While we were staying in Edinburgh, my mom and I took a lovely day trip to the fishing villages of Fife and the beautiful coastal town of St. Andrews. We met a tour group at the bus station and spent a lovely day seeing new (to us) areas of Scotland. Of course, all of Scotland was new to us at that point except for Edinburgh! 😄 It was fun to get out into the literal countryside and see more of this beautiful country.
The fishing village we visited was Anstruther. It was really cute. I imagine the seafood here would be so fresh and delicious.
The equipment/detritus of the fishing/lobstering life.
I had bought these super-soft lambswool earmuffs at a shop in Edinburgh the day before, and they were so nice and warm.
Here I am approaching this old lighthouse at the end of the pier.
Caught in the middle of saying something. Classic.
Another Scottish library!
This was a box of fudge I bought. The fudge was dee-lish. 😋
Our next stop was the ancient town of St. Andrews. This is where we explored the ruins of a crumbling castle, walked through a vast historic graveyard with the remains of a once-soaring cathedral, and ate some really good fish and chips for lunch. St. Andrews is also famous for its historic and majestic golf course and for the University of St. Andrews, Scotland's oldest university and the third-oldest in the English-speaking world. Many well-off Europeans go to college there, including Prince William and Kate Middleton. It's where they met!
These were some of the university buildings we walked by.
St. Andrews Castle was really neat to explore, even though there wasn't too much left of the interior of it.
Classic castle features.
It's neat to think of all the things that took place over the centuries between these walls and on these grounds.
These stairs once led to the castle's chapel.
What it used to look like, a long time ago...
A few interior areas still remain.
I actually did get a creepy feeling inside the Bottle Dungeon.
I liked standing at one of the windows and looking down the cliff and out to sea, imagining living back in the Middle Ages. I'm thankful that I didn't live then, but I hope someday we can see what life was really like in the times before our own.
A woman's home is her castle! 😄
This is a view of the castle as we were walking away from it.
Down the street is the (former) cathedral and its massive graveyard. This was neat to explore as well. We missed the tour, but we'll just have to get it next time!
(This would be a cool place to do a ghost tour!)
We had lunch at Cromars. The fish and chips did not disappoint!
Here are some pictures of the St. Andrews golf course and the beach just beyond it. Here on the "Old Course" is where the game of golf was first established.
Scenes from Chariots of Fire were filmed on this beach.
As if Anstruther and St. Andrews weren't enough, our day trip wasn't over yet. Stay tuned for my first royal palace! (I loved it!)
