Snippets of My Dundee

Desperate Dan in the center of town - keeping an eye on things.

Sorry to all who may have been checking frequently to see if I've updated my blog. I've been busy, and a bit boring to be honest with you. Haha. Anyway, life is pretty good. I'm working now as a temp at the University of Dundee - School of Education, Social Work, and Community Education. It's really great. The people there are super nice, and the work isn't especially difficult (so looking for a tiny challenge), but there's plenty of it to be had. They've been short-handed for a while now. Other than that, I've just been making friends and trying to make Dundee my home. It feels like home to me now if I'm honest about it. I really like Dundee - a lot. My flat is coming together as well, a little at a time. I still don't have couches, but I will - soonish (some time in the next 2 months) I think actually, I'll get one sofa bed, and a couple of comfy chairs which I can curl up and read in. I need a reading chair, I haven't been reading at all lately, and you know how out of character that is for me. I've been walking to work (so no train reading as I did in Calgary). The walking is FANTASTIC!!! It's 40 minutes either way (which is less time than driving to work in Calgary), and it's hills all the way. It's been a great work-out every day - walking to work, walking from work. The from work is the hard part because I kind of live on the upper hillier part of town. I am developing some killer thighs from all this hill walking, and unfortunately, my scale doesn't like it much because I'm getting buff. Buff is good, heavier Becky is discouraging, however my brain says - that's totally illogical, and I really should be happy about the increased physical strength. Oh, and I found a friend who frequently hikes the Munros of Scotland and has promised that I can come along on his hikes. Yay. You know, that's half the reason why I picked Scotland, who doesn't love a good hike? I bought some fantastic hiking boots recently as well. So, yeah, that's what I've been up to. So, here's some pics I took this week of Dundee as I was out and about...



The reason Dundee is called "City of Discovery" - the RRS Discovery which was built in Dundee and Captained by Robert Falcon Scott to go to Antarctica for Antarctic Research.



The Penguins who guard the entrance to the Discovery.



Presbyterian Penguins Piously Parading at the Parrish of St. Mary's.

Thank-you, I do realize that I am an alliteration genius.




More of St. Mary's Parrish in the city centre. Apparently it has quite an elaborate history. It was built in 1190. Can you believe that? 1190!!! Well, originally - however it was burned down, and then rebuilt again in the 1480's, and then consequently was burned and rebuilt a couple more times after that. Though, it is fun to read the history of it. The Penguins are modern. (note that there are many of Pete's kind here - perhaps he could come and visit me? ;-)



A Dragon!!!! Again, in the centre of town, there's this fantastic statue of a Dragon - not far from Desperate Dan. There is an awesome Dundonian story about a Dragon and a well, which can be found here...

It's a story about a poor farmer who had nine daughters which he sent one by one (because the one previous to each took so long) to the well to collect water. So, he went looking for them, and discovered their mangled bodies entwined within the scaly folds of a Dragon - which had murdered each one of them. The farmer was distraught obviously, and Martin - who was a lover of one of the maidens was brave, and slew the dragon in honor of his love that was murdered. This accounts for some of the street names in Dundee - such as Strathmartine which intersects with my street - named after brave Martin. Also Ninewells Hospital is named for the story. It's pure Dundonian folklore. I love it.



One of the two big shopping malls here in Dundee - the Overgate. The other one's the Wellgate. Surprisingly - there's great shopping here in Dundee. Traditionally, people think of Glasgow as the centre of all good shopping, but I think we do pretty well here. Bunny - this one's for you.



This is where I would pick you up if you came to visit me - at the Train Station.



The building I'm working in at present - "The Old Medical School" at the University of Dundee.













More University Buildings of various names, histories, and stories. I'm not sure what any of these are, but they are fantastic buildings. I love the campus - it feels like a University Campus should feel like.



The Tay - isn't she lovely? (on a lovely sunny, green grass day in January)


So there you have it - there's my Dundee. I'm sure as I get to know it even more it will become more interesting to me - however it's pretty fantastic as is at the moment.