Today we set off on a road trip to The Kingdom of Fife. We found our way back to the car and it was there! It is a closed garage but as our host said "We don't lock it, but you'll be okay". It is in a small lot with about 15 other similar garages, some with impressive locks and some with nothing (like ours).
I had woken with some allergic reaction and taken phernergan, so was hoping not to spend the entire day sleeping .
Anyway, on the road and heading towards the Forth Rd Bridge to take us over the Firth of Forth to the Kingdom of Fife. We were on the second Forth Bridge (Forth Rd Bridge) and could see the construction of the third Forth Bridge (the Queensferry Crossing) as well as the first Forth Bridge. Seriously.
They are all quite spectacular structures and I madly tried to take photos, but it's not an easy task in a little car on a big bridge. Pretty cool to see though, if not a bit confusing.
We decided to ignore Stella (the GPS) in favour of the coastal drive. Our destination was Saint Andrews and we turned in the direction Ken thought would be the right way. With Stella trying to turn us around we defiantly drove, taking in the beautiful green countryside. After consulting a map we realised we were in the wrong direction, so did a u-turn and drove towards Dalgety Bay, a point on the map that would take us along the coast road. A lovely drive, but Dalgety Bay was pretty boring so we kept going. We came to a little village that looked nice, Abedour. We decided to park and then discovered there was a castle there so we walked through the grounds. There was a tour, but we settled for the quick look, wandering among the ruins and enjoying the beautiful gardens. We popped into the tea rooms for morning tea and found there was a school group already taking up all the space.They made room for us and we enjoyed fresh scones. The kids didn't stay long, they were 14 years old and on an excursion to look at employment opportunities in historical places for when they leave school next year .
So we kept driving along the coastal route, along the North Sea. Everything is so lush and green, it is a beautiful country. About now my phernergan hit and I fell asleep!
We stopped at a little village called Burntisland, where we could see some "jack ups rigs" oil platform things. Ken got out and took some photos. I dozed a bit.
We finally arrived at Saint Andrews and parked down on the port, where the tide was out and boats were stranded on the sand. This is a daily occurrence.
We walked through the the ruins of the old cathedral, it would have been enormous. There was heaps of old gravestones. It sits on top of the cliff, overlooking the sea.
We walked into town. It is a vibrant town, lots of university students and not too many tourist shops (lots of tourists). We had lunch at a Prèt a Manger. I had a yummy falafel with salad and humus.
We continued walking, coming to the Saint Andrews Golf Course. It is beautiful, with white picket fences and impressive buildings. Further along the walk we passed the university, gorgeous, old buildings and lots of spectacular houses. Obviously the place to live in Saint Andrews. We passed by the old Castle, once again ruins, looking over the sea. The walk took us back to the cathedral site and down to the car.
Back on the road we drove through Dundee and then on to Perth. We had a bit of a drive around and made our way out to the Palace of Scone. It was getting late in the day but they were happy for us to pay our money and tour the place . It is not a royal palace, but was once owned by a bishop until King Henry kicked him out and gave it to the Murray family, who still own it today. It was torn down and rebuilt in the 1800s. The significance of the place is this is where the Stone of Scone comes from that sits under the coronation chair when a new king or queen is crowned and this is where it used to happen, on the "moot", a little hill with a chapel on it. There are a couple of stones there on display but we had seen the real one at the Edinburgh Castle. Though no one is sure if it is the real one, but it will be used in future coronations, if the Scots allow!
We had a private touring, the staff are all really keen on sharing their knowledge. We then wandered through the grounds, another old graveyard and beautiful gardens.
We drove back to Perth with the intention of having dinner there. It didn't look overly inviting, we decided to head back to Dundee. Stella sent us on a wild drive in the country on a back road which was great. There are a lot of sheep, cattle and crops as well as large, covered vegetable farms.
Dundee looks like a lovely city. Another university town, it is clean and busy. We went for a bit of a stroll and then went to a bar called The Braes for dinner. They had £3 cocktails and pints, shame Ken had to drive back home! We had a share plate that was much worse than it sounded on the menu. Ribs and wings and chips and sausage and deep fried gherkins and coleslaw. It does sound bad, but it was worse! Ken enjoyed it anyway.
We made the drive back to Edinburgh. I fell asleep. It rained most of the way home and we were back before the sun went down!


Steps 12,081
Kms walked 7.5