Logging some miles

Saturday, June 27, 2015
Anstruther, Scotland, United Kingdom
OK, a quick catch-up on the last few days--a lot of miles behind the wheel. Got up Thursday morning in Nairn & headed off for Dufftown, but first we went to nearby Cawdor Castle. We weren't going to pay 10.50 (pounds) each to stop in for a quick look, so we took a couple of photos over the fence and headed off and promptly got lost--I forgot about the last turn that I had taken coming in and we were heading off in a different direction so it took me a long time to figure out that we were going the wrong way. Got that sorted out and made it to Dufftown, where we had hoped to do a walking tour of the 7 distilleries in town, but there were not enough people to do the tour. So we had lunch, went for a bit of a walk around town and then went for a Glenfiddich distillery tour, which was quite interesting (and the samples were excellent!). After checking into our B&B, which was a bit out of town, we took a taxi back into town for a bite to eat and then went to a ceilidh, an evening of traditional highland music and dance, which was really a lot of fun. The locals are very patient teaching the tourists all the dance steps and didn't laugh too much at us. Next morning, Friday, after getting a few more photos in town, we headed off on the road to Anstruther, in the Kingdom of Fife, on the east coast. Stopped in Stonehaven for lunch and the sun was actually out and it was warm!! So we sat outside at a pub on the harbour for lunch, then went up to the nearby Dunnottar Castle for some spectacular views and photo ops. Headed off again and went through Saint Andrews and got stuck when to graduation procession for the university blocked the main road. Still made it into Anstuther in good time and went out for a truly awful meal at a local pub called The Bank--nice place bad food. Today, Saturday, we headed into Edinburgh for some sightseeing. Did a loop on the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and wandered around a bit. It was Armed Forces Day, so there were a lot of parades and other activities going on that made things a bit busier that they would normally be on Saturday. Also, they were almost finished building temporary grandstands in front of the Castle for a military tattoo coming up next week, which spoiled some of the possible pictures. We grabbed a nice lunch at an Irish pub (getting warmed up for next week) and then walked up Calton Hill for some spectacular views of the city and climbed the 143 steps up Nelson's Monument for even more spectacular views .    I survived walking around outside at the top (I don't do heights well), but I stayed pressed pretty close to the wall. Then headed back for the Kingdom of Fife. I was so worried about finding my way out of Edinburgh (which turned out to be a breeze) that I didn't double-check where I had to go once we got across the Firth or Forth. Ended up going many, many miles out of our way and of course making even more wrong turns trying to get back to where we were supposed to be. Finally made it back safe and sound, though, and went for a nice fish pie at a pub on the waterfront--eventually, it is very busy here and it took a while before we could find a place to get into. Tomorrow, a walk around St. Andrews (& hopefully the Old Course).
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