Monday and Tuesday

 Sorry for the delay in updating, but, dang, we've been busy filling every minute - and enjoying ourselves thoroughly!

Yesterday was St. Andrew and some quaint little fishing villages. We joined our tour of about 12 plus our driver Eric, at 9:30 and headed north. St. Andrews is famous for their golI course and considered the home of golf. But it's so much more than that - a lovely little university town. It's wherei Prince William and Catherine met. We sort of hooked up with a gal from Boston. Beverly, me and Becky sat in the rear of the bus and enjoyed ourselves. In front of us was a guy from India and his either Mother or girl friend - we couldn't decide. There were 2 guys about our age. One had just lost his wife & his brother was taking him on this trip. Nice guys.

On the beach in the  fishing village in Fiife

We had lunch in the quaint little tea room down an alleyway in St Andrews. There were only 4 tables inside

Old city gate

Cool looking door

 

The next pics are sort of out of order - I have no idea why.......

The small village shore

The Old Course at St. Andrews

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Beach at St. Andrews - that's the North Sea

Back at the little village

So, remember that Indian couple that was in front of us in the van? Well, they got lunch when we stopped - and brought it back on the bus to eat. Well and good. BUT it was curry - in a bag. Strong curry - and he was just slurping that stuff up. Then the gal started singing - in her native language. Wouldn't have been so bad but our guide was singing lovely Scottish songs to us. Ah, the adventures!

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One of the bridges over the Firthe of Forth

Pretty street scene

Cuthburt Cemetery near us

Had supper here - haggis, neeps, and tatties (haggis is like a spicy meatloaf sort of stuff, neeps are turnips, and tatties are mashed potatoes). I love that stuff.

Awesome libraries here - beer! Just kidding this is the same pub as above.

Now we're at another bar - yup, part of the reason the blog is delayed.

This wasn't  my drink, isn't that the neatest thing!?!

Bev and I have started a pattern, at the end of the day, we pour and adult beverage, sit on the little loveseat on the 2nd floor, look at the Castle, listen to music (the!re's and in-house bluetooth system). What a great way to end each day.

Just a pretty door

Tuesday - so it's Hop On Hop Off bus day. We've been so fortunate with the weather since we've been here but today seems like we will see some rain so the HOHO is a good option. There are 3 routes to choose from and we managed to get in 2 of them. We stopped at the National Museum of Scotland and wandered (and ate in the cafe) for about 2 hours. We STILL didn't come close to seeing everything - or even a goodly part of it.

Antique sewing machines

The building itself is a work of  art

By now it was raining so we circled around some more until we got close to the apartment and hopped off. Grocery shopping at our now familiar  - and handy - corner market. Had to get the essentials - toilet paper, cokes, and beer!

We had made reservations at a closeby restaurant that has a lovely balcony with a view of the Castle for 7 so we had time to kill. Hmmmm, where could we go? Maybe a - I don't know - a pub? We usually sit at the bar and we were next to a local who is an art teacher. What an interesting man! Alan had lived in Ft Lauderdale and when we asked how he ended up there he said - long story. Something else came up - long story. We've nicknamed him Long Story, So fun! Evidently it's his daily hangout so we may see him again! 

Well, it's raining so eating on the balcony   - but we ate inside and all was well. There was a large table next to us that we got to talking to - they were from the States. Bev took their pics for them and we had great fun with them - and ran into them again later while we were out strolling. Meeting  new people is the best.

Back to our apartment - after a bit more wandering - for our nightly ritual and then another good nite's sleep to get ready for another big day in Scotland!