We had a rather quick trip leaving the East Coast of Scotland on the Firth and heading over and across the Forth Road Bridge into the Kingdom of Fife! It's not as far as either Gordon or I thought and the day dawned blue sky as usual!
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| The old wall and garden along the drive into and out of Adniston Manor. |
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| Adniston Manor. Our rooms are the top two right windows. Practically a whole wing!! |
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| Approaching the Forth Road Bridge which Gordon's father, Jack, helped design! |
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| For those Ex-Pats interested...that is one of the stanchions for the "new" Firth bridge. |
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| Once we crossed the bridge and were well into Fife country we stopped for a quick couple of pictures. Heading over to St. Andrews you cross through many, many agricultural fields of cabbages and greens. It's really beautiful. |
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| A quick look back from where we've come. |
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| We stopped at a manor house or small castle along the way just to see and to have a wee! |
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| The walled garden of the house above. |
We drove into St. Andrews and immediately headed to the old walled city center to check things out. Gordon's cousin, Ewan, manages a restaurant in St. Andrews but unfortunately he wasn't working until later in the afternoon so we missed him. We browsed some shops and, while I checked out a cheese shop, Gordon went upstairs to a very interesting golf shop selling souvenirs and clubs and all kinds of gifty things. It is a very interesting shop - one that our golf friends would LOVE! Gordon bought himself a new driver!
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| This is St. Andrews Blackfriars' Chapel built in the 1500's. |
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| Gordon, with new driver, checking out remains of a small chapel on the High Street. |
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| An "auld" bank building. |
I don't know how we didn't know that the Dunhill Links Championship Tournament was going on at St. Andrews but the guy at the golf shop told us about it and we headed over anyway. The Old Course was in use and practically impossible to get near. Our goal was to head in to the Clubhouse and see about getting some sort of reservations for next year. Apparently September 2015 is sold out and/or not bookable because of two tournaments except for a few lottery slots or singles. Oh well....
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| The action is over there! |
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| Looking back to the 18th Green and clubhouse of the Old Course. That's the old city of St. Andrews in the background. |
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| The North Sea and beach directly in front of the Old Course. |
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| A wide sandy stretch of beach in both directions. Looks like the east coast of the U.S. but I can guarantee you you wouldn't want to go swimming!!! |
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| There were hundreds of trucks and buses for the golfers and equipment. |
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| Some participants are practicing their drives while.... |
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| ....others practice their putting. |
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| The guy in the blue shirt must have been somebody cause there's a very large camera trained on him to the left. Neither Gordon or I could figure out any of the players hanging about. We agreed that if there was truly someone to see they would be completely surrounded by fans. We didn't see anything like that. |
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| The rough coast line in front of St. Andrews with the 18th in the background. |
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| The 18th |
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| You can see the Clubhouse is well cordoned off. |
So we decided to head down the coast and as we were leaving we passed this little cafe. Look closely at the sign on the right. Awwwwww, this is where Wills and Kate met while attending St. Andrews!
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| Looking back on St. Andrews in the distance. |
There are so many beautiful courses right along the sea. This one is called The Castle Course a mere 120 pounds per round - equal to about $195.00! Hmmmmm, golf or spa day, you choose! Anyway, enjoy these picturesque shots.
This is what a links course looks like.....using the natural lay-of-the-land.
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| The driving range here and below. |
Now we have taken the beautiful coastal route scenic road and arrived in to a quaint little fishing village called Anstruther for the night. Here's our new room at a hotel called The Bank!
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| HUGE! |
And here are the views from our Firth-facing windows....
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| The tide is out..... |
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| later in the evening....the tide is in.... |
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| tide out.... |
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| .....tide in |
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| The bar at The Bank. Gordon has found two coupons, one each for a free drink at the bar! A Scotsman's dream!!! |
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| A sitting area in front of the conservatory dining room overlooking the Firth and just underneath our room |
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| Happy Scotsman with his free beer! Another warm sunny day in the beer garden. |
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| Top floor windows are 2 of our 3 windows. |
As we walked downtown to the little fishing village we saw this interesting sign on a small cottage. Perhaps only interesting to our golfing friends,
And we approach the sea front looking back at the sea wall.
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| Again, the tide is out and we are looking around the corner and up the Firth toward Edinburgh. |
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| The tiny village.... |
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| Supposedly the BEST Fish and Chips in Scotland!!! We'll be checking this place out later! |
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| A seawall protects the tiny harbor. Think French Lieutenant's Woman. |
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| Views of the seawall |
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| A small beach also protected by the seawall. |
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| A very polished and fancy life boat for the village |
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| Looking back toward town |
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| Gordon and I walked the seawall and took these next pictures back on the village and the adjacent seawall |
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| Looking across the Firth at that hill way over there in North Berwick. That's Berwick Law! |
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| And this is the Isle of May just sitting off the coast in the North Sea. |
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| As the sun sets there are several fishermen hoping to catch cod or plaice at the end of the seawall. |
As we walked back through the village we saw many quaint buildings.
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| And back to our hotel at The Bank! |
Later we went back into the village for our F&C at Anstruther Fish Bar as recommended by our friend Stacy! Haddock and chips, mushy peas and coleslaw. OMG, delicious. I really will have to ween myself off all this delicious but fattening food. I think it's interesting that the Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland Charity Shop is right next door to the place that'll give you a heart attack or stroke!
The sunset was lovely.
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| Another tiny cottage. |
Last night we had the windows open and I could hear the rush of the tide. When I got up in the middle of the night and looked out I saw the tidal inlet filling up again. This morning I heard quacking and when we got up the little inlet was filled with ducks picking things up off the bottom brought in from the sea. By the time we left around 10 this morning, it had drained again.
On our coastal route drive we passed more stunning links courses....
And we approached the Forth Road Bridge from South Queensferry. A couple of years ago when our friend Charli was visiting we went to North Queensferry to enjoy the view of the bridges. South Queensferry is teeny-tiny so we briefly stopped for a cup of tea and a few shots of the bridges.
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| A Scotsman in front of the Rail Bridge. |
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| Haha |
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| The Forth Road Bridge celebrated 50 years of age this year. |
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| The new bridge is being built and due to open next year. Uh, better hurry up! |
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| The old signal beam in South Queensferry. |
As we circled around to get on the bridge we missed our turned and managed to drive right up under the Forth Road Bridge. This is something that WOULD NEVER happen in the U.S. Letting just anyone drive under this important bridge is like asking for trouble in today's world. We were really surprised.
So tonight we are back in Moffat. Laundry is run and pictures loaded. We had a lovely steak dinner and a glass of red wine and are pretty much ready to turn in to our own bed tonight.
Gordon is going out to try his new driver tomorrow and we will enjoy another lovely day. It's supposed to kick up a a breeze and begin to pour rain on Friday so I'll try to get outside a little bit too. Just a week now before we leave Moffat and head to Edinburgh before flying out next Friday. Looking forward to being back in Ptown!
