No time for a round

Trip Start Sep 12, 2006
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Trip End Sep 08, 2008


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Flag of United Kingdom  , Scotland,
Saturday, July 12, 2008

Although I had weekends off at the summer camp, Ania had to chaperone groups every saturday and sunday to places around Perth. Not wanting to stay at the school and twiddle my thumbs, I decided join her on a trip out to a part of Scotland I'd been wanting to see since the previous summer, St Andrews.

Probably most famous as the home of golf, St Andrews actually had a lot of history. The day didn't begin well, with our slightly erratic bus driver managing to puncture a front tyre on the short 45 minute journey out from Strathallan. He decided to put up with it for the final 11 miles, and we rolled down past the Royal and Ancient Golf club to park alongside West Sands beach soon after 11am. This beach was used during the filming of 'Chariots of Fire' but it was the old golf course that was most familiar to me, having seen it countless times on the sports section of the news.

We had half the day to take the students on a walking tour before having the best part of two and a half hours to ourselves in the afternoon. After walking past the golf course and martyr's monument, we made our way along The Scores to St Andrews Castle. Mainly in ruins, I wasn't sure how the students were going to keep themselves occupied for an hour, despite the dramatic coastline views. Apart from this, the most interesting part was the complex of damp, mossy siege tunnels, which I only discovered five minutes before we had to leave. Prior to that, an Italian boy somehow managed to drop his wallet down a well, highlighting how incompetent some of the boys were!

Our walking tour continued past the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, down by the docks, up The Pends and down South Street before we decided on a meeting point in Market Street and let the students go off on there own for a while. Ania and I did a little exploring after a quick lunch, taking some photos in the medieval town before heading back to the ruined cathedral, one of the largest and most magnificent in Britain before it was pillaged during the Reformation. We also found time for a break in a cafe and peek in the ancient university, where Prince William studied.

The town itself was quite interesting, and despite the cloudy weather and spot of rain we did as much as we could considering we were working. We saw a ruined castle, did some exploring and had time to stop for a coffee. Whether or not it was worth visiting again I couldn't decide, but I was glad I used a day off to check it out with Ania.
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