Aberdeen

If you're from Aberdeen, you're an Aberdonian. Aberdonians live in Scotland's third largest city found in the north east of the country and with the nickname The Granite City. Sometimes it is also called the Oil Capital of Europe because here there is a lot of industry associated with the extraction and processing of North Sea oil.

The city has two rivers, The Dee and The Don. The latter gives its name to the local football team, Aberdeen FC. The Dons aren't at the same level as Glasgow's two successful teams but there was a period in the 1980s when they were the best team in Scotland. They won the national championship three times, the national cup three times, the European cup winner's cup and the European supercup. Unfortunately since then their successes have been fewer but the Dons' fans are always hopeful.

Every year since 1973 Aberdeen has hosted the International Youth Festival. For the first 10 days in August around 1000 young performers and groups come to the city to show their work. The companies include dancers, musicians and singers and there are concerts all over the city in different venues. In one day you can hear classical orchestras, jazz bands, choirs and watch ballet, traditional and modern dance. The festival is visited by around 30,000 people who enjoy the unique atmosphere and colour in a usually grey city.

Well, grey apart from the parks. There are lots of parks and gardens to visit, all of them truly beautiful. Aberdonians are proud of their green spaces and have won the Britain in Bloom competition many times. In fact, for a while Aberdeen wasn't allowed to enter the competition because the other cities complained that they had no chance of winning!

Because Aberdeen is in the north of Scotland, the climate is quite cool. The average annual temperature is only 8°c. The wintertime is around 2° and the summertime 16°, so when you visit make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes with you, even in the summer.