From Aberdeen

Yup, I'm in Scotland. I had to share this: I was walking around near the University of Aberdeen (in the north end of the city) and I found BeCyCle! I had mentioned this place before on this blog - a bike co-operative that a student of my sister's had been involved with, who, among other things, collect abandoned bikes, refurbish them, then lend them out for free. Anyway, after a really nice walk along the River Don, my sister and I were heading back toward campus (in search of a pint at the local) and stumbled upon it! Here it is, in situ (you can't quite see the hand-lettered wooden sign with the website written on it, by that open doorway. I didn't see any folks around, but I could spot some bike bits inside!):

Another note: given my one day of experience in Scotland, I do have to say that cobblestones look fairly uncomfortable to ride on: and having walked along one of the bike paths today, the 'rules' seem to also be kind of haphazard. I'm used to some pretty strict "keep right" rules on the rec paths in Ottawa: those rules don't really seem to get applied here. It doesn't help, I suppose, that on hearing a bike bell 'ting' behind me, I jumped to the right, not the left, to get out of the way. I felt bad, and silly, and foreign, for about thirty seconds - until I realized that no one on the path seemed to be keeping to any side at all. Ah. So that's how it's gonna be. I feel less like a clod.