, so we stopped in for a slushy but it tasted like soap.
After a long morning of walking, we met up with Lauren for pancakes at The Beautiful Mountain. Lauren and I have been internet friends for what feels like forever (though it's probably since 2002) and this was our first time meeting in real life.
After lunch, Lauren took us on another long walk to the Winter Gardens at Duthie Park.
The gardens were really pretty and well worth our sore legs with gorgeous flowers, weird looking cacti, turtles and a strange giant frog which emerged from a koi filled pond.
We rewarded ourselves after the long walk back to town with wine, beer and food at 6˚ North before meeting up with Keava and Rosa for drinks in the evening.
We're looking forward to lots of future adventures with our new railcard!