My March 2023: Exam time in Aberdeen

With March came a load of exam stress as I had two deadlines at the end of the month, a seminar to lead as well as two essays that I had to at least begin to work on if I were to finish them by the end of April. Not much time for exploring, although I did get a few trips to the Cairngorms in!

Destinations visited in March 2023

Scotland

• Aberdeen
• Cairngorms National Park (Mount Keen, Glenshee)

Top 3 favourite new destinations

1. Mount Keen, Scotland
2. Glenshee, Scotland
3. …that’s it for March!

Daily life

Life in Aberdeen

March started with the first of my six assessments this term. I had to lead a seminar with a fellow classmate on the effects of the Little Ice Age in Europe and the Arctic, and I think it went quite well. I actually enjoyed the topic so much that I decided to take it up for one of my essays, although with a focus on the Faroe Islands!

March was generally full of exam activity; preparing for my two end-of-term essays and completing my two academic posters for our field trip to Orkney in early April, as well as another seminar to lead at the end of the month. I’ve also been preparing for my dissertation research on the Faroe Islands, which involved learning how to fly a drone – that was lots of fun and will hopefully result in some great 3D models of eight abandoned settlements! I’ve also been volunteering at the GIS lab once a week, which is both challenging and fun – I love learning new skills that I will eventually be able to use in future jobs!

Postgraduate studies are definitely a lot more work here than in Denmark, but I am generally enjoying it although I have been very stressed this month. But I’m trying to plan out my days in advance so I get stuff done. And I really enjoyed making the posters – it was nice to get a little creative!

I did have time for a bit of fun, although I didn’t hang out at the pub nearly as much as the previous months and I even had to skip most Tuesday quiz nights. I did keep my weekly climbing sessions up though and I can feel myself getting stronger each time! I also spent a few Saturdays thrift shopping with friends, and we made a visit to the Vegan Bay Bakery obligatory for any trip downtown – it’s just so good! Furthermore, I attended two birthday parties – one of which ended in a very Scottish dance to my all-time favourite song, Loch Lomond, and went to a Taylor Swift Lover-themed brunch at Suma Café! It was really fun to meet other Aberdeen Swifties, and it definitely didn’t hurt that the food was delicious and the café owner put on a playlist of our favourite girl! Also, it snowed for a few days and it even stayed for a little while – that was amazing! Aberdeen looked like a fairytale, especially by the Brig o’ Balgownie (my fave spot!).

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite enjoy the end of March as I’ve endured a strong headache and was hit by my first ever case of tonsillitis – and dang, that hurts! As I’m writing this, I’m struggling to eat anything as it hurts to swallow. Talking hurts too. With just a few hours to go before embarking on the ferry to Orkney, I truly hope it will disappear swiftly…

Travels and local adventures

An icy climb up Mount Keen

On the first Sunday of March, I joined three friends for a visit to the Cairngorms National Park to climb my first ever munro: Mount Keen at 939 m.!

Mount Keen is the closest munro to Aberdeen and also one of the easiest to conquer – perfect for our group of enthusiastic yet relatively inexperienced mountain hikers. We chose the route going from Invermark, an 18 km round-trip which was pretty straightforward, following a well-trodden trail the entire way to the summit.

It was quite an easy hike, although it did become more challenging towards the end when we reached the snowline. It was icy and slippery, especially on the last section which is known as ‘the ladder’ – it’s basically a natural stone ladder leading up to the summit. The stones were very slippery so I was close to falling several times. It also started snowing quite heavily, creating the most beautiful winter landscape but also resulting in a lousy view as it got increasingly foggy the closer we got to the summit.

It took us three hours to reach the summit, and we were back down in just two hours!

A winter skills course in the mountains

On a mild Friday at the end of March, I returned to the Cairngorms for a winter skills course, organized by the university’s climbing club. I joined a team of six and had a fun day out in the mountains, learning a bunch of skills that will help keep me safe when hiking in icy conditions. Among other things, we learned how to interpret avalanche forecasts, how to plan a safe route, how to properly use crampons, how to kick and cut steps in the ice, and the many different ways an ice axe can be useful and even save your life.

There wasn’t much snow on the mountains since it had been a mild winter, but our guide was able to find a few patches of snow above Glenshee which took a short hike to reach. It even snowed a little while we were up there, but it didn’t seem to want to stay. We were lucky we got to have the course before all the snow had melted!

It was a gorgeous and fun day out, and a much-needed break from all the reading and writing I’d been doing for my assessments!

New on the blog

Most popular post

• On the edge of Cairngorms National Park: A hiking trip around Ballater and Loch Kinord – My first hiking post from the Cairngorms got lots of views this month. I guess I’m not the only one that loves the Cairngorms!

The other posts

• My February 2023: Adventures in the Cairngorms & Inner Hebrides – Ah, February. A month of far less stress and much more time for fun adventures!
• Back on the Faroes: A rare dolphin sighting and a boat trip around Eysturoy – My first post from last summer’s Faroes trip where my family and I witnessed dolphins!
• An abandoned world: Exploring a deserted sanatorium in Tskaltubo, an old Soviet spa town in Georgia – A post I’d been wanting to write for a while; all about my visit to Tskaltubo, one of the most exciting places for urban exploration in the Caucasus!

Most popular Instagram picture

I only posted twice on Instagram this month – a result of being too busy with life! But of the two, this tripod selfie from the gorgeous Isle of Kerrera received the most love!

Vis dette opslag på Instagram

Et opslag delt af Mel (@north.trotter)

Coming up in April 2023

April is going to be a month of travels and stressing over exams. I have two essays to hand in towards the end of the month, and I’ll have to write them while on the road – thankfully, I’m not actually doing much sightseeing, mostly just hanging out with friends and family.

I’ll be heading to the Orkney Islands for a field trip later today, and will then spend five days roaming the islands with a friend afterwards. A few days later, I’m flying to Bergen to visit my best friend for a week, and then I’ll go to Denmark for ten days to visit my family in East Jutland and friends on Lolland. I can’t wait to see my friends and family again, but I’m also looking forward to seeing the end of this term, so I can start focusing all my attention on my dissertation.