On Sundays, no golf is played on the Old Course; instead, it's open for the public to walk, just as they might a city park. The OC is a links course; I've only recently heard this means it hugs the seashore. The course is really lovely. It's partly surrounded by gorgeous Neoclassical buildings, like the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club, a men's only club across from the 18th hole. And of course the sea is spectacular. Situated on the Firth of Forth, an estuary where a river meets the the North Sea, the OC skims along the edge of West Sands Beach. For those of you who remember it, that's where parts of the movie Chariots of Fire were filmed. Maria and I really enjoyed walking the course, which surprised us. Of course, part of the joy was seeing Andy so happy to be in this place he'd dreamed of coming.
We walked along the beach, then through a lovely quadrangle at the University of St. Andrews. We had lunch at one of Prince William's favorite haunts, saw where he lived when he went to school here, and then wandered around the ruins of the town's castle and cathedral. I love cathedral ruins. I've only ever seen them in the UK, and there's something really haunting of seeing these skeletal churches. Finally, we did a little shopping and headed for home.
Here's the Quad at The University.
We loved the Cathedral ruins.
The castle ruins were haunting, too.
Our last stop for the day was to have dinner with my friend John who is in Scotland for a conference. We had a great dinner and then wandered over to Princes Gardens, a gorgeous, rose filled public park with an amazing view of the castle.
We had a wonderful evening. I'm thrilled to report that when we got back to our rooms at Pollock Halls, we found that Andy's lost bag had been recovered and was waiting for home. It looks like it was stuffed down some industrial chimney--that's how black it is--but it's here. Andy can change his clothes! Thank goodness. Maria and I were kind of looking forward to seeing him in my travel dress, though. Oh well.I guess he can wear his own clothes now. I'll just push him to rent a kilt for fun.
One parting shot of a sign that gave us a good laugh in St. Andrews.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
A walk on a golf course, especially a unique and famous one -- without bag, clubs, or balls -- is better than a good walk and certainly not a good walk ruined.
ReplyDeleteFor days and days I've been waiting for some New Thing blog entries. Bout time!