Scotland
June 18 – June 30th
Ken, Kathy, Mike and Kristin
The trip to Scotland was a birthday trip for my husband, Ken. Our son, Mike, said that we needed to take dad to Scotland to play on the Old Course because he’d never get there himself. So last September (I believe it was 5am the first Wednesday to be exact…9 am Scotland time) I entered the lottery to see if we couldn’t get tee times on the Old Course, the mecca for golfers. http://www.standrews.org.uk/golf/book_golf/index.html
Around 3 months later, we got the good news. Got tee times for Mike and Ken for The Old Course as well as The New Course (you need to book…and pay for both). Total cost was approximately $800 which has to be paid immediately. Once we had the tee times in hand, I began to plan the trip. Ken’s birthday was in December, so we wanted to get something put together by then.
I booked the air portion through Delta using American Express points. Since Ken and I had more flexibility we arrived a few days before and stayed a day longer than Mike and Kristin. I figured we’d need a day or two to adjust to the time change and the stress of traveling. Since we were leaving from Newark and returning to JFK, we used a driver. The trip over was actually on a Continental plane. No individual movie screens on the back of the seats and the movie was 27 Dresses…one I had just recently seen, so I tried (and I think I succeeded) to sleep.
Thursday, June 19th
Marriott Damahoy Hotel and Country Club
Kirknewton
Plane was delayed around 2 hrs, but we got to Edinburgh and thanks to Martin McCray, guest relation manager at the Marriott Dalmahoy, (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/edigs-marriott-dalmahoy-hotel-and-country-club/) our driver, David, was waiting outside the airport to take us the 7 or so miles to the hotel. David was a great tour guide, pointed out things along the way. The hotel is in a lovely setting on the top of a hill. The hotel is surrounded by two golf courses, and farm land (cows, sheep, polo horses) and beautiful landscaping. Since we arrived early, our room wasn’t ready, so we headed over to the golf club pub for a light lunch. And yes, having the dollar being half the value of the £, did make everything quite expensive. I had an egg salad sandwich and Ken had a bowl of leek and potato soup (very good!).
After lunch we walked around the property, checked out the golf practice range (nice putting area and driving range) and finally checked into Room 80. As noted by many posts on Trip Advisor, this hotel is quite spread out, with the rooms quite a distance from the lobby. Ours was one of the closest, but it still was a hike. Our room was on the bottom floor, not much of a view (overlooked a bush) but nice size. Only problem was the toilet was very close to the wall…a bit cramped! The hotel does have free wireless and if you leave your laptop at home, two computers where you can buy internet time. (either via cards sold at the front desk or just inputting your credit card number). We met Lindsey Cheney, another guest relations manager who had been most helpful in obtaining a tee time for Ken and spa appt for me.
One negative I had read about this property was the food wasn’t all that great and the service not too fast. Well, service certainly wasn’t as fast as NYC restaurants, but we thought overall the food was very good. They were a bit understaffed, but they also sent us a complimentary bottle of wine to make up for our dinner that night being a bit delayed. Our waitress at the Long Weekend restaurant, Emma Campbell, was “in training” and she is going to be a super star. She handled doing twice the work with poise and a smile. I had a stuffed potato (chicken, brie and bacon (frankly they could lose the bacon…very fatty) but the chicken was great and the brie gave it a nice flavor. Ken had fish and chip with mushy peas (since I consider peas little green balls of mushy poison, I found this quite a disgusting dish.
Breakfast the next day was included and they have a nice buffet spread. I even tried a little haggis…sort of tasted like liverwurst, but a bit too spicy for me. Nice pastries, eggs, fresh fruit, and the bacon that everyone talks about. As folks on the board have mentioned, beef and bacon are two things to avoid. On the other hand, Kristin, our connoisseur of all things salmon, said the salmon dishes she had in Scotland were the best she ever had.
Friday, June 20th
Ken went off to practice golf and I took a long walk down to the main road. Made friends with the horses, and took many, many photos. (Marriott Dalmahoy photos) The sky in Scotland is just so amazing. Blue one minute filled with white fluffy clouds, then grey dark clouds the next. If it is raining, just wait ten minutes and the sun will come back out. Ken had an early afternoon tee time on the West Course (£40), so I checked out the work out room (very nice and quite well equipped) and the pool (very shallow). There was also a nice locker room, nice sauna and very nice steam room (changing color lights in the ceiling and nice eucalyptus smell).
Ken enjoyed the golf, but found the course quite confusing and actually played a few holes on the East Course until a nice local golfer straighten him out. Dinner that night was in Pentland, their nice restaurant overlooking the East golf course. Of course since I left my camera in the room there was an amazing rainbow. I had a late lunch (I did the high tea (scone, biscuit, 4 tiny ham or egg sandwiches and a piece of chocolate cake—which looked good, but I passed on) in the bar area overlooking the East Course) and I wasn’t very hungry, so just had the asparagus (very good) and a chicken Caesar salad in a parmesan crust bowl (also very good). Ken had the salmon and said it was excellent. (approx $80 total) So along with our complimentary bottle of wine, life was good.
Saturday, June 21st
Breakfast again at the Pentland restaurant then off to downtown Edinburgh. We had a great taxi driver who told us about the Scotland £5 note that had Jack Nicolaus’s picture on it. He told us it was quite rare now but he thought he could get one for us. He took our cell # and told us he’d call if he did. He dropped us off at the Radisson SAS (http://www.edinburgh.radissonsas.com/) right on The Royal Mile…almost at the middle of it. (note: Free internet in the lobby…only two computers, but ask at desk for password).
We had asked for two non-smoking rooms, but they only had one. In order to get the second we had to upgrade to a preferred room, but that did include breakfast for two, free water (2 large bottles, one sparkling), chocolates, free movies and very nice amenities. Considering the cost of breakfast, it was well worth it. Our room was a lovely room (115 - £361 for 2 nights inc upgrade w/breakfast) overlooking the Royal Mile. Very soundproofed. Flat screen TV and lots of movie choices, all for free. The kids were in #241 (£301 for the 2 nights – view overlooking the side street). We unpacked and waited for Mike and Kristin to arrive. They flew over on Delta, and only had a small delay, so they arrived right around lunch.
We headed across the street to the Whisky pub (lunch for 4: roasted stuffed red peppers, steak pie, 2 soups – really good… which they comped us since it took so long to come: £28.30) where Ken and Mike had the first of their many pints of brew for the week. One thing that I thought was quite interesting was the McCondom Whisky condom dispenser machine in the ladies room. After lunch we walked down the hill towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, stopping at the Canongate Church and Cemetery. At the bottom of the hill is the Parliament building, very contemporary, sort of out of place, but quite interesting. Across the street is the palace. None of our group was interested in going inside, so we walked towards Arthur’s Seat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur)
Mike and Kristin noticed folks climbing and immediately decided they wanted to climb to the top (what can I say…they are young and have lots of energy).
Ken and I watched them until they reached the first plateau, then we decided to see if we could find Calton Hill. We walked back towards the palace, and stopped by a small bookstore. I noticed they sold the Explorer passes (http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/explorer), but since I wasn’t sure what the kids wanted in the way of sightseeing, I decided to hold off buying….big mistake! Ken and I found steps and a path leading up to Calton Hill and climbed to the top (or what we thought was the top) but it was only the ½ way mark, the place the bus tours drop you off at. We were tired and trying to decide what to do when our travel cell phone rang…it was the cab driver who had found a Jack Nichlaus £5. Since we decided we wanted to go back to the hotel, we told him where we were and he came and picked us up. We gave him £10 plus the fare and a nice tip. As we found out later, these bills are quite rare and sell for a bit more than £10.
Once back to the hotel, Ken crashed, but I decided to go shopping so I walked up the hill towards the Edinburgh Castle. Got back and found the kids had come back from their climb. They made it to the top, took one photo…and then the batteries in the camera died. Dinner that night was at the Mitre Bar right across from the hotel. Nice place, and fortunately we figured out you had to place you orders at the bar, or we’d still be sitting there. Kristin had Cullen Skink and Mike had Sausage and Mash…quite an interesting presentation (see Edinburgh photo link below)
Sunday, June 22nd
Since we had paid the extra charge for the deluxe rooms, Ken and I got free breakfast. Scottish breakfasts are quite large and much more than we could eat, so Mike and Kristin came down. Plus the room had a great Espresso machine that everyone enjoyed. After breakfast we headed down to the Edinburgh Castle. (http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/index/tour/3d-2.htm)
One of the few mistakes I made on this trip was not getting the Scotland explorer pass (£107 for 3 adults and one “concession…their name for senior…or anyone 60 or older) the day before where it was being sold in a bookstore by Holyroodhouse. We ended up waiting in a line for about 45 mins at the castle. Once we got our passes, we walked up to the top and enjoyed the panoramic view. The kids particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur’s Seat, knowing they were on top of it yesterday. We visited St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest structure in the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Margaret) with very nice stained glass windows. We went through the war memorial and one of the museums. Beautiful flowers everywhere. We went through some of the castle rooms. I had been reading about Mary, Queen of Scotland, and it was interesting to see where she lived for a while. After visiting the castle we went to The Witchery (http://www.thewitchery.com/ ) for lunch (another Charlotte recommendation). They have a prix fixed lunch menu ) £12.95 for two courses) and the food was really great.
the Prix fixed menu consisted of: Soup ‘au pistou’
Assiette of charcuterie
Crevette and champion pear salad, sauce Marie rose – I had this…fantastic
***
Confit of Border chicken leg w/spring greens, creamed potatoes
Home smoked cod, broad bean and chickpea cassoulet
Courgette risotto, smoked garlic, and aged parmesan – also this
The room was a little small, but certainly had the ambiance! After lunch we went back to our hotel to meet up with Charlotte.
One of the great things about the internet is how you can meet up with truly amazing people. I was looking for a tour in St. Andrews…just something to pass the time while the boys golfed. Little did I know that e-mailing Twisted Tales of St. Andrews for information about a tour (charlotte.cotd@hotmail.co.uk) would turn out so well. Charlotte e-mailed me back and that began a 6 month time in which she was invaluable in helping to plan our trip. She sent me books, did up maps with suggested stops along the way and by the time we got to Edinburgh, I felt that she was a good friend and I was really looking forward to meeting her.
We met up with Charlotte at the hotel and were joined by her friend, Jamie, who is a drummer for The Goodnights (http://www.myspace.com/theunknowndundee) Check out the band and hear the music at the link above. Both Charlotte and Jamie were great, filling us in on the local history.
We toured part of the Old Town, including Greyfriers Kirk, In the Kirkyard lie the remains of many distinguished Scots. The collection of 17th century monuments is said to be one of the finest in Scotland and one of the best in Britain. Edinburgh's most famous dog, Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye terrier, is thought to lie about 50 yards from his master, John Gray. The Kirkyard also contains the Covenanters' Prison (http://www.covenanter.org.uk/Greyfriars/) and the Martyrs' Monument. There have also been many claims of poltergeists or ghost in this area. The gravestones certainly are interesting and Charlotte had keys to the Black Mausoleum – the lair of the world famous Mackenzie Poltergeist . Hundreds of people claim to have been attacked by the entity in this Mausoleum. The MacKenzie Poltergeist is now regarded as the best documented supernatural case of all. Unfortunately (or probably fortunately!) we did not run into Mr. MacKenzie.
Charlotte also showed us the window where J.K. Rowlings sat to write the first Harry Potter book, as well as the local private school whose building serves as a model for Hogwarts, and the street that serves as the model for Dragon Alley. We also walked down Victoria Street, a lovely curved street of colorful buildings.
We had dinner that night at Maggie Dicksons; 92 Grassmarket (£57.70) BLT sandwich, curly fries, Haddock (fish and chips…huge), nicoise salad, ½ pound hamburger, tuna Panini and drinks for 6. We left Jamie and Charlotte knowing we would see them the next day in St. Andrews and stopped by Whistle Binkie's, 6 Niddry Street, which was right next to our hotel. Charlotte had recommended it as a place for good music. We stayed for a while then decided we were tired. On the way back to the hotel, the kids heard more music coming from across the street and decided to have just one more drink before turning in…..
For photos of Edinburgh:
Photos of Edinburgh
Monday, June 23rd
Up early. The kids were meeting us in our room at 9 for breakfast as we wanted to get an early start on the road to St. Andrews. Charlotte had mapped out many things to see along the way. Unfortunately, Mike was a bit under the weather, a combination of jetlag and REALLY enjoying the pub scene last night in Edinburgh. So Ken and I went out for a walk, stopped in the Bank of Scotland to change a bit of our travelers check into pounds and by the time we got back, Mike was feeling slightly better. They walked over to get the rental car (Hertz…still having a few problems since they over charged us.) We had a navigation system, but by the time she (aka the talking lady…with a British accent) told us which way to go, we were by the road…so it was a bit confusing getting out of Edinburgh, but by the time we crossed the bridge over the Firth of Fourth, it was smooth sailing.
Our first stop was St. Bridget Kirk in Dalgety Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalgety_Bay) This is the ruins of a 12th century church and cemetery right on the water. We couldn’t find out how to get there, but stumbled across the Fife Coastal path which lead us there.
Next stop was Aberdour Castle (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/aberdour/aberdourcastle/index.html) where we had a delightful lunch in the café. Pretty much everything we ordered was out of stock…and the 3rd time the woman stopped by our table with “we have a little problem….” We all just smiled…But the food we ended up with was great. We walked around the castle…totally missing the upstairs ballroom, and then walked around the lovely gardens. Parking for the castle is by the Aberdour train station.
Next was Pittenween, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittenweem ) a delightful village. We parked up by the church & cemetery and took a path down to the water. Our path took us by St. Filian’s cave, but we didn’t go in. I think you need to obtain the key from a local merchant. We did walk down to the harbour.
A few miles down the road was (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anstruther ) Anstruther. Initially we had planned on being here around lunch and were going to sample the world famous fish and chips, but since we had already dine, we just walked along the water.
Our final stop was Crail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crail ). Here I wanted to visit the Crail Pottery (http://www.crailpottery.com/pottery.htm ) but we got there just after closing time. We walked down a path to find out we were at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. For the best photos you need to be at the bottom, but we were tired and the boys wanted to go on to St. Andrews, so we just left. We only made one more stop. A lovely church that was on the side of the road. The sky was just so spectacular that we had to stop to take a few photos.
The next thing we knew we were pulling into St. Andrews.
To view photos from our trip from Edinburgh to St. Andrews:
photos on the way to St. Andrews
more to come....St. Andrews...Inverness..the Highlands...stay tuned
June 18 – June 30th
Ken, Kathy, Mike and Kristin
The trip to Scotland was a birthday trip for my husband, Ken. Our son, Mike, said that we needed to take dad to Scotland to play on the Old Course because he’d never get there himself. So last September (I believe it was 5am the first Wednesday to be exact…9 am Scotland time) I entered the lottery to see if we couldn’t get tee times on the Old Course, the mecca for golfers. http://www.standrews.org.uk/golf/book_golf/index.html
Around 3 months later, we got the good news. Got tee times for Mike and Ken for The Old Course as well as The New Course (you need to book…and pay for both). Total cost was approximately $800 which has to be paid immediately. Once we had the tee times in hand, I began to plan the trip. Ken’s birthday was in December, so we wanted to get something put together by then.
I booked the air portion through Delta using American Express points. Since Ken and I had more flexibility we arrived a few days before and stayed a day longer than Mike and Kristin. I figured we’d need a day or two to adjust to the time change and the stress of traveling. Since we were leaving from Newark and returning to JFK, we used a driver. The trip over was actually on a Continental plane. No individual movie screens on the back of the seats and the movie was 27 Dresses…one I had just recently seen, so I tried (and I think I succeeded) to sleep.
Thursday, June 19th
Marriott Damahoy Hotel and Country Club
Kirknewton
Plane was delayed around 2 hrs, but we got to Edinburgh and thanks to Martin McCray, guest relation manager at the Marriott Dalmahoy, (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/edigs-marriott-dalmahoy-hotel-and-country-club/) our driver, David, was waiting outside the airport to take us the 7 or so miles to the hotel. David was a great tour guide, pointed out things along the way. The hotel is in a lovely setting on the top of a hill. The hotel is surrounded by two golf courses, and farm land (cows, sheep, polo horses) and beautiful landscaping. Since we arrived early, our room wasn’t ready, so we headed over to the golf club pub for a light lunch. And yes, having the dollar being half the value of the £, did make everything quite expensive. I had an egg salad sandwich and Ken had a bowl of leek and potato soup (very good!).
After lunch we walked around the property, checked out the golf practice range (nice putting area and driving range) and finally checked into Room 80. As noted by many posts on Trip Advisor, this hotel is quite spread out, with the rooms quite a distance from the lobby. Ours was one of the closest, but it still was a hike. Our room was on the bottom floor, not much of a view (overlooked a bush) but nice size. Only problem was the toilet was very close to the wall…a bit cramped! The hotel does have free wireless and if you leave your laptop at home, two computers where you can buy internet time. (either via cards sold at the front desk or just inputting your credit card number). We met Lindsey Cheney, another guest relations manager who had been most helpful in obtaining a tee time for Ken and spa appt for me.
One negative I had read about this property was the food wasn’t all that great and the service not too fast. Well, service certainly wasn’t as fast as NYC restaurants, but we thought overall the food was very good. They were a bit understaffed, but they also sent us a complimentary bottle of wine to make up for our dinner that night being a bit delayed. Our waitress at the Long Weekend restaurant, Emma Campbell, was “in training” and she is going to be a super star. She handled doing twice the work with poise and a smile. I had a stuffed potato (chicken, brie and bacon (frankly they could lose the bacon…very fatty) but the chicken was great and the brie gave it a nice flavor. Ken had fish and chip with mushy peas (since I consider peas little green balls of mushy poison, I found this quite a disgusting dish.
Breakfast the next day was included and they have a nice buffet spread. I even tried a little haggis…sort of tasted like liverwurst, but a bit too spicy for me. Nice pastries, eggs, fresh fruit, and the bacon that everyone talks about. As folks on the board have mentioned, beef and bacon are two things to avoid. On the other hand, Kristin, our connoisseur of all things salmon, said the salmon dishes she had in Scotland were the best she ever had.
Friday, June 20th
Ken went off to practice golf and I took a long walk down to the main road. Made friends with the horses, and took many, many photos. (Marriott Dalmahoy photos) The sky in Scotland is just so amazing. Blue one minute filled with white fluffy clouds, then grey dark clouds the next. If it is raining, just wait ten minutes and the sun will come back out. Ken had an early afternoon tee time on the West Course (£40), so I checked out the work out room (very nice and quite well equipped) and the pool (very shallow). There was also a nice locker room, nice sauna and very nice steam room (changing color lights in the ceiling and nice eucalyptus smell).
Ken enjoyed the golf, but found the course quite confusing and actually played a few holes on the East Course until a nice local golfer straighten him out. Dinner that night was in Pentland, their nice restaurant overlooking the East golf course. Of course since I left my camera in the room there was an amazing rainbow. I had a late lunch (I did the high tea (scone, biscuit, 4 tiny ham or egg sandwiches and a piece of chocolate cake—which looked good, but I passed on) in the bar area overlooking the East Course) and I wasn’t very hungry, so just had the asparagus (very good) and a chicken Caesar salad in a parmesan crust bowl (also very good). Ken had the salmon and said it was excellent. (approx $80 total) So along with our complimentary bottle of wine, life was good.
Saturday, June 21st
Breakfast again at the Pentland restaurant then off to downtown Edinburgh. We had a great taxi driver who told us about the Scotland £5 note that had Jack Nicolaus’s picture on it. He told us it was quite rare now but he thought he could get one for us. He took our cell # and told us he’d call if he did. He dropped us off at the Radisson SAS (http://www.edinburgh.radissonsas.com/) right on The Royal Mile…almost at the middle of it. (note: Free internet in the lobby…only two computers, but ask at desk for password).
We had asked for two non-smoking rooms, but they only had one. In order to get the second we had to upgrade to a preferred room, but that did include breakfast for two, free water (2 large bottles, one sparkling), chocolates, free movies and very nice amenities. Considering the cost of breakfast, it was well worth it. Our room was a lovely room (115 - £361 for 2 nights inc upgrade w/breakfast) overlooking the Royal Mile. Very soundproofed. Flat screen TV and lots of movie choices, all for free. The kids were in #241 (£301 for the 2 nights – view overlooking the side street). We unpacked and waited for Mike and Kristin to arrive. They flew over on Delta, and only had a small delay, so they arrived right around lunch.
We headed across the street to the Whisky pub (lunch for 4: roasted stuffed red peppers, steak pie, 2 soups – really good… which they comped us since it took so long to come: £28.30) where Ken and Mike had the first of their many pints of brew for the week. One thing that I thought was quite interesting was the McCondom Whisky condom dispenser machine in the ladies room. After lunch we walked down the hill towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, stopping at the Canongate Church and Cemetery. At the bottom of the hill is the Parliament building, very contemporary, sort of out of place, but quite interesting. Across the street is the palace. None of our group was interested in going inside, so we walked towards Arthur’s Seat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur)
Mike and Kristin noticed folks climbing and immediately decided they wanted to climb to the top (what can I say…they are young and have lots of energy).
Ken and I watched them until they reached the first plateau, then we decided to see if we could find Calton Hill. We walked back towards the palace, and stopped by a small bookstore. I noticed they sold the Explorer passes (http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/explorer), but since I wasn’t sure what the kids wanted in the way of sightseeing, I decided to hold off buying….big mistake! Ken and I found steps and a path leading up to Calton Hill and climbed to the top (or what we thought was the top) but it was only the ½ way mark, the place the bus tours drop you off at. We were tired and trying to decide what to do when our travel cell phone rang…it was the cab driver who had found a Jack Nichlaus £5. Since we decided we wanted to go back to the hotel, we told him where we were and he came and picked us up. We gave him £10 plus the fare and a nice tip. As we found out later, these bills are quite rare and sell for a bit more than £10.
Once back to the hotel, Ken crashed, but I decided to go shopping so I walked up the hill towards the Edinburgh Castle. Got back and found the kids had come back from their climb. They made it to the top, took one photo…and then the batteries in the camera died. Dinner that night was at the Mitre Bar right across from the hotel. Nice place, and fortunately we figured out you had to place you orders at the bar, or we’d still be sitting there. Kristin had Cullen Skink and Mike had Sausage and Mash…quite an interesting presentation (see Edinburgh photo link below)
Sunday, June 22nd
Since we had paid the extra charge for the deluxe rooms, Ken and I got free breakfast. Scottish breakfasts are quite large and much more than we could eat, so Mike and Kristin came down. Plus the room had a great Espresso machine that everyone enjoyed. After breakfast we headed down to the Edinburgh Castle. (http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/index/tour/3d-2.htm)
One of the few mistakes I made on this trip was not getting the Scotland explorer pass (£107 for 3 adults and one “concession…their name for senior…or anyone 60 or older) the day before where it was being sold in a bookstore by Holyroodhouse. We ended up waiting in a line for about 45 mins at the castle. Once we got our passes, we walked up to the top and enjoyed the panoramic view. The kids particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur’s Seat, knowing they were on top of it yesterday. We visited St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest structure in the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Margaret) with very nice stained glass windows. We went through the war memorial and one of the museums. Beautiful flowers everywhere. We went through some of the castle rooms. I had been reading about Mary, Queen of Scotland, and it was interesting to see where she lived for a while. After visiting the castle we went to The Witchery (http://www.thewitchery.com/ ) for lunch (another Charlotte recommendation). They have a prix fixed lunch menu ) £12.95 for two courses) and the food was really great.
the Prix fixed menu consisted of: Soup ‘au pistou’
Assiette of charcuterie
Crevette and champion pear salad, sauce Marie rose – I had this…fantastic
***
Confit of Border chicken leg w/spring greens, creamed potatoes
Home smoked cod, broad bean and chickpea cassoulet
Courgette risotto, smoked garlic, and aged parmesan – also this
The room was a little small, but certainly had the ambiance! After lunch we went back to our hotel to meet up with Charlotte.
One of the great things about the internet is how you can meet up with truly amazing people. I was looking for a tour in St. Andrews…just something to pass the time while the boys golfed. Little did I know that e-mailing Twisted Tales of St. Andrews for information about a tour (charlotte.cotd@hotmail.co.uk) would turn out so well. Charlotte e-mailed me back and that began a 6 month time in which she was invaluable in helping to plan our trip. She sent me books, did up maps with suggested stops along the way and by the time we got to Edinburgh, I felt that she was a good friend and I was really looking forward to meeting her.
We met up with Charlotte at the hotel and were joined by her friend, Jamie, who is a drummer for The Goodnights (http://www.myspace.com/theunknowndundee) Check out the band and hear the music at the link above. Both Charlotte and Jamie were great, filling us in on the local history.
We toured part of the Old Town, including Greyfriers Kirk, In the Kirkyard lie the remains of many distinguished Scots. The collection of 17th century monuments is said to be one of the finest in Scotland and one of the best in Britain. Edinburgh's most famous dog, Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye terrier, is thought to lie about 50 yards from his master, John Gray. The Kirkyard also contains the Covenanters' Prison (http://www.covenanter.org.uk/Greyfriars/) and the Martyrs' Monument. There have also been many claims of poltergeists or ghost in this area. The gravestones certainly are interesting and Charlotte had keys to the Black Mausoleum – the lair of the world famous Mackenzie Poltergeist . Hundreds of people claim to have been attacked by the entity in this Mausoleum. The MacKenzie Poltergeist is now regarded as the best documented supernatural case of all. Unfortunately (or probably fortunately!) we did not run into Mr. MacKenzie.
Charlotte also showed us the window where J.K. Rowlings sat to write the first Harry Potter book, as well as the local private school whose building serves as a model for Hogwarts, and the street that serves as the model for Dragon Alley. We also walked down Victoria Street, a lovely curved street of colorful buildings.
We had dinner that night at Maggie Dicksons; 92 Grassmarket (£57.70) BLT sandwich, curly fries, Haddock (fish and chips…huge), nicoise salad, ½ pound hamburger, tuna Panini and drinks for 6. We left Jamie and Charlotte knowing we would see them the next day in St. Andrews and stopped by Whistle Binkie's, 6 Niddry Street, which was right next to our hotel. Charlotte had recommended it as a place for good music. We stayed for a while then decided we were tired. On the way back to the hotel, the kids heard more music coming from across the street and decided to have just one more drink before turning in…..
For photos of Edinburgh:
Photos of Edinburgh
Monday, June 23rd
Up early. The kids were meeting us in our room at 9 for breakfast as we wanted to get an early start on the road to St. Andrews. Charlotte had mapped out many things to see along the way. Unfortunately, Mike was a bit under the weather, a combination of jetlag and REALLY enjoying the pub scene last night in Edinburgh. So Ken and I went out for a walk, stopped in the Bank of Scotland to change a bit of our travelers check into pounds and by the time we got back, Mike was feeling slightly better. They walked over to get the rental car (Hertz…still having a few problems since they over charged us.) We had a navigation system, but by the time she (aka the talking lady…with a British accent) told us which way to go, we were by the road…so it was a bit confusing getting out of Edinburgh, but by the time we crossed the bridge over the Firth of Fourth, it was smooth sailing.
Our first stop was St. Bridget Kirk in Dalgety Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalgety_Bay) This is the ruins of a 12th century church and cemetery right on the water. We couldn’t find out how to get there, but stumbled across the Fife Coastal path which lead us there.
Next stop was Aberdour Castle (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/aberdour/aberdourcastle/index.html) where we had a delightful lunch in the café. Pretty much everything we ordered was out of stock…and the 3rd time the woman stopped by our table with “we have a little problem….” We all just smiled…But the food we ended up with was great. We walked around the castle…totally missing the upstairs ballroom, and then walked around the lovely gardens. Parking for the castle is by the Aberdour train station.
Next was Pittenween, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittenweem ) a delightful village. We parked up by the church & cemetery and took a path down to the water. Our path took us by St. Filian’s cave, but we didn’t go in. I think you need to obtain the key from a local merchant. We did walk down to the harbour.
A few miles down the road was (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anstruther ) Anstruther. Initially we had planned on being here around lunch and were going to sample the world famous fish and chips, but since we had already dine, we just walked along the water.
Our final stop was Crail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crail ). Here I wanted to visit the Crail Pottery (http://www.crailpottery.com/pottery.htm ) but we got there just after closing time. We walked down a path to find out we were at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. For the best photos you need to be at the bottom, but we were tired and the boys wanted to go on to St. Andrews, so we just left. We only made one more stop. A lovely church that was on the side of the road. The sky was just so spectacular that we had to stop to take a few photos.
The next thing we knew we were pulling into St. Andrews.
To view photos from our trip from Edinburgh to St. Andrews:
photos on the way to St. Andrews
more to come....St. Andrews...Inverness..the Highlands...stay tuned
Posts
1 comment:
loved your TR - I work in tourism in St Andrews and Edinburgh and think your descriptions of your visit are terrific - glad you had a great time
Post a Comment