Saint Andrew's

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On Friday, 19 December I took a day-trip to St Andrew's. This was just over an hour's train ride from Edinburgh Waverley.

The train calls at Leuchars, about five miles from the town of St Andrew's. While there is regular bus service to and from St Andrew's I walked what's called the Fife Coastal Path instead. It was a bit chilly but the sun was bright (as bright as it possibly can in early winter in Scotland) so I decided to take advantage of the nice day to check out the scenery on my way to St Andrew's.

The town is well-known for multiple reasons, one of which is that golf was 'invented' here, of course (pun intended). On the walk into town the path travels right along the edge of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrew's. The course as well as the town are each right on the water (I believe the North Sea) so there's quite spectacular views of the coast. St Andrew's Castle sits on a rocky cliff overlooking the water while the cathedral is located near by. The cathedral is one of the oldest of its kind in Scotland and attracted many religious pilgrims when it was active. Now, as the pictures suggest, it sits in ruins.

There are also to main streets (or high streets) making-up the city centre with dozens of small coffee shops, restaurants, bookshops and souvenir shops. Because of the town's golf heritage you're not hard-pressed to find shops selling golf gear and St Andrew's Links souvenirs.

Besides walking around a lot I visited the St Andrew's Museum. The museum illuminates much of the history of the area with exhibits. Also, the University of St Andrew's is located right in town so there's multiple buildings throughout the town. St Andrew's is the oldest university in Scotland, founded in 1413, more than a century before mine, 1583.

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Comments

[Jean Upton]

St. Andrew's
I loved looking at the pictures and it looked like a beautiful sunny day.