So a couple Thursdays ago payday finally came round and I received a big black envelope with 6 weeks pay minus subs I had taken to cover rent and some basic food. I put away 250 quid for rent, and decided last minute to make used of my upcoming 3 days off to escape Edinburgh for the first time since I left Portugal in mid-July.
I gotta say, the feeling of being back on the road, even for a few days, was unbeatable. I felt alive again, especially with all the stress of being stuck in the "Ghetto" with only enough coin to take the bus to work for close to two months. I can't think of a better place to escape to than St. Andrews either. For those of you who don't know the name, St. Andrews is quite a historic place. It's the site of the first university in Scotland, the home of Golf, and before the Reformation was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. In fact, the University of St. Andrews is the third oldest university in the English-speaking world! The thing I found odd was the amount of American students there, I would guess from walking down the street that at least half the youth in town were from the States or Canada. But what I liked most about the town was how relaxing it was. For such a tiny place (16,000 people) it was the most refreshing place I could have visited. Just a typical little fishing town with a couple of big historical landmarks. A good mix!
These pictures are of an old cathedral at the head of the town. My first impression was "this place must have been huge!" You can see the spires from almost any point in town. It was apparently burnt down by the Protestants during the reformation instead of just being taken over, and I guess it just stayed burnt since! Though most of those headstones were dated late 1700's to early 1800's so I'm not sure of the exact history, maybe I should look into these things a little more....
I found this interesting, I though "What a waste! Those look like brand new boats! A little later at night...
Now it makes sense. Here's one of the good ol' Ocean.
At one point up by the university I found a public garden that overlooked the ocean. There was a 1pound honesty box so I though what the heck.
I have such a fondness for gardens lately, possibly because of the uniform grey stone after stone that Edinburgh is. Funny place, that it can be so cozy and pretty yet be so cold at the same time...
The Old Course. People have been playing golf here since the 1400's. It's also the home of the Royal and Ancient, the governing body of golf for the whole world besides USA and Mexico. So that night I headed back to the hostel and bumped into some of the people I had met. I gotta say, with the mental state of being back on the road I think I met more good friends at that hostel in three days than I have in all of Edinburgh besides Marion and Agota.
That night one of the guys who worked at the hostel was leaving town so there was a decent booze-up and I met a bunch of good people. Great conversation and cake ensued. However, with me getting all old and decrepit these days, I felt like death the next day. I just wanted a nice easygoing relaxing evening, and this picture sums it up perfectly, minus the seagull that I almost murdered.
That, a slice of cake, and Victor Hugo's Les Mis, and I was a very happy fella. After a while it did start to get a little chilly so I moved on, but then a fog rolled in and I could not in good conscience go home without taking some amazing seaside creepy burnt cathedral photos.
At this point I've consumed enough Red Stripe to put my severely abused internal clock to rest, so until next day or weekend trip keep fit and have fun!
