St. Andrews Weekend

Over the weekend Ian and I visited St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. It is a beautiful coastal town just about an hour and a half drive from our city, Aberdeen. On Saturday we visited St. Andrews Castle and Cathedral, both historical sites that are in ruins. They are very impressive and have the most amazing scenery. The Cathedral has a tower still standing on the grounds. We were able to climb the steep spiral staircase to the top of the tower and see the views of the coast and the town of St. Andrews. What an amazing view, but you would not believe the wind up there!!!! We had to hold on to the railing or the wind would make us stumble.

This picture is the view from the top which shows the golf course in the far distance, the castle ruins to the right, the overlook onto the graveyard and cathedral ruins, and the town of St. Andrews.

Of course, being in the birthplace of golf, we had to visit the golf courses of St. Andrews. Currently there are four different courses on the St. Andrews peninsula, one of which has been there for several hundreds of years. There is also the Himalayas course, which is the original Women's Putting Green from a time when the women would wait at the putting greens for their husbands to play on the full course. The Himalayas is now open to the public for most of each day, although there still is a Ladies Golf Club that has exclusive access to the course at certain times. On Sunday morning Ian and I gave the Himalayas course a shot. We were still battling the wind so it was not the easiest game of golf that we have ever played. It was a lot of fun and a popular spot for visitors, locals, and dogs. The people who ran the course had two dogs out there and they just ran freely.

You can see one of the dogs with his toy on the Himalayas course at St. Andrews.

Here is me kicking Ian's butt on the putting green (not really, but I am blaming it on the strong winds). You can also see the St. Andrews Old Course Hotel in the background.

We finished off our weekend in St. Andrews walking on one of the beautiful white sand beaches. It was not quite swimming weather, but excellent weather for walking with my feet in the fridgid water.

I have to say that St. Andrews is a place that I would highly recommend for all visitors of Scotland to see. The city is so rich in history and has the most beautiful scenery. If you are a golf fan, than it is a must see place for you. But don't expect your game to be the best on the courses at St. Andrews because you never now what weather Mother Nature will bring to the course (WIND)!!!!