We spent our first day in the Granite City doing some laundry. I was very tempted to post a panorama of the laundry place but I couldn't get one I liked. We found a cute coffee place around the corner, and I worked on yesterday's post. A super exciting Sunday so far.

We were able to complete our collection of the coins of the UK. Some of the coins have parts of the royal crest, and if you get one of each you can make a neat display with them:

We finished our laundry and went back to the room to re-pack and determine what else we might be able to fit in our suitcases. It would be nice to bring back more whisky we can't get at home, but it's Sunday so many local businesses are closed.

The Granite City

All of the buildings around here are beautiful. Apparently there's a quarry not far from here that was the main source of granite for much of the world in the 19th century, and roughly half of the buildings here are made from granite blocks.

There must also be some regulations against flashy signage, because it's tough to spot businesses and restaurants peeking out from these buildings. The city is very scenic but it must be a nightmare to navigate or to build anything new.

Sampling the local cuisine

It may surprise you to learn that Aberdeen is second only to Glasgow in preparing the national delicacy of Scotland: the munchy box.

It is to America's national shame that we did not invent this multicultural delicacy. For $5 each, three very drunk people could enjoy a pizza box full of kebabs, gyro meat, pakoras, fries, and a small salad. Some munchy boxes come with teriyaki, pizza, samosas, and even rice noodles. Wake up America, the Scots are beating us at our own game!

We weren't able to make it much past halfway through the box we picked up, but we also aren't three drunk Scots. After a long nap and a solid re-evaluation our nutritional choices, we scouted out some light appetizers for dinner.

At dinner I ordered a whisky out of a locked case without asking how much it would be, which is a responsible thing to do when you've just turned 30. It was a decent whisky, but it only had one note - nothing worth writing home about. I was concerned I might have just ordered a £50 pour of mediocre whisky, but it turns out that the locked up whisky was £8. The whisky economy around here is tough for me to gauge.