Day 3 of our tour takes us out of the city (note, the name of our tour is Country Roads of Scotland, could it be we actually head out into the country?) and to the quaint town of St. Andrews. St. Andrews is known for hosting William and Kate in their university years, the beach where Chariots of Fire was filmed, and an open golf course. (Okay, so for those who golf, maybe I should say “The Open” golf course.) Gene and I enjoyed walking around town on a sleepy Easter Monday. Robbie, our kilted tour guide, has already figured us out. As we depart the coach, he is offering helpful advice to make sure everyone gets to see what is most important to them. He looks at us and says, “Oh, you’re going to walk. Go up the hill and be back on the coach in one hour!” The tide was unusually low on this particular day and made for some great photos. We strolled along the ocean front, saw a castle ruins, and walked through St. Andrews University.
We drove through Dundee and Perth and up the Strath Tay to Pitlochry for a Robbie “Lunch on the Go” (which means, the coach pulls into a small town, Robbie points out a grocery store and a fast food shop and tells you to be back on the bus in 45 minutes or he will leave you). From there, we drove through scenic Scotland to have tea at Ballindalloch Castle where we toured and were given tea. I must say, I could live off scones. The scones in Scotland are light and fluffy and served with all sorts of great toppings: jams, salted caramel, clotted cream (butter), and of course tea. Having tea in a castle is pretty cool.
The castle owner was supposed to give us a personal tour, but a wildfire had started in the area and he was called away to help fight it. The fire burned for most of a week and was quite extensive. We captured photos from our bus (I mean coach) from a distance.
After walking about the castle grounds (just love saying that) and exploring the gardens, we returned to our coach and traveled to Inverness where we stayed at the Kingsmills Hotel and saw a spectacular sight . . . and ice bucket. We are in the land of Scotch Whisky and have been unable to locate ice to date. The ice bucket is so exciting that I take a photo and send to the kids! Three days of toting whisky around and finally we have glasses and an ice bucket. “Break the seal, honey,” I say as Gene grins.
