Scotland - the Outbound Journey - St. Andrews

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St. Andrews at Last

We left Edinburgh on the train to Leuchars, which is as close as a train gets to St. Andrews. Our departure was delayed by about half an hour because they were changing the power plant on the train. When we finally got underway, it didn't seem like the change did much good because purple smoke was rolling down either side of the train cars, but the old girl eventually got warmed up and we chugged right along to Leuchars.

As the train was approaching our stop we asked one of the locals (who was also getting off at Leuchars) how to catch the bus to St. Andrews. As luck would have it he was heading that way and offered to give us a lift. I had my first experience with the symmetry of the U.S./U.K. when in a moment of confusion I wondered why our driver was getting in the passenger's side. Did he want Daniel or myself to drive? What's going on here? Oh yeah, we're in the U.K. now, and they drive on the wrong, I mean left, side of the road. I've gotta say that the ride to St. Andrews was a little bizarre. If you've never experienced the whole "driving on the left" thing, it's hard to describe how unnatural it seems. You come to an intersection and you want to turn right. Who do you yield to? Where is he going? Oh my God, we're in the wrong lane!! Oh...nevermind. I imagine you could get used to it eventually, but those first few minutes were weird. As an added bonus I was finally able to answer a question that has long been burning in my brain...cars in the U.K. are not perfect mirror images to cars in the U.S. Only the drivers seat has been transposed. The gas is still on the right, the clutch on the left, and first gear is up and left with the increasing gear sequence progressing from left to right. I'd always wondered about that.

The Old Course

When we arrived in St. Andrews our driver asked us where we wanted to be dropped off. Having never been to the town, we just told him to drop us at a recognizable landmark so that we could phone our host and tell her where we were. He said he'd drop us at the R and A. I had no idea what that meant until we got out and were standing next to the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, with the legendary Old Course in front of it. Now, I'm somewhat of a latecomer to the game of golf, but getting to see one of the oldest golf courses in the world was quite a treat.

Our gracious host Kelly soon arrived, and she guided us to her cottage where we were finally able to unload the packs we'd been carrying around all day. Next we went out for a beer, and walked around St. Andrews at night. I tried to take some night photo's of the cathedral and the castle, but they didn't come out quite like I wanted them to.

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Photos

The Sign for St. Andrews Links
I took some photos of the course, but it was getting dark and they didn't turn out too well. I'll put some better photos in a later blog.

Streets
They even name streets after golf here.

The Cathedral
If you know anything about St. Andrews, you'll know why I shouldn't have been taking this photo.

Comments

[Teresa]

I've always...
WANTED TO GO TO SCOTLAND...WAY COOL!!!!! Missing you here in Arkansas - as usual. Can't WAIT to see you back home!!! I hope that all is well with you...TT