Is Scotland on your bucket list?
Come explore the fun, and not so fun, adventures of Dundee, Scotland! (through the eyes of this American expat!)
This past hockey season, Scotland was mine and my husbands “home” for about 8 months. My STAR of a hubby was h o t t i e #10 on the Dundee Stars, for his first pro year in Europe! Proud wife #killedit!
Yup. Packed up everything we could fit into a few suitcases and MOVED overseas to play some European hockey … luckily it was an English speaking country right … HAHA!!
A LOT of people have asked how my time in Scotland was and truthfully, I experienced both great and awful times. Because I mean really, who drops everything (literally everything) and moves to another country to do …. nothing… *shoulder shrug emoji*
Before I share all the things I loved, hated, and learned from my time in Scotland – I figured I’d share all of my favorite things in Dundee! So sit back, grab your favorite snack, and enjoy the word vomit!
WHERE TO EAT / Dundee, Scotland
Y’ALL!!!!! I am the pickiest eater – ever!!!! This was SOOO HARD FOR ME!!!!! But of course, since I was there for so long I found the places I liked (trial and error) and stuck to them 😛
- Tony Macaroni – LOL Kev may or may not have always found a pizza box in the trash when he came home from away games … oops. Margarita Pizza and a Wild Berries Kopparberg please!
- Muchachas – YAS! They have some sort of taco deal on Tuesdays, so it gave us an excuse to accidentally end up there almost every Tuesday night… after my PureGym workout class of course 😛
- Rancho Pancho – Another fave but it never failed that we ended up at the table by the bathroom door with no water refills… our accent maybe?! One will never know!
- Forgans – I’m an A1 Sauce type of gal and Scotland doesn’t have it (neither does Canada *the REAL stuff* so don’t feel bad) BUT this steak … no need for the sauce. Also, it’s SO CUTE! And the bread!!!! It’s just a huge yes for me. Put this on your list!
- The West House – I searched high and low for French toast – and they nailed it!!
- The Braes – They have games!!! Huge game people here – Grab a plate of “chips” (or other foods assuming you’re not a picky eater) and play UNO for hours!
COFFEE SHOPS / Dundee, Scotland
First – if they say they have iced coffee …. they are not wrong I don’t think, but it is NOT the same as back home – just a heads up!
- The Flame Tree – Scotlands best hot chocolate, mark my words!
- Empire State Artisan Roasters – Scotlands second best hot chocolate!
- Costa Coffee – I never actually tried it, but it’s like the Starbucks or Dunkin in the US … they.are.everywhere.
- Starbucks – They do have it!! But please revisit the little paragraph up top about the iced coffees ;P !
- Little Things Cafe – YUM!
- Blend Coffee Shop – the CUTEST shop, the sweetest people, AND the “iced coffee” was actually pretty good!
NIGHT LIFE / Dundee, Scotland
My night life is non existent past 10pm, but when it ventures to midnight here are the places that you’d find me.
- 3 Sessions – This is the spot. If you’re looking for a more chill night out, Chris will take care of you at the bar!
- Underground – I would never actually recommend this on a normal night out LOL! But it is definitely a must experience ONCE … literally just once you’ll be good, unless you’re above the age of 30, just keep walking. hahaha!
- Club Tropicana – Wednesdays & Saturdays. If you’re about the “club life” it’s all you. I prefer to sit and and belt the songs nowadays. But each floor had different genres of music and they ALL were SOO on point. Def a 10/10 on the DJ’s. It’s definitely a younger crowd type of place, but like I said, sit and belt baby! Or dance the night away, no one actually cares what you do 😛
- Draffens – This was the coolest/creepiest pub I ever walked into. It was straight out of a horror movie, so fun.
- Molly Malones, Tickety Boos, The Nether Inn, Trades House Bar … literally SOOO many options for night life, all less than a 10 minute walk from each other!
TRANSPORTATION / Dundee, Scotland
Life made easy when you don’t know how to drive the cars!!
Also: if you get car sick, I recommend not living in Scotland … like ever. Jokes aside, just sit in the front seat – always!
- Train Station at SleeperZ – My first time ever on a train.. woohoo! Also my car sick people –> you can sit both ways on a train (I’m sure you already know that, you pro) so I suggest facing the same direction the train is going!
- Coach Bus Stop on Union Street – Being over an hour to both Glasgow & Edinburgh airports, we made the Bus our main transportation for that (longest hours of my life) Not a fan of Coach Buses and Roundabouts (carsick, people)
- Seagate Station – These are the buses we would take on most of our day trips to close places like St. Andrews or Broughty Ferry!
OKAY Y’ALL ONE COMPLAINT: Roundabouts. That’s my complaint. I’m terrified of roundabouts. Where I’m from there’s only about two in my town, and even when I travel places I see maybe 2 more (except Boston -AHH!) so imagine being on the other side of the road, on the other side of the car, on NARROW, WINDING roads, and doing about 8 roundabouts in your 10 minute car ride!! Like help me out people I’m getting car sick AND having a panic attack over here, LORD.
DAY TRIP ADVENTURES
- Arbroath cliffs – This is a short 30 minute drive, you can take a train/bus but it takes you into town and you’ll then have to walk from there which I believe is another 30 minutes. There may be other options if you look in advance but we always drove! This little trail is STUNNING. To me it was exactly what I pictured Scotland to look like! It’s a MUST SEE IN DUNDEE!
- Broughty Ferry Beach – love love love the beach! The weather was never swim suit weather, but there’s just something about walking/sitting on the beach any time of the year! The super quick train ride made for the perfect little morning trip!
- Broughty Ferry Castle – While you’re in the area, there’s the castle. It’s rather small compared to the other castles around, but it’s still nice to see!
- Dunnottar Castle – This one was my favorite castle!!! It is a little drive (little over an hour I believe) but it’s totally worth it!! Try going on a day it isn’t too windy (lol I know) because it will be closed! You can walk freely around it, or you can pay to go inside! So cool!
- V&A Museum – If you’re a museum person, you’d love this! I generally am not the type to walk around a museum for hours, but there’s a cute dining area with an AMAZING view that I’ll never pass up! The gift shop is also cute to walk around in. It’s also FREE! So if you’re waiting for your train or bus (and its raining maybe) I recommend taking a visit!
- Dundee Law – this one is a big LOL for me! Our roommate (who hikes very frequently) told us it was a short 45 minute walk there and back from our apartment. TWO HOURS LATER… we made it to the TOP of the hill …. we actually almost called a cab to take us home haha! Needless to say it was such a beautiful view – we drove up there many times during our stay there!
- St. Andrews – Again, just another 30 minute ride! I loved this little town so much. We would actually just take a ride up there for lunch and a quick walk! This of course is where the famous golf course is – my dads dream vacation that he sadly didn’t get to make!
- Edinburgh – Of course, you have to visit Edinburgh if you’re in Scotland! And luckily if you’re staying in Dundee, it’s only about an hour and a half train/car ride! This place deserves it’s own separate blog post that it will get eventually 😉 But it’s a must!
Now that you know where to go when you get there, I wanted to share a few things I loved, hated, and learned during my time living there!
THINGS I LOVED:
- The beautiful scenery – Everything was SO GREEN! It was like land straight out of a Crayola Crayon box! Mountains and water just hit me in the right spot when I travel! (can you tell I’m from the suburbs of flat Ohio?)
- The wildlife – the highland cows were of course my favorite to see – so cute!! Everywhere you looked on your drive there were sheep, cows, or horses, etc. Basically like living in the country here (which I don’t) haha! But also the fact that we lived right on the Sea(!!!!) Guys, I made a friend my first week in and saw him at least every other day until I left – he even popped up – to say goodbye probably – on my last day there! FLIPPER! He was a cute little seal that lived in the water right in front of our apartment! (true story: I honestly thought he was a body floating in the water the first time I saw him and ran over to only be freaked out when he started flapping around HA!!)
- The Adventure – How many people can say they up and moved to Scotland? Or lived in a foreign country learning so many new things?! So I made everything an adventure … the walk to Tesco along the Tayside … was an adventure, the drive to the doctor was an adventure, the “I need pumpkin puree so let’s search every store in Dundee” was an adventure 😛
- People I’ve met – I have met so many people that were SO welcoming it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced going to a new team. People were so quick to make sure I was doing okay, if I needed anything, if I just wanted to hang out! It was SO appreciated and I can never thank those people enough (hi Gail)
THINGS I HATED:
- The food – you all KNEW I was starting with that one for suuuuure! nothing personal, I’m just picky! Considering the day revolves around food mostly, this was a struggle I had to face everyday – shew!!!
- The weather – this. this. this. this. FFS (iykyk) what iiiiiis Scotland weather? Words cannot even describe my hatred for that weather haha! And not a single Scottish person can be mad at me for saying this because YOU KNOW!!! But I will say, when the sun was shining, the wind wasn’t absurd, the temp stayed at one temp throughout the day, the sun didn’t go down at 3pm, and there wasn’t a (or four) random down pours …. it was a very good day 🙂
- The roundabouts/driving – as mentioned above, carsickness is my thing. I can be upside down/walk on my hands for hours, flip and twist in the air, ride boats, roller coasters etc. but 30 minutes into a car ride, in the backseat and it’s game over for me. Let’s add all the winding narrow roads AND roundabouts! Oh wait, and Canadian drivers (my husband and our roommate). Two near death experiences limited my rides for sure. Forever apologizing to any Scots who encountered the boys driving!
Quick funny story : Kev made it back to Canada and drove to Tim Hortons on the wrong side of the road without realizing for a good half mile – lord help us!
- People I’ve met – Using this one for both because, like anywhere you go, there are always the good and the bad. I had never left North America in my life. Being SO oblivious to how this part of the world viewed Americans was SO disheartening. The amount of times I was ignored or shoo’ed away for the way my voice sounded was new to me. The “Oh you’re American (eye roll, walk away)” got old very quick. I was once told to start telling people I’m Canadian and they will be nicer …. and that just didn’t sit well with me!
Quick funny story : My friend and I walked into this small cute pub and asked if we could see the menu. The lady looked at us and said “we only do toasties, the cheeseburgers are next door” and turned away …… LOL wut. We laugh about it now but I was SO upset then. Mainly because I haven’t even eaten a cheeseburger in over 8 years.
SOMETHING BIG I LEARNED
- The English Language – IS SO BROAD YOU GUYS. I’m dying laughing typing this because I think of all the insane things I heard while I was there! I cant even spell them to tell you some of them … Everyone back home kept saying “at least you’re going to an English speaking country” and I always agreed … until I got there and realized it wasn’t just the accent that was different! HAHA! What’s even better is that Kev (first language is French) would look at me like “wtf did they just ask me” and I would legit answer “I have no idea…” HAHAHA! Most of the time I felt like an idiot for saying ‘what’ six times, most of the time I just nodded, and majority of the time I just looked at them waiting for them to crack a smile or look sad because they were talking SO FAST I couldn’t even catch onto the English I could understand. LOL (hi sandy)! And then there was Tesco. Try asking the store employee for pickles … I’ll wait!
Another quick funny story : I was so overwhelmed at the grocery store (in an English speaking country I know) that I found one worker and kept asking her so many questions that she finally took my list, and grocery shopped with me LOL GOD BLESS HER!!! example: Parmesan cheese is called “hard cheese” – and don’t even get me started on pickles!!!! I swear it’s the smallest things that make it difficult!
WHAT I TOOK FROM THE EXPERIENCE
- Be Mindful – My mind is more open to how Americans are viewed. And though that won’t ever change the way I treat people – I will have to learn to not take it to heart and let it get to me! My number one problem anyway.
- HAVE SOMETHING TO DO – I came from working 50+ hours a week to sitting in an apartment alone with the crazy weather and nothing to do…. what in the world was I thinking. Of course I would be miserable?! I refuse to go back overseas for this hockey adventure again without anything to do. Hinse the blog (thanks Bluehost!)
- I love to travel – but I love home (America!) – I will forever be grateful for my time in Scotland for all the things it taught me and how I grew from the experience. But with that being said, I’m a home[land]body. I love love love to venture out, but at the end of the “trip” I want to be home with “normalcy”. No car, no job, no friends, no family, no (to me) normal food, no holidays/birthdays spent with family & friends …. it get’s very lonely, very quickly!
WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID …. IS SCOTLAND ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?
I hope so!
I highly highly highly recommend putting Scotland on your bucket list. Because it doesn’t just stop at Dundee, many would say it doesn’t even start there either LOL, so definitely venture out! Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Skye, Scottish Highlands, Aberdeen, Inverness and so many more (that I wish we had more time to explore!) (together of course, I had all the time in the world alone LOL)
If you made it this far, wow! Thank you SOOO much for reading!! As always, subscribe if you’d like to be first in line in knowing when a new post comes out!! And of course, if you have any questions comments or just want to chat, send me an email! Until next post 🙂
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XOXO -B
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