Scotland Day 3 - St Andrews, Inverness

St Andrews University buildings

The usual 9am bus loading time felt early today after our late night. Unlike the time shift benefit we had yesterday evening, 9am this morning is 4am Ontario time, and we had been up and packed for the 7am (2am!) breakfast timing.

We're on our way to a walking tour of old St Andrews today. We picked up a local guide (Ken, very knowledgeable) on our way into St Andrews. As a bonus Ken delivered some amazing donuts we all shared later. We should have taken a picture, sort of Boston Cream on steroids.

Ken briefed us on abbey ruins, explaining why some sections have stood the test of time

That's Ken, with the blue ball cap

The water-filled rectangle was a salt water pool, refreshed with the tides

Some structures were ruined by time, others like this one partly by warfare

 

A lot of our walk covered buildings that are part of the St Andrews University campus and residences. Apparently St Andrews U is now ranked higher than Oxford or Cambridge in UK academic rankings. 

Another University claim to fame is that William and Kate met and lived in St Andrews while attending the University. 

Residences for higher-ups

University Commons

 

We didn't tour the rather famous golf course here that you may have heard of. Today was the final day of a major Women's Open tournament at the St Andrews course, so we only saw it from a distance. 

After the guided tour we were left on our own to wander around the old town, a nice mix of historical and touristy. We each bought a cap along the way, as it started to rain more heavily and our caps were packed in our bags in the bus storage bins.

Interesting street name. Apparently the Butts were where archery was practiced and a Wynd is a narrow lane or alley. That's their story.

Blackfriars Chapel, from the 1520's

 

 

On the road again, we stopped for a break at Pitlochry, then on to our Mercure Hotel in Inverness.

Somewhere along the way, Cathie finally got a decent picture of Heather in bloom: