St. Andrews

On 20 Aug we ventured a bit farther from home and headed south to St. Andrews.  This required purchasing a coach ticket rather than a bus ticket (long distance versus inner-city) and leaving from the bus station rather than a bus stop.  The ride wasn't too long though, only about 20-30 minutes, and it was lovely.

St. Andrews is amazing!  The town is adorable and the cathedral ruins are just breathtaking and quite astounding to see.  St. Andrews quickly became our most favourite place in Scotland.

St. Andrews, outside the bus station

ruins in the city centre at Madras College

The St. Andrews Cathedral ruins and neighbouring cemetery are immense.  The cathedral was destroyed as part of the Reformation, led by John Knox.  It's sad to think that people caused this destruction, especially after reading how beautiful this cathedral was and the amount of spiritual tourists it attracted.  Probably a lesson in there somewhere about religious zealots, but we digress.

St. Andrews Cathedral

St. Andrews Cathedral

St. Andrews Cathedral

The cathedral is near the North Sea and just outside its walls is a cute little harbour and lovely beach.

St. Andrews harbour

St. Andrews beach

The castle ruins are a bit north on the coast from the cathedral.  We walked past them but didn't venture into the gates because it was about to close.

St. Andrews castle

After walking about the town we popped into the Central Pub where Mike had a pint of Duechars and Desi had a half pint of Strongbow.  The Scots are mad for cider and every pub has at least one option on tap.  Strongbow appears to be the most popular brand.

After enjoying a bit of the local scene, we hopped on a coach back to Dundee and in a few minutes we were home.  It's amazing that we live so close to such a beautiful place.  We're looking forward to returning and to further explorations.