Aberdeen's Public Gardens: Union Terrace Gardens

Aberdeen's central public garden (what we'd call a "park" in the States) is Union Terrace Gardens, or "UTG". It's a beautiful Victorian era garden (that's in need of a bit of upkeep). There were recent efforts to spend millions of pounds to transform UTG into something much more modern, but that effort was defeated last year. I'm not educated on the issues involved, other than to acknowledge that it would have been a very expensive project. I'm not sure why it was necessary, though; save for a few thousand dollars worth of necessary renovations, and the fact that you have to climb up a hill in order to get back out of UTG, it's a lovely green space. It even features its own geocache!

Early in this particular operation, I talked about the William Wallace statue, which is right above UTG. The Wallace statue and UTG, along with Union Street and the Bon Accord Center, rank among my memories of Aberdeen that date back to the single day that I spent here in 2004. I've spent almost no time in UTG during the year that I've been here, but I've found myself spending time with friends there several times in the last six weeks. It's really a neat place that puts Aberdeen's rich history adjacent to its modern infrastructure.