Bits and Blogs

Where I like to add words to my photographs and tell stories that I'd never usually tell.

[paulmenz135]

Look at How Far You’ve Come: Part 1 Head Down

So in this years annual blog update I want to talk a little bit about my experience on teacher training.  It has been one of the most difficult years of my life but I’m proud to say that I am a survivor!  Which was a rarity among physics students.  I want to focus on overcoming challenges I experienced and how I developed as a person and also the mindset of other people finding themselves in the same spot.

So casting my mind back over a year now I was heading down in my trusty Nissan Micra from Aberdeen in the middle of the week, very unusual for me.  But this was for a very important meeting, one I knew could change my life and take me in a totally different direction and one which would reignite my passion for what I was doing.  I was going to be a physics teacher, not a mechanical engineer.

This was a reboot of my life essentially, my university degree was nothing but a constant struggle which really dented my confidence as I wasn’t successful in what I was doing.  So I wasn’t pushing myself to achieve new goals (my theme for the summer) and keep things fresh and inspiring.  Furthermore those surrounding me were really pushing me down and I felt like I wasn’t being supported in anyway which is difficult especially considering I was 120 miles from home.

I had back to back presentations the first was to prove my worth as a teacher in Glasgow, the other was a dissertation presentation in Aberdeen the following day.  I poured my all into the teaching presentation, which was worth while since I was offered a place there and then.  There we go, this was the reboot I was waiting for, the shift I needed to spark me in to life again.  My work would finally mean something to me.

So lets skip ahead a bit, teacher training is going well I’m settling in a nicely and I loved my first placement observing in a school this is definitely for me!  Then I finally start teaching, things again going pretty well until all of a sudden the walls came crashing down …

One day I lost a class, they went out of control and I was left to drown.  This was 3 days into my teaching career a time where the support of a classroom teacher is almost expected.  Nope not for me and this was very much a theme for the department and also the tone for the placement.  A few days after this I was told the kids didn’t like me (simply not true) and that I had no chance of passing my crit lesson in a few days.

This sent me into a downward spiral of negativity and self doubt, I think understandably so as a few weeks into your teaching career you’re a sponge taking in others opinions a relating little to your own.  This is the sort of rut that becomes very hard to get out of though as you loose motivation and quite possibly the will to live.  I’ll be quite honest and say that there were days when I was driving into Hell High School wanting to literally to drive into a tree.

How did I get through it then?  Old Fashioned hard work.

I worked harder than I ever did in my entire life.  I prepared full lesson plans for every lesson (something you are only expected to do once a day), I created a number of different activities for most lessons and all this led me to sleepiness nights and general insanity if I’m honest.

Did it pay off? Nope not at all nothing I could do would please them it was an unwinnable situation no matter what I did.  This wasn’t just me other students suffered in this department in the exact same way.  It baffles me as to why these people were so keen to bring you down,  especially when criticisms could often easily be applied to the teachers.

Anyway I don’t want to come across as ranty and bitter, which I and others completely are I want to discuss how to overcome this.  Obviously I’ve mentioned hard work and for me after this experience I didn’t take anything for granted, I left nothing on the table and gave my all each lesson which really paid off and led me to becoming the teacher I am today.

My final crit lesson at a different school, in a completely different atmosphere, was a roaring success and I ask myself could I have got to that point without the miserable experience?

I don’t think so.  In future if I was treated like that I wouldn’t bite my tongue as I did but that’s just what you have to do being a student and they know that.  But one thing it has taught me is that there are many others out there that do not want you to succeed and will stop at nothing to bring them down.  Often these people will feel threatened by you or just won’t agree with your opinions or methodologies.

Don’t let these people bring you down, get your head down work hard and at the end of the day you’ll come out the other side better for it and have more confidence and self belief than you ever did before.  That experience made me the teacher I am today, and look how far I’ve come since then.

[paulmenz135]

Dissertation: An Uphill Struggle

The day I handed in my dissertation I celebrated by climbing up Bennachie and as I was walking I thought that this served as the perfect metaphor …

Not really :L, but my life has been hell over the past month churning out a 10,000 word circa hundred page document.  It consumed all of my time for almost two weeks and drove me to crazy things.  My project adviser was terrible, when I was having trouble with simulations he flat out wouldn’t respond to emails and didn’t help until the very last moment meaning that instead of tweaking my report as planned over the Easter week I was still writing.

Anyway at one point I went to the office to try and chase down my adviser, there was no response. About ten minutes later I got an email saying he had yet to prepare the documents necessary to help me, so he is blatantly hiding from me in his office.  When I saw this I literally growled at my phone scaring the poor girl walking past me who looked like she genuinely feared for her life.  This was totally out of character for me as I’m usually pretty chilled but clearly the dissertation was beginning to drive me mad.

Now this was far from the worst example of what people have been going through, in the library I’ve seen tears, people throwing up and even someone fainting none of which I experienced thankfully.  But this got me wondering about the stress and pressure that education and other professions are putting on people these days.  

Now I can only speak for my time but I think it’s getting worse.  I hear more and more of my university friends describing themselves as depressed or going through really low moments.  Although I would never have described myself as depressed, I’ve definitely had a rough time.  Over my years here I’ve seen all my friends from first year drop out which was hard because at Uni you kind of expect to do the journey together and the people you do that with will be friends for life.

Unfortunately that’s not what my experienced and many of the friends I did make let me down in some way or another.  To simplify those I did invest time in were out for themselves and weren’t the supportive, kind people I wanted to spend my time with.  After a little bit of soul searching I concluded that this was not normal and my amazing friends back home are great examples of what friends should be.

This does mean that I’m kind of lonely up here however, don’t get me wrong I’m not a loner or anything like that I’m just not that invested in spending much time with my coursemates. I feel that certain types of people pick certain subjects and I just don’t fit the profile of an Engineer, all out for themselves cough.

In the meantime I’m just riding it out until I’m finished and can finally move back home, which is only in a month! J This blog has probably been a bit more honest than others but I’m not ashamed of my story, people have dealt with a lot worse and I’m very fortunate that I can pick myself up, by taking photographs and walking up hills.

[paulmenz135]

Edinburgh vs Aberdeen part 2

So these pictures aren’t exactly of Aberdeen but I get out of Aberdeen as much as I possibly can. Which probably shows how highly I think of the city :L.

There are plus points for sure the shoppings really good as is the nightlife but to be honest from my perspective it doesn’t really offer much more its just a place to be really.

However as I have moved to a new part of the city I have certainly discovered more like my new favourite go to spot, the old railway line running out of the city to Banchory and Balmoral.  Although my legs haven’t propelld me that far yet.

Its amazingly scenic with great views especiallly as you get further out of the city. The smells remind me of oasis or center parcs as it is no known which for me is very nostalgic. Its not as friendly as the canal back home, like you always give a smile and hello to people, that’s not something they do up here :L

But it represents what is good about Aberdeen to me, the landscape that surrounds it ...

Oh and the football team definitely the football team

[paulmenz135]

Edinburgh vs. Aberdeen Part 1

This is a post I’ve meant to put up for a while and have written out a blog post multiple times, like one about working in Edinburgh and another about the festival.  Both of which sucked!  I am not a good blogger that’s for sure!

So my topic for this is Aberdeen vs. Edinburgh.  It’s a topic that comes up a lot especially with my friend Rebecca and up until recently I would have totally agreed that Edinburgh is a better place to be but perhaps its not as cut and shut as it seems.

Firstly Edinburgh.  I was working there when the festival was on and the atmosphere was incredible, there was a real buzz and busy-ness about the place and even locked away in the sports shop I was still able to meet some incredibly friendly and interesting people from all across the globe which your unlikely to encounter in Aberdeen.

Also after I’d finished working there was a little bit of time for exploring and despite living so close to Edinburgh for most of my life.  One of the adventures was going up Calton Hill (pictured above) which is probably the best vantage point to view Edinburgh in all its grandeur (spoiled only by the shopping center which could be an even bigger eye sore on the horizon).  Another was a photo mission through the whole length of Princes Street Gardens which was beautiful, for the most part the open air theatre was a bit run down but still it was nice and quiet and filled with people reading books for some reason which was kinda cool somehow.

I’ll leave it there for the moment Aberdeen’s rebuttal will come soon!

[paulmenz135]

Oh Snap!

Phew! Finally got round to uploading some of the holiday snaps! It’s been a hectic time recently between holidays, getting a flat sorted and working so I’ve been sitting on these photos for a wee while.  Some of the North Berwick photos are already splashed across my Instagram (uploads every 2 days if your looking for more consistency) but the square doesn’t really show them in their full glory so I’ve been itching to get them on here!

There are loads more to put up so I’ll save talking about the holiday for the next post and instead talk about my love of photography in this post because I feel that on that holiday I took some of my best snaps.

So basically it all stems from Instagram. I joined a couple of years back because it was starting to gain momentum and I’m always intrigued by new forms of social media (I have an account for pretty much everything). My first few uploads were essentially of my holiday to the South of France and purely by accident there were some rather artistic shots, however I thought nothing of it and continued with casual selfies and such like.

My interest really started to peak when I saw a lot of the YouTuber’s I watch really got into it and I thought hey I could probably do that, so I started trying a bit harder but still just taking phone shots at this point.  Which was fine my phone camera still gave me some really good shots.

I then became even more interested when I saw the amount of attention the pictures of my Penny board got which was really cool because penny boarding was something I did myself and it was great to see others doing the same thing.  That’s when I started to think about photography as a hobby and started going out on ‘Instagram missions’ (Mr Ben Brown) which was great!

This was coinciding with a time when I was looking for more things to do and essentially get out more so photography was perfect and over the last year I’ve seen so many interesting things and even learned so many interesting things from going round all these classic landmarks and museums.

This all lead to the purchase of the actual camera which lead to better quality shots and me taking things a little bit more seriously but it’s still all about the fun and the main aim now is to take pictures that make people go WOW.

And hopefully I’m doing that from time to time.

Thanks to all my friends that take the time to look at them, like them and stand around when I take them! Thanks :) 

[paulmenz135]

Day at the Museum

So back to tumblr! Its been a while … again but I promised I’d post on this more frequently during the summer so that I was doing something semi productive and keeping the mind active.

So despite not being as proactive as I would like on here I’ve not just been lazing about and fortunately I’ve got a backlog of photos and stories to tell. I’m loving my summer holiday right now and making the most of the free time I have before I start working in late July.

The first adventure I’ve queued up was the day my Mum and I visited Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow. Its something we’ve wanted to do since last year as it was signposted from the transport museum (which is amazing). My Mum hadn’t been since she was a child and it was an area she seemed to visit a lot in her youth so it was great to hear those interesting stories (she once broke down there forcing my grandpa to come and rescue he from Falkirk but on his arrival the car started without a hitch #awks).

It always feels like an occasion going to Glasgow on the train and more of an occasion going to Kelvingrove because you have to hop on the underground.  For some reason I just find underground trains really cool although the Glasgow subway is not a fine example of one.  Anyway we arrive in Kelvingrove and I was amazed by how much energy it had.  The buildings were nice, there were loads of people wandering about and the shops were pretty good as well.

The museum itself was an impressive building from the outside but to be honest I wasn’t expecting much since last year I’d been to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and spent the day in amazement essentially and thought it wouldn’t quite measure up.  I was staggered as soon as I walked through the front door.  Kelvingrove’s interior is one of the grandest I’ve ever seen. When we went it was one of those gloomy days and lighting from elegant robust looking chandelier made it feel warm and cosy.

The museums exhibits lived up to the standard of the interior with a great variety of artefacts from a spitfire to a crowd of hanging faces (with some quite funny expressions).  My favourite piece was the scale model of an engine designed to be fitted to a cruise ship. The detail was jaw dropping with every mechanical piece, rivet and even dials recreated perfectly.  A perfect fusion of my love for scale models and mechanical engineering.  Another piece I liked was the T rex skeleton.  It wasn’t full size but I’ve never seen one before and its really cool.

There were also collections of art (including a Van Gough) armour, stuffed animals (it was funny seeing a giraffe standing alongside the spitfire) and a whole host of other things. If you’ve never been I highly recommend you go!

[paulmenz135]

Getting to the Grid - Where my Love of Racing Began

Part 1

Motor racing is my biggest passion in life.  Ever since I was a young boy I have been fascinated by racing cars and I have only become more and more engrossed by them as time has gone by.  It is without doubt the longest interest or hobby I have had probably starting at about the age of 3 or 4.  

So I thought today, the day before the Le Mans 24 Hours (my everything), I’d blog about where it all began and why I’m so fanatical about cars and Le Mans in particular.

It all stems from my Dad really, he has an interest in cars although much more passionate about golf he was the one to first open my eyes to car magazines and TV shows note I watched Top Gear before its reincarnation #hipster.  So over time this developed and I remember we got £1 pocket money every week and every week that was spent on a hot wheels car from Woolworths, god rest their souls, and I remember how exciting it was to get a model that was based on a real car.

The first time I ever went to a motor race was to see the BTCC at Knockhill in I think 2000.  This was coming to the end of the super touring era but the cars were still hugely fast and they were piloted by some big names. Touring cars was probably the first form of racing to really spark my interest because it was local, very exciting and you could play the cars on a video game!

This neatly leads on to the first video game I got which was Toca 2 touring cars on the PC.  It was a fantastic game, I remember playing on the joystick which wasn’t ideal to say the least but I was totally hooked with the peak of my career recording the fastest lap in a Ford Mondeo on a simulator outside the Millennium Dome on my Dads lap.  I had to shout instructions to him like ‘don’t lift off!!’ through Graham Hill bend.  

Presumably my parents recognised my love for the racing games so as a gift got me Le Mans 24 hours the video game.  I don’t think this game is as well known but for the time it was amazing to me! It had a day/night cycle, weather changes, popping flaming exhausts, the most exciting cars I’d ever seen and had voiceovers from Tiff Needell! You started the race with either a Porsche or a Marcos with my favoured car usually being the white and baby blue Konrad Porsche.  You then had to battle your way through the field, the biggest rivals in the GT class were the Vipers of the Oreca time which looked beautiful in Mobil1 livery and had an incredibly menacing sound.  But even more beautiful were the prototypes at the front of the field with the Toyota GT One, Nissan R390 and Courage and Riley Prototypes.

As you can probably tell I was hooked but we only had terrestrial TV at the time so I never got a chance to see those cars wait so my Le Mans itch had to remain dormant for a while.

[paulmenz135]

Alfa Rome-ance

So Top Gear pretty much put this brand at the top of everyones list proclaiming that you weren’t really a petrolhead until you’d owned an alfa romeo.

I’ve never really got why they rated Alfa’s so highly as I’d only known 147 and 157’s which yeh were cool but they were just everyday cars really.  Even the likes of the 8C didn’t really engage me, yes it’s a special car but it’s not really an Alfa Romeo with the engine plucked from a Ferrari and no doubt many other parts to.

I was also sceptical of the new 4C and felt that for the price it really could have done with a V6 engine instead of a sporty 4 pot from a Giullietta.  This all went out the window when I saw the 3 of them lined up at the Scottish Italian Car Day.  It’s the best looking car in recent times I would stay and when it’s sitting still you’d be crazy not to want one.

The deep red paint with the dark grey alloys harking back to the steel wheels of old is a perfect combination.  Flashes of carbon fibre in the cabin and on the headlights really set it off as well. Certainly the first Alfa of my generation that I’ve wanted to own.

However for all of Alfa’s middle of the road cars of this generation there have been plenty models of yester year that are legendary classic cars.  The Tipo 33 Stradale (one of the best looking cars ever), the original 8C all the way through to the 155 touring cars.  The saloon cars are some of my favourites with boxy designs being amongst my favourite cars ever (Triumph Dolomite Sprint, BMW 2002, Lancia Fulvia and so on).  

This is why the old saloons were just as interesting to me as the super 4C’s.  Alfa Romeo built a huge variety of these cars in the 1960’s and 70’s so to be honest I struggle to identify them with names changing depending on features and engines.  However my favourite of the breed are the smooth streamlined cars pictured above. Possibly with a single headlight layout instead of the dual, dark green with gold wheels and of course a cloverleaf on the side.

[paulmenz135]

The Great Escape

Phew! So I’m finally home from Aberdeen, hooray! It felt like I was never going to be released from the endless cycle of revision and coursework.  But fortunately the light at the end of the end of the tunnel arrived quicker than I expected.

So to go along with some of my favourite Seaton Park pictures I thought I’d tell the story of the last day I was in Aberdeen.

This was the day of my last exam.  Exams had all been going well but for some reason I was mega nervous about this one so I didn’t sleep very well and resorted to watching some nerdy videos on YouTube, which has completely ruined my what to watch feed!

So basically the plan is to do the exam celebrate with my coursemates then head back to the flat and start tidying and packing ready for me leaving the next day.  All good.

So I do the exam, it went well and so relieved its over and on the walk away from uni I call my Mum who announces she’s in Aberdeen! It was a great surprise because it meant I’d get home a day earlier and we’d get to go out for a good lunch (we did Ashvale as per, it’s a tradition).  But it also dawned on me that the flat wasn’t ready at all since I’d been revising.

So after stressful 2½ hours of exam I was now facing many more hours of stressful packing.  So basically I was full of adrenaline from 9am until 7pm when we got home but at least there wasn’t time to reflect on the exam.

Another point of concern was the dodgy suspension on my car which I wasn’t sure would make it with all the weight, but with a little prayer it flew home and I’m having an amazing time (apart from still trying to organise all my stuff).  So thank the lord for keeping my suspension together and thanks to my parents to help me escape Aberdeen!

[paulmenz135]

My thoughts on the suggested LMP2 regulations

Its been 3 weeks since I returned from Silverstone and the best race weekend I’ve ever been to! And a day since watching the Spa 6 hours, another classic endurance race.

The current rulebook is producing the best racing on the planet no doubt about it, regulating fuel flow and hybrid energy for LMP1 was exactly the right idea and look at the variety from the top cars, that’s exactly what makes racing exciting.

Last year I went to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which I was incredibly grateful for, but I was disappointed.  I found the F1 cars dull and uninspiring and one of the main reasons for this was the dull and quiet note of the engines which were all the same! I did love the GP2’s though.

Now skip back a few more years to my first visit to Silverstone when I was fortunate enough to attend the Silverstone Classic.  There I experienced the sights and sounds of 80’s F1 cars, Group C cars and 1970’s sportscars all of which were very different and all of which had a sound which shook your insides.  I still remember Anthony read in an Abarth battling a Lola T70 into the sunset, epic!

So variety is the spice of life and nobody can get excited about spec series, you don’t hear anyone talk with passion about Formula Renault, GP2 etc. So why introduce a spec engine for P2? As far as I’m aware there has never been spec anything at Le Mans and I think it would be outrageous to change that.  I know its essentially a spec class at the moment with nearly every car using Nissan engines but it is refreshing to hear the retro sound of the Judd and thrum of the Honda V6 which makes those cars interesting.

Now to the chassis restrictions, why would you try and cut down a thriving class? Yes theres costs involved but everyone seems to be happy enough to invest to develop these cars so why stop them? I know the current manufacturers could probably do with some sales and I think they are the ones that have kicked up a fuss, namely Oreca who only have 2 new cars out this year compared to tens in the past.

When I went to Silverstone I looked forward to seeing all these new cars unfortunately the BR01 couldn’t make it but none the less I was looking forward to it.  But if there were only 3 types of car there it just isn’t as exciting especially if they all have the same engine its just not in the spirit of sportscar racing.  

The only up I can see to this is that it might force some manufacturers toward LMP1 which I think is no bad thing as there are currently only 3 privateer LMP1’s.  My favourite cars have always been the privateers with Pescarolo being my favourite all time team and my favourite battle being between the Oak, JRM HPD and Dome in 2011 Le Mans.  So if this forced a few teams into LMP1 that would be great because I feel LMP2 is getting a bit comfy but I don’t have a great deal of insider knowledge.

So ACO please don’t ruin a good thing a major change in regulations is only necessary if the category was declining plus the change would alienate America entirely which nobody wants to see.

[paulmenz135]

Its been a while since I’ve been able to post on here (don’t worry there is content and I will get round to uploading it!).  But being a student this is obviously an important time of year with coursework submissions and exams to think about. Uni is your life and its been getting to me.

After spending the last two weeks solid in either the library or my room (the root between which is the only part of the world I’ve seen over the past fortnight) I woke up this morning totally exhausted. Its not like I’ve been overworking myself, I still try and get my 10 hours sleep and I try to keep my evenings free of study but all I’ve been thinking about is Mechanical Engineering (my course) and nothing else.

That got to me this morning as I realised I hadn’t done anything for me during this period or at least nothing I enjoyed. So I decided what I needed most was some good old fresh air, something which I have been deprived of.

I’ve been running out of instagrams (on which I am far to active, apologies if your not a fan!) lately, having to use old material, so a photo mission was the obvious choice and theres only really one location I’ve been saving in Aberdeen, Seaton Park.

If you don’t know it Seaton Park is this huge park in the North of Aberdeen and it basically borders all of Aberdeen Uni and thanks to its muddy paths, dense forrest and fast flowing river it feels very removed from the city, almost as if your in countryshire. This was ideal for me today as a change was exactly what I was looking for.

I’m loving photography at the moment because its so different to what I do. Mechanical Engineering isn’t very creative, at my level at least, all I really seem to do is theory and numbers and don’t really get a chance to design anything. And I do see myself as quite a creative person like at school I loved designing cars and stadiums and of course conjuring up a few side splitting one liners but I don’t really get time to do any of those things anymore so focusing on photography is my outlet, at the moment so bear with me :L

I haven’t been to Seaton in nearly year and I found so many new amazing spots which was great because there are times I get sick and tired of Aberdeen so its good to know that theres still more to discover. The weather was a bit up and down but that wasn’t going to stop me today! The hail made for some interesting shots! More to follow

Also thanks for reading! If you did! Sorry if I was waffling this is just my place to vent my thoughts

[paulmenz135]

My FIFA turmoil So after a long day of uni work I thought I’d unwind with some Fifa Ultimate Team. I’ve been doing well recently gliding through divisions winning trophy after trophy online,but the lag is very annoying so this evening I decided on some offline games. Conveniently there was a single player tournament to celebrate 6 years of ultimate team, with the reward being 7,000 coins and pack of rare players which was a prize I coveted. The catch however was that the difficulty was world class. That was a problem I’d only beaten a world class team once and had been thumped on all other occasions. It started badly with a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea but as I attempted again and again the deficit reduced narrowly loosing out to Athletico Madrid 2-0. A switch in formation followed after some advice from my brother (desperate times) and success! Beating Lokamotiv Moscow on penalties. Then Monaco thumped me 4-0 in the next round, back to square one. I was starting to get it, to score against these teams you had to craft some excellent footballing moves making it an incredibly rewarding experience but it requires a huge amount of focus which isn’t what you need at the end of a long day. Anyway I psyched myself up for one last run at the cup. Bam! Fiorentina effortlessly brushed aside with a 4-0 win. Four of the best goals of my life! So filled with confidence on I went to the quarter finals where I would face my beloved PSG. Most of my ultimate team are PSG players so this was going to be a fairly even tie. First blow went to them early on with a stupid rebound, nothing I could really do about it. I thought it highly unlikely that I’d come back as it was something I’d never managed but I battled on none the less. Slowly but surely I worked my way into the match and managed to equalize with a good header from Cavani. I was ecstatic and filled with belief from my previous victory. This was short lived as they went ahead pretty much from kick off. I’m convinced Fifa has a script and if you improvise it gets angry and hits back. But it was fine because I did the same with Lavezzi. Eventually the match finished 3-3 and we went to extra time with me still believing. But in the first period I gave away a stupid penalty and thought that was that because extra time was so short. On came every striker I had as I threw the kitchen sink at them. Lacazette 120’ I literally lept up and puched the air and roared, something I’ve never done when playing a video game alone. PSG 4-4 Paul’s FUT PSG win 5-4 on penalties So I will be crying myself to sleep tonight but the conquest will resume tomorrow, I’ll keep you posted!

[paulmenz135]

The best place to watch was at the nearest Crescent! Ba dum dum ch P.s. no colour editing it was genuinely that dark, amazing! #crescent #moon #sun #eclipse #clouds

[paulmenz135]

Can't wait to go to Silverstone in April to see @fiawec_official ! Haven't seen the Le Mans cars since 2011 #Silverstone #lemans #wec #fiawec #astonmartin #dbr1 #prototype #astonmartinracing #gulf #racing

[paulmenz135]

So it was suggested, when I was home last weekend, that we go for a jaunt to a place called Culross just across the Forth.

I thought it would probably be a good place to take a few photos of Falkirk from the other side of the Firth so off we went.

To my amazement the place itself was more interesting than the view!

Parked the car next to the Firth and the railway line which provided some shots but it was blowing a gale and I was beginning to think it was a bit of a bust.

But a few steps into town your greeted by a large yellow palace (I believe it is actually some sort of palace) and a quaint town square, which makes you feel like you’ve taken a step back in time.

This theme continued as we meandered our way through the villiage which was filled with lovely old cottages filled with nautical trinkets (not that we were peaking through the windows) ;)

There was a cafe (pictured) and a pub which is all you need I guess.

The place was very quiet with only a couple of people around even when we went to visit the amazing abbey at the top of the hill it was empty!

I can’t wait to go back in the summer and its the most fun I’ve had exploring in a while so I heartily recommend you visit!

[paulmenz135]

These are a few shots from my photo mission down on the banks on the River Dee.  My ankle has been killing me this week and haven't really got out and about so on Friday I just thought stuff it I'm heading out!

So off I went with my new backpack (which my Penny board can hang from) down to the riverside. Must admit got a few funny looks with my skateboard but I'm going assume they were looks of envy.

Anyhoo got down there and aside from a really smooth path its a bit of a mess.  There was rubbish everywhere, it seems to be where the cool kids hang out in the evening.

But none the less tried to make the most of it and fortunately the sun came out because otherwise the pictures were pretty dull.  

It was really fun trying to photograph the birds.  With the zoom on my camera being so awesome you could really get up close and get the detail with the grey running through the feathers making, what I presume were seagulls, at least a little bit interesting.  My favourite picture of the lot is where the seagulls wings are spread.

There were many rocks that had to be scaled to get to these locations and even had to hop a little burn! Which I haven't done since my youth and was a little bit nerving knowing that I had the camera on me but still takes you back!

Ankle was throbbing afterwards you'll be pleased to hear.

[paulmenz135]

So these are the Falls of Feugh out in Banchory a short drive from Aberdeen.  Its a lovely part of the world, probably better to visit in the summer months when the salmon are leaping but no doubt I'll be back to try and get a snap of that XD.

Its another place I have a lot of memories because my family and I would often go caravaning to Banchory when I was younger and I'll never forget going to collect the morning butteries, messing about down by the river trying to skim stones (which I still can't do!) and trying to spot a salmon at the falls :)

Weirdly Banchory is a place I'd visit a lot in my teens as well thanks to some very generous friends inviting us up and I've never had a bad time (so thanks to them! But hopefully your not reading because I still find this page a bit cringe tbh :L).  Essentially its a great escape from Aberdeen and if I ever feel I need a bit of a break its the first place I would load the car with friends and drive off to.