Day 2: Destination St Andrews

A soft start to our morning in Edinburgh. After a reasonable night’s sleep, we wandered down to Waverley Station Mall, astounded at how quiet it was during rush hour. Bit of time to kill as Sarah and Greg were delayed picking up the car so we mooched around sat in the park and did some people watching. Many of the buses had promos for the Edinburgh Zoo - the Lemur bus said "I like to move it, move it" - hehe. We are often entertained by the small things. Soon the newly weds rang to say they are on approach. When i asked what colour car to look out for, Greg's response was "hire car white"!

Our first stop on the road trip was the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering masterpiece that bypasses many locks and connects two canals that run across Scotland. It was really interesting. Chris was in his element.

Next we saw the Kelpies which is actually a huge statue of horses (confused.. yep so was I). Kelpies is an approximation of a Scottish word for shape shifting water spirits that is said to appear in horse form. A huge sculpture it was constructed to mark the development of the waterways project and to be a gateway symbol to the area which includes the Falkirk wheel and an amazing recreational area called Helix Park. The weather today was stunning and the area was packed with families enjoying the facilities. 

Back on the road we headed off over the newest bridge over the Forth of Fife, on the M90 route. A large span of water, it is crossed by a new towering suspension bridge with thousands of wire cables. Stunning to look at, it dwarfs our ANZAC Bridge. So impressive. Once off the motorway, we meandered along through the countryside, dotted with small towns and villages. 

The first town that we arrived at was Kirkcaldy, home town of Greg’s dad Alan. There is a good deal of new development in housing happening there.  It was surprising how quickly were were in a rural setting so close into Edinburgh. But the scenery was beautiful and we sighted the coast and it was nothing short of stunning reflecting the blue of the sky. This was an area where Greg holidayed as a kid and he showed us some beautiful little beaches and their villages, stopping at Elie and Crail on route to our stop for the night, the stunning Fairmont resort at St Andrews. Jaw droppingly stunning!

A freshen up and a look around and it was not long until Linda and Alan arrived and we went down to St Andrews township and to the hallowed turf of the Old Course. It was striking how open the course was, I imagined fences and protection, but no, it is just stunning and on the 18th fairway there is a public walkway to traverse the course and get from the beach to the village. Chris posed for the mandatory pic on the back edge of the 18th fairway and we looked over to the beach, the site of the proposal back in 2017. What a special place to share with Sarah and Greg.  A gentle stroll back up to Market Street and a yummy dinner in a restaurant called Forgan's.  

A perfectly timed evening we hopped in a cab, arriving back at the Fairmont clubhouse on the top of the hill to look back toward the township of St Andrews and see a most magnificent sunset. A perfect end to a perfect day. We will treasure these memories forever.