Every year before the Adult education life, I usually chose a new country to visit on my vacation days. But life after Adult education has humbled me finance wise (story for another day maybe) so I decided to do birthday celebration a tad different. Resume exploring new places.
One of those days in church when you are asked to turn to your neighbour and introduce yourselves, my seat partner happened to be a tour guide who worked for Rabbies Tour Company and he recommended their one day tour to St Andrews and the Fishing Villages.
Thanks Graham
This is Eric who was our Driver/Tour Guide. He was born in one of the towns in the Kingdom of fife. He mentioned the town but I was busy replying to birthday message. #error
So we kicked off from the city of Edinburgh of course.
I have passed by this Castle a thousand and one times but I didn’t know the castle stands upon the plug of an extinct volcano, which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago during the lower Carboniferous period.
A bit of Caveat – My photography skills did not do justice to the beautiful places. Best you see them yourself.
So on we went through the Forth bridge. It is considered as a symbol of Scotland, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There is a new one known as the Queensferry crossing, an architectural masterpiece!
I took this picture off Google. But this is what it looks like. 
We passed by a number of towns with Eric sharing some historical facts about each of them. Our first picture taking stop was in the Fishing town of Anstruther, a small coastal resort town. Very Popular for its award-winning fish and chips.
It was a 30 mins stop and I was on the phone a lot instead of enjoying the sights and taking pictures. I need to go back there really.
Here is a picture off google to give you an idea of what this beautiful and serene place looks like.
Off we went through more towns and a 3 hour stop in St Andrews!
The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland.
In June 1559 during the reformation, a Protestant mob incited by the preaching of John Knox ransacked the Cathedral, the interior of the building was destroyed. The Cathedral fell into decline following the attack and became a source of building material for the town. By 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin
After walking for a bit, I stumbled on this Gelato parlour, but fiftfam said no so I walked on. I went to see other places and walked back the same way. My birthday said you only celebrate your birth once a year plus YOLO! so in I went. Glad I did.
Its an 100 years and four generations store that was established in 1908, by Bennett Jannetta. 2019 here I am having a taste from many years ago. It was realllllllly good.
Below is St Andrews University. The third oldest university in the English-speaking world and the oldest in Scotland. According to some rankings, it is ranked as the third best university in the United Kingdom, plus this is the University Prince William and Kate Middleton met.
I can almost guess why the royal choose this school, well at least one of the reasons. The average Scot is generally not overly excited about the Royals. While they respect them and what they stand for, they scots man/woman would treat them as normal when walking on the street.
Eric said the same thing.
As you can imagine it is a town highly populated by students but they were on the summer break, it was pretty much packed with tourists like myself.
The town Center or if you may, the High Street…….well thats a stretch but beautiful place still.
For golfers this place is the pinnacle of a visit to St Andrews. 
St Andrews Links is regarded as the “Home of Golf”. It has one of the oldest courses in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century.
There are seven public golf courses; the Balgove, Eden, Jubilee, Strathtyrum, New, the Old Course (which is widely considered one of the finest, and certainly the most famous and traditional course in the world), and The Castle Course, sited on the cliffs a mile to the east of St Andrews. Again my picture taking skills does not do justice to it.
PS – Almost every town in Scotland has a golf course.
I took this picture off Google so you have a better appreciation of it.
The golf course is just by the coast line and right beside a small beach. I went on one of the rocks to take these pictures .
I sent my mom the picture below and she said why I was looking like someone who is looking unto the heavens for help. She is correct though, I was.
Our last stop was in Falkland. A very small village with a population size of less than 2,000.
This palace in Falkland has some very interesting story about its Queen (Mary Queen of Scots) from many years ago. Summary – A beautiful girl child born and had to be raised in France where she got married and widowed, came back to Falkland married an English Lord who was murdered supposedly by her lover aka her bodyguard.
She married the bodyguard a month after her husband’s death and she was arrested on the grounds of murder. After many months/years in jail she was eventually beheaded.
Their homes look very story book like with an overlooking view of the hills. Beautiful.
I would definitely do this again.
If you find yourself in this side of the world, let’s do this together, it would be much more fun in the company of others.
So did you get my birthday present yet? You still got a chance. Please send this link (https://ournuptialchest.com/) to that bride and groom that has told you about their wedding.
If you still want to gift me a personal item, I have a wish list. Just ask me for it
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