Hardback by Black & White Publishing, £9.99
A few years ago, when I lived in Aberdeen, there was a certain budget hotel that used to offer Sunday night family room stays at one of its Dundee hotels for £9.
It was such a brilliant deal we spent many a happy long weekend there. I thought I knew the City of Discovery pretty well but having read Susan McMullan’s quirky new guide book to it, I realise I’d only scratched the surface.
Scotland’s fourth largest city, is also officially Scotland’s sunniest city –
there’s a fact I didn’t know, and famous for jute, jam and journalism but there’s much more to the city than that.
For example, did you know the second largest emerald in the world was discovered here or that Jack the Ripper, or at least someone suspected of being the ripper, lived in the city?
Who exactly invented the adhesive postage stamp is a row that’s rumbled on for years, but it’s largely thought to be Dundonian James Chalmers the world has to thank for this invention which
has been adopted throughout the
postal systems of the world.
Dundee has more than 100 works of public art on display, among them a fearsome dragon. The legend as to why it’s there is told along with the stories behind numerous well-known landmarks such as The Mercat Cross, Tron and various gates and ports.
Gardens and graveyards you would perhaps walk past without giving a second glance are revealed to be of great interest.
But it’s the quirkier stories, such as the city being home to the first doctor to dissect an elephant and the connection between Dundee and Frankenstein (Mary Shelley lived there for a while and it’s thought some of her experiences may have influenced her writing) that make this book much more fun than your regular travel guide.
