The road and the miles to Dundee

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Apex Hotel, Dundee

Our second weekend away last November was to Dundee. We wanted to see the new V&A which had opened in September and, as Dundee has several other museums which we had never visited before, we decided to book a three night stay with John taking the Friday and Monday off work.

The title of my post is taken from a Scottish folk song which begins:

Cauld winter was howlin’ o’er moor and o’er mountain; wild was the surge on the dark rolling sea.

Our journey was nothing like that, well, apart from the cauld (cold) winter bit. We drove up the motorway and stopped in Perth for lunch and to stretch our legs. Perth is my second favourite Scottish city I think, and I’ve published several posts about it in the past. This time, something caught my eye that I hadn’t noticed before – the Sandeman pub which was previously a public library (you might have to enlarge the second picture to see the inscription above the door and windows).

Sandeman pub
Sandeman pub

I chose the Apex Hotel because, although I have never stayed overnight in Dundee before, I had visited it a couple of times for conferences and knew it was good. The location, right on the waterfront, is excellent and only a short walk from the V&A. It’s not the most exciting of buildings, but the surroundings were attractive at night (see top of post). Berthed nearby is HMS Unicorn, launched by the Royal Navy in 1824 and now the world’s last intact warship from the days of sail. We’d like to have visited, but just didn’t have time.

HMS Unicorn
White Goose

The hotel was also handy for a good range of restaurants. On the following evenings we would eat Chinese and Thai food. This first night we chose The White Goose – I can’t remember now what we ate but I know it was delicious, and I liked their goose mural shown above. We returned to our room eager to get a good night’s sleep to prepare us for our visit to the V&A the following morning.

Linked to Cathy’s On journey strand, though my journey is nothing like as exciting as her tales of the Camino.

Scotland, UK ,

54 Comments »

  1. That unicorn figurehead is spectacular. It would be fun to tour the ship.

    Jude

    p.s. your blog no longer remembers me — I am having to type out my contact info each time I comment.

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    • Oh dear, I’m sorry about that! I know how frustrating that is. I haven’t changed anything recently and have just had a look at the settings and can’t work out what to do. Is it just my blog or does it happen elsewhere? If it’s not just me and you are commenting from an Apple device, it might be the privacy setting in Safari not carrying your details from site to site.

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  3. One day I would like to get to Dundee and visit the Unicorn. My mum was stationed there during WW2 with the WRNS when it was used as a base ship for the Naval Officer in Charge. She was there at the end of the war when two German officers from a U boat came on board and surrendered.

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  5. How nice that you were familiar with the hotel before you booked it. It’s always a toss-up as to what you’re going to get when you book a place. I love the goose mural. I sure would love to have known what you ate. I also like how you took the title of your post from that Scottish folk song. Thanks for sharing your journey. I’ll link it to my next journey post of March 20.

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  6. Love Dundee, we have not been for ages though. Hope to rectify that this year as we have a good friend there, in fact he was one of the original people who helped save HMS Unicorn!

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  7. Your post illustrates how it is so worth making the effort to get away even if it is just for a few days. I love the architecture of the Sandeman pub and the way the teal looks against the rust. Great colour combination.

    Peta

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  9. Hi, Anabel – I usually think the same when I travel. There’s always so much that I want to see, and so little time to see it all. Richard and I are currently trying to decide upon our fourth Camino. I will definitely check out Cathy’s blog.

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  10. Funnily enough, although I’ve liked Dundee as a city for decades when I heard the V and A was opening I thought ‘ bang goes the neighbourhood.’ as I thought it unlikely I would enjoy quiet bus rides up there on half empty buses anymore now it was a fashionable tourist draw. Not been back since 🙂

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  13. One of my favourite memories of a childhood day trip was a visit aboard the (then titled) Frigate Unicorn. Our guide was possibly the best tour guide I have had anywhere and really brought it to life for us. We visited the Discovery on the same day and it was a deflating experience because of the comparison. I love the library pub. Wouldn’t it be great if you could still pull a book off the shelves and read while imbibing? I look forward to your review of the V&A. My sisters went in the first week of opening and the place was too swamped for them to get an accurate bead on its merits as a museum. I love the V&A in London so I hope the Dundee satellite is great.

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  14. We nearly went to Perth by accident in 1999, when Mr ET took the wrong turn off the roundabout on the motorway. Luckily we managed to get back on the right road. Oh Anabel, every time I read one of your travel posts I want to pack my bag and come over for about six months so I can just tootle wherever I please. Looking forward to reading about the V&A.

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  16. I have never been to Dundee, though I have had Dundee Cake. 😉 I love the look of The Unicorn. If unicorns are the national animal of Scotland, they must exist right! X

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  17. I remembered the Andy Stewart version more than the Corries. However we still have a public library although none of the High Schools have a library. Everything is done “on-line” , which I think is a great shame. Looking forward to seeing the Dundee V & A.

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  21. I love the V & A in London and it’s a place I often visit, especially the sculpture courtyard and the Rafael cartoons. I hope the Dundee one is as good but I’m sure it is. It is nice to know that not everything is London-centric these days. I’ve recently visited the Imperial War Museum in Manchester and found that to be excellent, too. I love waterfront hotels as well, especially if I can have a room overlooking the water. The Apex looks great.

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  22. Hi Anabel – it does sound as though there’s quite a few things to see when there … so I look forward to more …that library and pub as an idea does sound good. Looking forward to hearing more about the V&A too .. cheers Hilary

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