We Back Dundee as a City of Culture

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PEOPLE AND GROWING

Support Dundee

Dundee has some fantastic volunteers that give a lot of time and energy to running local sports teams!

<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Once a city where working class folk had take what the mills had to offer or go hungry... Now out of the stoor and rubble of the past an amazing new Dundee is evolving... there are equal opportunites for all. The young are excited!.. the not so young are... well, just burstin' wi pride at their 'new toon'.... there is a momentum of cameraderi which builds as the city blossoms.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> McManus Galleries - a great treasure trove!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee City Council's Instrumental Music Service is an amazing programme. It educates pupils in musicianship and in performance of an instrument of their choice. The instructors are of the highest calibre, many of them having been professional performers, and pupils are actively encouraged to take part in ensembles. I, personally, have made my best friends. The service has shaped who I am as a person and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity it provided me with. It is definitely a 'hidden gem'.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is set in an absolutely fantastic location, definitely one of the best in the UK - stunning views across the Tay and to the hills beyond.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee has some hidden gems of delightful restaurants and cafes that are original and varied. Having lived in Dundee for 6 years now I am still amazed at all the new places I am discovering. This on the backdrop of amazing surroundings and scenery is just one of the things that makes Dundee amazing!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> the gritty, real, innovative, inspiring creative talent of the city's young people to problem solve, make and enterprise
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I am amazed at all the beautiful medieval buildings there are in Dundee-hidden jewels.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I was proud to be leader of the council during the reopening of the McManus Galleries and also to see the beginnings of the waterfront development, both of which add significantly to Dundee's cultural landscape.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The location is amazing - surrounded by both inland coastal delights
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> A walk along the riverside early on a summers morning is always a great experience and you are often watched carefully by the seals basking in the sun
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I grew up in Edinburgh, went to uni in Stirling and worked in other Scottish cities before coming to Dundee in 1989. What has kept me here is how real Dundee is ( oh and my husband whom i met in 1990!) I love the size of the city and the critical energy that seems to gather to support good things like the DCA and the enthusiasm to support campaigns like this. I work in Dundee and every day i drive in from Broughty Ferry i feel so excited to see the city taking shape day by day! Dundee has a uniqueness and a confidence that will continue to grow, it feels like the essence if Scotland because its comfortable in its own skin ( as well as the one that's being created !!!)
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> A city where I have lived three exciting years as a PhD student. Cutting-edge science work, multinational friends, delicious christmas puddings, amazing landscape!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I feel Dundonians are very freindly and humour in the city is outstanding. Dundee has a very large and home grown music sceen. Dundee is becoming the most modern and vibrant city in scotland.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The music scene is great!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> A place - Dundee Rep An event - Rotary Young Musician of the Year Person- David Robertson SOLAS and St Peter's Free Church They all share Dundee's attitude -Hidden Quality, intellect. humour, aspiration and never above oneself.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Agacan Perth Road been there for years or Zekis as it is know after the colourful artist owner , full of wonderful art , wonderful smells and wonderful food.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Always busy in Dundee--family events all year round, theatre, outdoor, sport...if only there were more days in the week. So many shows to see, exhibitions to visit, alone, with children or groups...Dundee offers it all on my doorstep! I wake up to the vista that is the beautiful Tay, flanked by unique bridges and city architecture..a joy to cross that river into the heart of a city, minutes away for miles of pleasure.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Mennie's Bar (Sunday name is Speedwell Tavern) on Perth Road is a gem of a pub. Spent many happy hours in my youth being served by Mrs Mennie herself and her Manager Ian Thomson
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> You find that the people who put Dundee down have never even been there! I love Dundee and the people of Dundee - they're absolutely straightforward and real. Couthie is the word for it. It's the 'biggest village' in Scotland - you can't walk through Dundee city centre without bumping into somebody you know, or at least seeing a few familiar faces and giving them a wee nod of recognition. Dundee's position on the Tay estuary is also one of the most beautiful settings of any city in Europe - come and see for yourself! (Carol Greig)
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Broughty Ferry has to be Dundee's best kept secret. Great beaches, great restaurants. It has a castle for christ's sake! ;)
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I came here in 2002 to attend University with every intention of leaving after...11 years on I'm still here plus a husband, 2 kids and a small but growing business. The diversity and choice on offer is something I want my kids to experience, enjoying a sunny but cold stroll along the beach at New Year or participating in many activities on offer. Dundee has been good to us I don't think we would be in the position we are in if we were somewhere else. Thank you Dundee!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The Dundee area is like an Aladdins cave of experience, its one of those places where you pick your kids up from school, and could be standing next to a cleaner, a plastic surgeon and an artist. It never ceases to amaze me the variety of people that live here, hiding their lights under very unassuming bushes.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The ancient history, never realised it has been a settlement for thousands of years! The Jacobite rising started on the Law, how amazing! love the city events for Christmas etc.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I don't think people understand the sheer level of creative ability that derives from DJCAD each year. Making the move to Dundee from Northern Ireland 4 years ago has been the best thing for me as a creative individual. The people make the city. They are the culture and they are the future. I feel privileged to have been part of a thriving art school, so much so that I'm basing my final year 'Interior + Environmental Design' Degree Show project on the prospect of a design graduate event space on Dundee's very own Tay Road Bridge, that would exist not only as an cultural and creative interface for DJCAD, but to commemorate the desired '2017 City of Culture' status.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> As a technical educator at Dundee University's DJCAD, I'm amazed by the undergraduate student body who are - uniquely in the UK - so comfortable and adept at blending Art and Design skills with bleeding edge technologies. A great source of pride to those of us who guide them.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Ive been away 4 years now, near Glasgow and i have to listen to how great Glasgow is and how Dundee is a' wee toon' with nothing in it, mostly from people who think Dundee is in the highlands!! I love nothing better than bringing weegie pals with me when i come home for a visit, i take them through the town, to the Discovery, across the bridge, up the Law at night (that view stuns them) the McManus and Nicolls for a peh! Weegies now in awe of us, job done. I just let 'meh toon' do the talking!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The city is full of the most engaging, entertaining and diverse people. Every time I leave my house, someone makes me smile!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The community spirit of Dundee echoes all over the city as friendly and familiar faces are met frequently in unexpected ways, supporting the locals' idea that "Dundee is a small world". The feeling that the people all have the same ties to each other and the place itself gives a unique character to the city. Even people who have not lived in Dundee for a particularly long time find deep attachments to the city and its people, proving that Dundee is more than a hometown - it's a home.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The variety of ethnicities in the city who all love Dundee and see it as their home. This is due to the warm, friendliness of the people who were born, live and work here- making it a joy for others to live and be a part of. There's a general sense of community when it comes to improving Dundee and a great excitement for what the future will bring!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> So much green space
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> It's a city in the country. See deer and squirrels while playing golf at Camperdown, a sparrowhawk in the City Square, seals at Riverside, dolphins in the Tay at the Stannergate, and of course the whale at the MacManus! And - it's a city with a thirst for learning. Public lectures and exhibitions from a variety of providers draw curious and interested crowds eager to have something more than the football to talk about!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is Scotland's sunniest city!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The City of Dundee has the current 'Scottish Hairdresser of the year' Kay McIntyre who is now in the latest member of and the only Dundonian in the British Hairdressing 'Hall of Fame' Its also the only hair salon to have won a Regeneration Award and Commendation by the British Civic Trust...Oh and you get a great hair cut too!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Literally the city of 'Discovery' a fantastic iconic ship steeped in history which should make each one of us that live in and around Dundee very proud. I see that ship everyday on my way in to work and it never fails to make me wonder about the incredible journey it has been on and the brave folks it had on board - true explorers!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The annual Dundee Jazz &amp; Blues festival is an amazing experience that really brings the whole community together and creates a fantastic feeling in the city. It also highlights the cities passion for creativity and is attracting fans from all over the world.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> fantastic location and ever changing scenery
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> There's a growing swing dance scene spurred on by the Universities swing dance society.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I think the courses at the college are one of the most surprising 'hidden secrets' having attended pottery classes with amazing teachers and a great atmosphere.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Hotchpotch! An open mic night for writers every month in Braes pub on the Perth road!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I moved back to Dundee 5 years ago after living across the world. What I love about this city is it's ability to evolve, to change with the times and to reinvent itself. Above all it's home to me and my family and will always be home no matter where we are in the world
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The sun shines!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Every time I arrive back at the City i am always blown away by the approach and setting of the City on the Tay Estuary. Simply stunning!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The biggest and most inspirational aspect of Dundee is, undisputed, the people. They have so much to give - there is skills, creativity, and innovation. We have so many talented and good looking people in Dundee, with new arrivals all the time to two universities. That resource should be used to its full potential - get the people involved in the city through projects and events; really connect the people and the city to the environment as a hub of creativity. Alot of people come, study and go. They need to be encouraged to stay.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Great theatre &amp; love McManus Galleries. Looking forward to continuing waterfront development - city is improving!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Being among the first to see amazing new children's films at Discovery Film Festival, eating fudge donuts from Fisher &amp; Donaldson and meeting so many welcoming, funny, inspiring people. Every time I get a funny look from someone outside of the city when I tell them I live in Dundee it makes me proud to say it's a truly great place to be.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> My wife and I have lived in Dundee since 1968. The transformation of the city since then has been amazing! Dundee has moved on beyond expectation in many areas of its life, including, education, medicine, research, the arts and culture.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee warms my heart. It is the city I fell in love in, made my best friends in and have grown up in.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I am surprised by the energy which is currently going into the transformation of Dundee's waterfront
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The general atmosphere of this city is absolutely outstanding when I first stepped off the car in February of 2009 for my interview for Abertay, I was just taken aback but what truly surprise me is the wealth of creative talent in our games sector. It's, of course, known that Abertay and Dundee fosters a games community but to see the actual quality of talent coming out of Dundee and spreading across the globe. It's absolutely thrilling to be a part of.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The mini gothic cathedral just across the water (Leng Memorial Chapel), the weird acoustics of the Wormit water reservoir, the clock in the Wellgate, having a peaceful sandwich in the Howff graveyard and storytelling in the library.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> A history that could compare with any other major city
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee has so much creative talent!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The fantastic gaming community. Digital, table top, cards and board. From game shops to pubs you'll find gamers everywhere
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> My husband is from Dundee. His pride in the city is so obvious whenever he talks of it. His passion when he talks about the music and history of the place (from Billy Mackenzie to to Cromwell's troops sacking the town in 1651!) makes me smile. A working class town that has always housed artists and dreamers and punched so far above it's weight when it comes to creativity.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee has a rich history. An hour or two in Verdant Works, a stroll through the High Street, a tour through Discovery Museum and McManus Museum, and a glimpse of the Tay from the Law are all proof of that.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Having moved here from SE England almost 30 years ago, where there was no shortage of things to do, I am surprised and delighted with the changes in Dundee over that time. Next week, to celebrate my birthday, Dundee is hosting the fabulous Blues Festival, with International bands playing all over Dundee. All we need now is a John Lewis!!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Not always known for its architecture there are some amazing traditional built features. I moved to the the city with my family 18 years ago and the first night I was walking in the city centre and turned a corner and stopped in my tracks, struck by the most amazing built features. I had to stop and sit on a wall and time disappeared. This was very unusual thing for me - not something I am prone to doing. I revisit that spot often. One of my Dundee happy places :)
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> the trades
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The amazing resilience of Dundee folk, after all the changes the city has seen over the last century - and the way they continue to adjust and adapt, with characteristic good Scots humour in the process!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The friendliness of the people. The Blues Bonanza Gardyne's Land Chalmers' adhesive stamp P53 - identifying what cancer is about
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The Howff Graveyard - given to Dundee by Mary Queen of Scots and now a peaceful place in the heart of the city centre. The inventor of the adhesive postage stamp, Joseph Chalmers is buried here.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Wonderful memories of student life in Dundee in the early 1980s - the intimacy of a small city, the wry humour and endearing local dialect, the rich history (jam, jute and journalism), the creativity and individuality.... Small city with BIG personality!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Every time I cycle into Dundee from Fife I get this feeling... THE BUZZ... When I first visited Dundee in 2007, I couldn't feel the buzz. I now go for regular day trips to return home feeling inspired and creative from the real &amp; lively encounters of the day. Nothing fake about Dundee!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Growing up in Dundee in the 80's most of my school friends uprooted and left for the likes of Glasgow, Edinburgh or the bright lights south of the border. Dundee's renaissance over the past 30 years however is changing peoples view of the City supported by a World class University, World class Tourist Attractions, World class people... Big Difference? Dundee is now a City to be proud of.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is a wonderful city to visit with its parks and high street. The city is rustic and full of character, yet modern. The Dundee football grounds and high street were among our favourite places to see. The view from the law is breathtaking on a bright summer's day. Nothing would make us happier than seeing Dundee named the UK's city of culture. D and R from Ottawa Canada.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I have seen dundee change from being a grim depressing place to grow up in the 80s to the vibrant, exciting and optomistic place it is today. if anyone had told me when i was a teenager that i would be back here living in my 30s and 40s I wouldnt have believed it! Yet here i am and here i want to stay. i I am proud to see the place i call home thriving through the innovative and creative nature of its inhabitants. Dundee has really pulled itself up by its bootstraps and I'm glad to be part of it.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I absolutely love Dundee and I wouldn't live anywhere else. I have everything I would want in a city and I love that within 5 minutes from my house I am in the countryside cycling in some of the most amazing surroundings.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The live music scene in Dundee is one of it's the best cultural attributes - and it is far batter than the scene in Aberdeen. We have great local band - Young - AMWWF, Boston Tea Party etc - and not so young - Tripper, Headroom, Ringer, Funking Idiots, Bedrock etc, etc. Great music venues - Clarks, Duke's Corner, Legends, Mcdaniels, Bank Bar etc. If you loke live music then Dundee is the place to be!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I love the art that is around the city. There are the penguin statues outside the overgate (which have santa hats put on them for Christmas); a scary looking dragon on the high street and of course desperate dan standing in the city center. My favourites are the more modern looking metal sculptures like the paper planes which are found across from the airport. As for a hidden secret I really like the planet trail at the Mills observatory where you can walk across the beautiful park and walk from the sun to pluto. Each planet is represented by a rock with a plaque giving information about the planet. The distances between each planet is a scaled down model of reality so it can be hard to find Neptune!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee has got knocked down, it got up and continued. There is a feeling in the city that it won't be stopped whatever happens.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Frida Kahlo visited the Tay Bridge Bar (acc M Marra)... AND EVERYONE IS FRIENDLY!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee's a city of innovation and culture, a great place for a graduating student! All this and its only ten minutes to the countryside or beach, what more could you ask for?
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I had lived in Scotland for four years before I came to Dundee for my interview. I had heard the usual negative comments about the city, so it was a great shock and pleasure to come over the rail bridge into the city and be amazed by the sight of the wide Tay that spread wide Fife and Angus. I thought to myself why has no-one ever told me about this amazing sight when talking about Dundee.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The hidden community arts work that Dundee Rep do is extraordinary - speak to their Community Drama Officer
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is the sunniest city in Scotland with the sunniest personality. We have great nightlife, with sociable friendly inhabitants.Theatres &amp; music. The Blues festival - biggest in Europe! Great walks - over the Sidlaws, or by the silvery Tay, or through one of the many parks. So many activities - some for the young - some for the old - and some for the rest in-between. Football ...with friendly rivalry! etc etc etc
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> It should be Dundee, in 2017, because, culturally, we are growing daily.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Our young people Diversity in action
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Camperdown parkrun started 15 months ago, and since then has built a community from accross the city, of people who show up every week to run or volunteer, and enjoy being in the great outdoors of Camperdown park. The generosity and welcoming atmosphere created every week is the highlight of my week in Dundee.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I have this image of a group of people, one of them my wife, swimming across the Tay. They arrive, shivering and tired at Broughty Ferry Harbour and as they emerge a school of bottle-nosed dolphins barrels out to sea leaping and diving as if in salute. It sums up why we came and stayed. A plucky, generous place and people, succeeding against the odds and blessed with an incomparable natural setting.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The Universities and the Colleges with their unrelenting academic vibrancy amazes me and just blows my mind. We are a city of Discovery and we discover something new every single day. How fantastically magical is that?
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The author of Frankenstien, Mary Godwin Shelley, holidayed in Dundee as a girl. She even mentions it in the introduction to her famous novel. A plaque marking the site of the cottage where she stayed is embedded in a building on the city's South Baffin Street off Broughty Ferry Road. This is just one of Dundee's literary claims to fame!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee has the only women's trail of its kind in the whole of the UK. You can get the free leaflet and talk a walk from plaque to plaque round the city centre, marvelling at the interesting lives and achievements of 25 notable women, and then go home and read of many more on the website dundeewomenstrail.org.uk. This is a city which has been known for its strong women. Doctors, witches, artists, mill workers, Suffragettes and business women - they're all here.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Braithwaites Tea &amp; Coffee shop! So good i spend most weekends shipping orders to my friends and family who cant get into the shop in person.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> When you go on a wee donder somewhere you always find cool stuff to have a look at what you've never seen before
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The public art. The monkeys, the squirrel, car, penguins, dragon, dan and minnie, and now the lemmings, its all great. Design the dundee public street art trail. Perth rd to nethergate, to grassmarket to high st to murraygate . . .
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The sheer amount of interesting artists and projects that come out of the Art School.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The friendlinesss of the people, the wonderful location and the amount of green areas.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Did you know you can buy the world's best sausages at the West End Butchers on Perth Road? They make their own beef, steak and pork - all awesome, but the pork are my favourite! I came to live in Dundee over 19 years ago and love it here. It's a small, friendly city that has it all.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The friendly people, the amazing views over the Tay, the Rep, the parks.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee feels like the obvious centre point in Scotland - it's within an easy 90 minutes distance from other wonderful cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow, but in contrast, you can go to the beach, the countryside, up the Glens, into the Highlands and beyond very easily. Sitting in the evenings watching the Silvery Tay with the hills of Fife behind is a view I never take for granted and the sunsets in the winter months are truly spectacular. We are so fortunate to have the quality of life that we have here in Dundee, I've never found the need to leave for very long!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> At 18 I came to Dundee to rule it out as a uni option. I quickly got lost, where (in the pouring rain) a woman went out of her way and escorted me to the nearest bus stop for Ninewells. That was 1986. I am from Edinburgh. Dundee just felt right, its people with their strange accents are uber-friendly, and I have been here ever since. Dundee is now home.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The hidden gem of our city is the attitude of the staff at the university. They are a family; they are colleagues; they are accepting and inspiring. University can be hard for students, as it was for me on occasion; the staff at my school made life easy and academia enjoyable. We have one-on-one with lecturers and support staff, and even the Dean over coffee, wine, and stand-up comedy- this is not a closed community. The secret to Dundee is that it is realises that to be great you need to integrate and evolve, and that is what I have done here.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is the absolutely perfect place to see the whole of Scotland - we have the rivers, the sea, the hills, the glens, the cities and the countryside all within a stone's throw! And that's not to mention everything Dundee has all by itself culture, history, scenery, shopping, sport ... need I go on??
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The daffodils
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The atmosphere, the friendliness. That I can be at the beach, up an inactive volcano or shopping from big name retailers all within 10 mins of my house.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> It's always evolving!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is outward-looking boasting the Mills observatory, one of the few major public-access observatories in any UK city, as well as having introspective tendencies with high resolution microscopy, and views both inward and outward looking via satellite receiving stations. The unaided views to the naked eye are also quite stunning from estuarial sunrises to majestic river Tay sunsets, and all the intervening splendour of a cosmopolitan urban landscape. We are also pretty good at ultimate frisbee !
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Music, vibrant arts and culture, grassroots self organised cultural activities going on as well as via more established organisations like DCA and other venues
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I've lived in Dundee since 1985 and to this day the humour, the dry wit of the people still engages me. In town, the medieval rubs up against Starbucks, dotcom computer-game creators drink in the Phoenix next to old guys who worked in the boatyard. Go down to the riverside, look left and there's nothing out there until Denmark. 28 years in the city and I've been banged on the nose only once and, on that occasion, I was really asking for it. That has to say something.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee for me will always be the place where I found love as my future husband hails from is glorious shores! As an American who moved to Scotland 6 years ago, choosing to live in Dundee will always be one of my greatest decisions! Loved the university experience I got while there and the city will always have a place in my heart. It is a place that has seen so many changes over the years and is constantly working to improve and rejuvenate itself. Little city with a big personality!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> the view over the tay is breathtaking as is the view from the Law
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee used to be "jam, jute and journalism". Now it is vibrant, with mainstream and arthouse cinemas, live concerts, good theatres, a wide range of restaurants, including those specialising in local cuisine as well as a variety of different ethnic cuisines, and both old and new places to relax and socialise. The fact that the museums and heritage sites are here is just the tip of the iceberg. Dundee offers something for everyone.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Wonderful restaurants and great people!
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> I loved it when I was a new student in 1986 when I came to Dundee via the Tay Bridge. In those days it had the toll booth and on my nervous arrival in Dundee with mum and dad to begin my Art School journey there seemed to be a huge , beautiful lemon tree at the bridge. On closer inspection this turned out to be hundreds of empty jiff lemon squeezy bottles tied on to the tree by the men working in the booths. It made us all smile with delight and I have remembered it ever since.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The remarkable fund-raising achievements of its citizens for cancer research and medical equipment. It's many unsung medical, scientific and social pioneers eg Thomas Maclagan, James Bowman Lindsay and Mary Lily Walker. The past European successes of its football teams epitomise how so often Dundee punches well above its weight. The gradual eradication of multi-storey buildings is an indication of the city rediscovering its architectural heritage.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> The city is full of 'characters', people who are distinctly Dundonian, but speak to the common strands of humanity everywhere. Likewise, Dundee is a city that has encapsulated so much of the world in its time. What better place to celebrate culture?
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee is no longer only a city of Discovery, it is a city which has re-invented itself. Like many places, the loss of industry was a severe blow. However, it has developed new industry, new strengths and new pride. Cancer research, arts, computer games; it's a reinvention based around research, creativity and ingenuity.
<b>Q) What surprises you about the city?</b><br><hr><b>A)</b> Dundee right now is lively and exciting, the city itself is looking good and theres a certain buzz about the place.. a change of attitude perhaps? The shops are trendy and lots of new individual businesses are opening everywhere. A trendy city full of friendly folk,,its deffo getting better..lets hope we win this.. check out the likes of House of Liberty, Hayley Scanlan and many other gems in this growing city.

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