Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015

Another day of adventure and learning new things. 

Dave went off to golf with our friend, Peter Hughes, at St. Andrews! He was really excited. He has looked forward to doing that ever since we decided to come to the UK. 

The Rolex starting clock on the Castle Course at St. Andrews

Peter and Dave

In the background you can barely see the St. Andrews Cathedral ruins

Dave loved golfing there. He said the course was the hardest that he's ever played, but the most beautiful. He enjoyed playing the course with Peter. (Who he beat, by the way. :) ) He scored 104. It was a par 71. 

While Dave went golfing, the kids and I first went to Scotland's Secret Bunker, after Janae and Josh had done some "school time". It's no longer secret, but was until the 1990s. It was built in the 1950s to house the military and provide shelter in the event of a nuclear war. No civilians knew about it, and wouldn't have been invited in, in the event of an attack! It was just for the military and government leaders. Rude!

The bunker sits under this guard house, which is disguised to look like an old farmhouse. Sneaky!

Getting treats in the canteen.

The American flag?!?! In a Scottish bunker.

Spiffy

Next, the kids and I went into St. Andrews. We went to the St. Andrews castle and the cathedral which are both ruins. They were neat to see. We also drove around the St. Andrews' University campus. It's pretty awesome.

St. Andrews castle

Janae, Tyler, & Josh

Ewww. What a beginning!

St. Andrews cathedral ruins

Just a really cool flowering bush near the ruins

After we picked up Dave from golfing, we went back to the cathedral ruins because the boys wanted to climb the tower. They went up inside it - tons of steps up in a spiral staircase, and then took some great pictures from up there. Apparently it's haunted. When Tyler asked the lady at the ticket booth if  it really is haunted, she replied, "I haven't seen anything"! Haha.

The tower that the boys climbed

View from the Tower

View from the Tower of St. Andrews University

A few pix of St. Andrews University campus:

Established in the year 1413 W.0.W.!!!

A coffee shop. Their sign says, "Where Kate met Wills...for coffee". Ooooo. Haha. Prince William and Kate met here at St. Andrews University.

After we wandered around campus for a bit, we went over to St. Andrews golf course - the Old Course, to take some pix on the famous bridge.

On Swilcan Bridge, built approx. 700 years ago

 We drove over to Anstruther to get fish and chips. This had been recommended to us by a few people. The town was adorable (is that the right word?!?), a quaint port village anyway. This particular fish restaurant was recommended, and they have won "Best Fish and Chips in Scotland" award for 4 years in a row. And their fish & chips were tasty for sure! I would venture to say that they were better than the fish & chips we've had in White Rock, B.C.!

Ice cream after dinner is a must, especially where it's advertised as "homemade"! Yum.

It was a great day in Scotland. And it has been a fabulous week. We hope to come back sometime.