Day four we went to St. Andrews. We took the bus out to St. Andrews because it was actually faster and we didn’t have to change at any point. St. Andrews is of course the home of golf. It is also the home of St. Andrews Museum, Castle and Cathedral.
Because we were on the bus, we went through a ton of small towns on the way to the coast.
We were starved by the time we got there, but had to wait for the restaurant to open, so we went walking. This is just one of the beautiful old churches we saw.
We were the first customers at the restaurant when it opened. It was a pretty cool place with very good food.
Needing to walk off lunch we headed for the St. Andrews Museum.
After we left the museum we decided to walk to the cathedral ruins. We had no idea exactly how far it would be. We only had a tourist map with streets and sights marked. So, we took off walking. Along the way we saw a couple of old stone city gates.
And some more pretty churches.
The St. Andrews Cathedral is in ruins, but is still quite impressive.
A view of the sea from the Cathedral.
Just a short walk away is St. Andrews Castle. It too is in ruins now.
This would have been the pier when the Castle was in use. In later years, it was used as a wading/bathing pool. Okay, that water is cccccold! Don’ t think I’d be doing any swimming here.
This is the beach in front of the castle. Whenever I go overseas, people ask me to bring them rocks back. What better place to find some?
We grabbed a snack of ice cream at the Castle tourist office and asked how far it was to the golf course. I expected it to be miles and miles away. Hah! The gentleman behind the counter said it was just a six minute walk up the street. St. Andrews town is very small. I’m just not used to that. So, we took off walking. On the way we passed the Unversity of St. Andrews. It’s comprised of a lot of different buildings. I don’t think this is the one the Royals attend.
We made it to the Auld Course and Jim was in heaven. This was reason number two for making the trip. It is waaaaay too expensive to play here and you pretty much have to hock your firstborn to get a tee time. Needless to say, Jim just got to dream about it.
After watching a three-some play up to the 18th hole, we decided we were done for the day. I had no idea how to get back to the bus station, but my husband has a wonderful sense of direction and led me straight back to it. We hopped on the bus (there is no train station in St. Andrews) to Dundee and caught the train from there back to Stirling. Next up, our last morning in Stirling.
