Friday, February 18, 2011

A rainy day at St. Andrews

On my Contiki tour we had a few hours to visit St. Andrews - the town, the school, the golf course.  You've probably heard of St. Andrews from one of two places - it's the birth place of golf and it's where Prince William and his future Princess Kate meet and went to school.  It's a great little town, even on a rainy day.

We visited St. Andrews in the morning.  It's a coastal town and it's the type of town that you envision when you think of old English and Scottish towns - small, quaint, old architecture.  There is a "Cathedral" there.  I use the quotes because at one time there was a Cathedral there, today there are just ruins of a Cathedral, but it must have been magnificent in its day.  

The golf course looks great too, and it's surrounded by lovely buildings, though they were still cleaning up after a tournament.

I'll admit I don't know if there is all that much to do there for the average tourist.  I would however recommend that anyone who is visiting Scotland stop at least for a day.  If you like golf, I believe you need to book early to get a t-time.  If you don't like golf, but want to honor the history of golf while you're there then you can visit the golf museum or better yet, play a round of miniature golf.  And don't forget to take a walk along the water, it's quite lovely there, but don't be like some girl on a previous tour and try to walk on the rocks during low tide - my Tour Manager had to swim out and save her.