Day 11 - Edinburgh

We were up at a reasonable time and Chris was able to get another load of laundry started before we started out for our walking tour of Edinburgh. Probably the most useless appliance is the combination washer/dryer which is apparently popular in Europe. Small capacity and about a 3 hour cycle time per load!

We wanted to start our tour by climbing up to Edinburgh Castle then working our way downhill along the Royal Mile. Hey, how do you like the Scottish Thistles in the foreground!

The Lonely Planet Guide mentioned a hiking path up the cliff so we decided to give it a try. We were almost at the top when we encountered a barrier and a notice that the path was closed. Why wouldn't you put the notice at the bottom??? Probably the same people that sign the parking areas.

We finally reached the castle and it was BUSY! We haven't encountered crowds like this in our time in Scotland and it is not Festival time until a week from now. It would be unbearable then.

Luckily we had our Heritage Scotland passes and avoided to queue to buy tickets and proceed into the castle. From the battery, there were some good overviews of the city.

We joined a walking tour shortly after entering and got a good overview of what to see.

This is the exterior of the War Memorial. Every Scott who has died in service in the last 300 years is listed in books within the memorial (no photography allowed)

The Great Hall... swords and armour.....

The little green patch is the pet cemetery... resting place of the Regimental mascots.

Mons Meg, a huge medieval gun....

By about 1130, the crowds were really getting too much for us so we decided to leave. I just can't tolerate some Oriental tourists. They are so damn pushy and rude. I did manage to nail a couple with a judicious Gordie Howe elbow. Not our most favourite castle experience.

The preparations are in place for the Tattoo starting next weekend.

We headed down the Royal Mile to take in the sights.

There were lots of street people and buskers, all looking for a handout.

Lots of small alley ways called "Close" leading to courtyards just off the main street.

Here is where you can get fish.

Not sure what you get here?

We found this "free" walking tour and joined in. The fellow was really entertaining and provided a humours history lesson of some of Edinburgh's famous inhabitants, including the inventor of the merkin.

Some more streetscapes of the walk down the Royal Mile.

At the bottom of the street are the new modern Scottish Parliament Buildings. Unfortunately they were closed as this was Sunday.

Across the street is the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

It was getting late and we decided not to do the tour so we headed back to our apartment. We walked down a side street that had some sanctioned graffiti on some construction hoarding. Nothing like what we saw in Melbourne but a few interesting graphic designs.

About 7 miles on my sore knee was just about enough so we walked back to the apartment to do more laundry before supper.

We had supper at a Jamie Oliver restaurant a block away from the apartment. A nice meal and we returned as the sun was setting to watch a bit of TV and finish drying the laundry.

Day 10 - Stirling Castle

Our last morning in St Andrews. We had a nice Scottish breakfast at our hotel and loaded the car for our last road trip to Edinburgh via Stirling for a tour of the castle. First thing on the agenda was a trip to the pharmacy for a knee brace. My knee has become more and more tender over the last three days and I have no idea of what has caused it. We need to get it in shape before our walking adventure in England so will be limiting stress on it for the next few days.

It was about an hour's drive to Stirling and we got a prime parking spot right in front of the castle. This is a well restored historic site of historical significance. Perched atop a high peak  it commanded a significant defensive position. it was occupied by a series of King James's and Mary Queen of Scotts.

The most impressive things that we saw were the tapestries and the wood ceiling carvings along with the size of the fortifications. Here are a bunch of photos of the castle.

The main gate...

The kitchens...

The fortifications and view of the countryside...

The elaborate carved wood ceiling medallions...

King's room....

Tapestries that have been reproduced using traditional methods....

Wood medallion of King James....

Central courtyard....

Chapel....

King James and Queen Christine...

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View from the castle...

From here we drove to Edinburgh. Definitely a busy city. We found our apartment which is right in the downtown area. Apparently I do not know how to interpret the local parking designation codes. While taking our luggage up to our apartment I was awarded a $120 parking ticket. There is an appeal process that I will be trying out tomorrow!

We have a nice apartment in New Town for the next two nights....

The short drive to return our rental car to the train station was a nightmare. Blocked roads, narrow laneways and the rental check in damage assessing Nazi. Luckily, the VW was so dirty from our 1050 miles that he never noticed the scrapes on the front spoiler from that curb I got hung up on. Quickly signing off the rental we walked back to our apartment, stopping for a quick pint at the corner pub.

Again, a fairly fast internet connection so we had time to touch base with Jenn & Laura on FaceTime.

There are many restaurants nearby and we made our way out to supper then retired to watch TV and rest my knee.

Day 9 - Touring the Coast of Fyfe

We are staying in St Andrews for two nights so we have a full day today to do some exploring. We consulted our Lonely Planet guide book and thought that a seaside drive through several nearby seaside villages would be an interesting way to spend the day. After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel we wandered down the street to watch the early morning golfers on the Old Course.

We hopped in the car and took the short drive to the village of Elie. We first parked near the "beach" area and watched folks enjoying the seaside activities. You will notice that a lot of people are wearing wetsuits. I stuck my hand and the water and can attest to the fact that that is a really good idea!

The harbour area is surrounded by some pretty stone buildings.

We found the local golf course

And the local sewage discharge, (hopefully just the street drainage).

Chris loved this young lad's hair.

Next village, St Monans was a few miles down the road. This is their version of San Francisco's "Painted Ladies".

This harbour was more of a small fishing village rather than a recreational harbour.

Another few miles and we were in Pittenweem. This harbour seemed to be more of a commercial fishing port with larger boats.

We did stop to sample some of the ice cream. OK but certainly not the best we have had.

I spoke with the fisherman and these local crabs are destined for Spain.

This looks like a good fix-er-upper. Could be had cheap and probably would have a PHRF of 400 which means you wouldn't have to leave the harbour to win!

From there, we made our way to Anstruther. it was the most crowded of all of the harbours and I'm not sure why. Could it be the fish & chips and ice cream? Why is the Heart and Stroke Foundation in between the ice cream shop and the fish & chip shop?

There was a mini carnival set up on the pier, flashback to the 50's!

I enjoyed looking in on the lifeboat station. Quite an interesting rescue boat and launching system which includes a tracked vehicle and trailer that can go underwater to launch the boat during low tide (tides are in excess of 3 m here).

Our last harbour of the day was Crail. Small protected and cute. Cobblestone streets. Very photogenic.

We got back to our hotel in St Andrews in the late afternoon and enjoyed the sunshine by sitting at a table on the sidewalk at our hotel/pub and relaxing with a cold beer and talking with some of the other patrons.

We walked a few blocks down the street for supper and then returned to our room for an early night before our trip to Stirling Castle tomorrow morning.