Footdee, the Picturesque Little Village

Nice small gardens inside the village.

After my brief scary encounter in the Tolbooth Museum, I then went on to search the road to the beach.  This is another good thing about Aberdeen (Scotland), the shore is just a 15-20 minute walk from the city center.  For those people who want to escape the buzzing chaos of the metropolis, the ocean is just within reach.  With my heavy duffel bag, I walked, just to make the most of my time.  It was quite a long and tiring walk, I was just hoping that my destination would be worth it. 

The beach is just a 20-minute walk from the city center.

I really enjoyed the weather, it wasn’t sunny and the cool autumn temperature was just right at 12 degrees Celsius.  The beach was nice however it was gray because of the reflection of the gray clouds.  No one was swimming, the water was very cold and the waves weren’t welcoming either.  Many people were there just to have a stroll and breathe fresh air.  Some were running others were biking.

Village pavement

According to my map, Footdee is at the far end of the beach near the lighthouse.  At that point in time, I had no idea what Footdee was all about, I just trusted the receptionist in the tourist information center when she said that the 'place is picturesque'.  So I walked along the cemented path, I enjoyed the first 50 steps or so but my bag was getting really heavy and my shoulders were about to give in.   I figured the place was very far and decided not to go there.  Burger King was at the other side of the road so I went in.  I ordered me a burger and a soda, and was surprised to see that I could refill the soda anytime I want.  In the UK, there are so many Coke and Sprite flavors, quite interesting actually, but not necessarily tasty.  I chose Sprite vanilla flavor which I regretted later.  I was surprised to feel really refreshed and energetic after my meal, I didn’t realize that I was dehydrated and hungry at the start of my journey.  So, after a 20-minute rest, I then again walked towards Footdee. 

I found out that I was looking at the wrong map, Footdee was nearer than I thought.   I continued strolling southbound and finally reached the end of the road.  I saw small houses surrounded by taller apartments.   I then knew that Footdee is an old fishing village in Aberdeen during the medieval times.   What is so nice about it is that they have preserved the area and have maintained the little gardens.   It is a rectangular village with small individual houses in the middle and was surrounded by what seemed to be larger apartments at its periphery.  When I say small houses, I mean houses for little people, it made me wonder how short or slim were the previous inhabitants of this place.  The leprechauns were popularly known to have lived in Ireland, perhaps their dwarf cousins may have migrated there. 

Another query that I had in my mind was “are there still people living there”?  I saw two houses with wet laundry hanging on their backyard.  Isn’t that evidence that the place was inhabited? However, no one was around, it’s very mysterious.  But how can they live in a small house?  I saw only three tourists walking around the village, it was very quiet with only the sound of the waves and the chirping of the birds as background music.  I started to have the creepy feeling again, especially after my encounter with the witch wax mannequin in the Tolbooth Museum.  After a few minutes of walking around, I saw a lady coming out from a small house holding some tools and going inside the nearby apartment.  After some reading, I found out that you can own or rent a small house in Footdee and because it is not comfortable to live there, you also have to rent the apartment near the small house. 

Each house has a different theme. 

They have also preserved the church in the center of the village.  The small houses have small gardens which look marvelous, the flowers really put some color into the surroundings.  The small houses themselves have interesting colors in comparison to the dull gray granite color of the surrounding apartments.  I really enjoyed it there.  All the windows are decorated with figurines.  The grasses were cut, people really took care of this place.  Each house has a different theme which you can see in the pictures.  It's a good stroll when you want to pass time.  I wish I was strolling with my family, they would have loved it.  These are the little shortcomings when you travel alone, missing your family more when you see nice spots.  You want to share to them the awesome feeling during your travels but they are miles away.  That's why I write blogs, to share to my family the story behind the pictures.  

I must admit, this place is picturesque.  My long walks were worth it.  The clouds started to shower and that was my cue to head back to Union Street to catch a bus going to the airport.  I will definitely miss Aberdeen, I have been there for the second time and I haven’t even covered half of the interesting sites.  I will make sure I will visit all the castles when I return.  I just found out that it only costs 30-35 Great Britian pounds roughly 2,100-2,400 pesos to rent a car for a day.  I’m sure I will cover a lot of sites when I have wheels, that would be exciting, will just have to get used of the right hand drive.  Hopefully, I will be sent there again for another training.