Dreamtime / Aberdeen (ABZ)

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After politely refusing a breakfast of sheep’s head (fur singed off) in Reykjavik, Elder G and I continued our 16,000 mile journey. Our next stop is Aberdeen, Scotland.

Reykjavík → Aberdeen (ABZ): ~840 miles
Cumulative Miles/Kilometers: 3,660 / 5,890

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Aberdeen

Aberdeen is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous Scottish city. Aberdeen has a population of 198,590 (2020) for the main urban area and 220,690 (2020) for the wider settlement including outlying localities, making it the United Kingdom’s 39th most populous built-up area. Aberdeen has a long, sandy coastline and features an oceanic climate, with cool summers and mild, rainy winters.

During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, Aberdeen’s buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite, which may sparkle like silver because of its high mica content. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in 1969, Aberdeen has been known as the offshore oil capital of Europe. Based upon the discovery of prehistoric villages around the mouths of the rivers Dee and Don, the area around Aberdeen is thought to have been settled for at least 6,000 years. […] The Aberdeen area has seen human settlement for at least 8,000 years.

Population pyramid of Aberdeen (local council area) in 2020
By Tweedle – Own work, data taken from MYE2 (Table 2) of Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for mid 2020 edition., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123621050

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Around summer solstice, the days will be around 18 hours long, having 17 hours and 55 minutes between sunrise and sunset. During this time of the year marginal nautical twilight lasts the entire night.

The most popular type of dwellings are apartments which comprise 49% of residences followed by semi-detached at just below 22%. The median income of a household in the city is £16,813 (the mean income is £20,292)69 which places approximately 18% households in the city below the poverty line (defined as 60% of the mean income). Conversely, an Aberdeen postcode has the second highest number of millionaires of any postcode in the UK.

Wikipedia

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Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ)

Aberdeen International Airport (IATA: ABZ, ICAO: EGPD) is an international airport, located in the Dyce suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately six miles (ten kilometres) northwest of Aberdeen city centre. As of 2023, 1.9 million people used the airport.

In May 1943, a German Junkers Ju 88 night-fighter landed at Dyce; it was flown to Scotland by its crew, who wanted to defect to the Allies. The surrender of this aircraft was of great intelligence value at the time, as it was fitted with the latest FuG 202 Liechtenstein BC A.I radar. The aircraft survives and is displayed in the Royal Air Force Museum in London.

Wikipedia

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You Say Aberdeen, We Say Aubergine

I’m sure this happens all the time, but the Café ABZ received a produce order that confused Aberdeen with Aubergine.

The Backstory (as told in hushed tones over tea)

Due to a transposed cargo code somewhere between Rotterdam and Aberdeen, Café ABZ did not receive:

• oat milk
• flour
• coffee syrups

Instead, they received 5,000 pounds of aubergine.
Crated. Palletized. Purple.

Returning it would involve paperwork.
Paperwork lead to meetings.
Meetings lead to despair.

So management did the only Scottish thing possible: They adapted.

Café ABZ – Today’s Menu

Breakfast

• Aubergine Hash Browns (mostly aubergine)
• Aubergine & Egg (the egg is optional, the aubergine is not)
• Aubergine “Toast” (slices, grilled, pretending)

Lunch

• Aubergine Panini (the bread has been replaced by optimism)
• Aubergine Soup of the Day (every day)
• Aubergine Salad (served cold, like the North Sea wind)

Baked Goods

• Aubergine Scones
• Aubergine Muffins
• Aubergine Tart (dessert-adjacent)

Beverages

• Coffee
• Tea
• Aubergine Smoothie (no refunds)

Chef’s Special

“Just Aubergine.”
Served hot. Served cold. Served with resolve.

Bev took a selfie with Elder G, and added their picture to the collection of satisfied Café diners!

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Eggplant and Eggs

Checkout Asli’s recipe for eggplant and eggs!