Visiting Scotland: St. Andrews, golf, castles, and scotch

 

Edinburgh

Just returned from a 12 day golf trip to Scotland. It was fabulous! It's been in the planning for over a year with friends from our club in Florida. We were four couples and what a  great time was had.

The famous 18th hole bridge - constant photo shoots (on Sunday).

Yup, we got ours taken too.

wedding complete with bagpipers

a small sampling of the dogs and people everywhere -Sunday walkers

boy with kilt - we saw kilts everywhere

First day arrival - we made it! Coming from all directions: Boston, Chicago, and Colorado. Our eight included wonderful new friends Cheryl and Dan

Our Florida club group (Bill, LeeAnn, Don, Roxanne)

We stayed at St. Andrews which is truly a golfer's mecca. We had a view of the 17th and 18th holes and got to watch all the action. The one regret was we were not able to play the Old Course. Our travel group tried their best to get us but no luck. We did play another of their courses (Castle course) which was great. We walked the Old course as it's closed for golf on Sundays and the walkers and their hundreds of dogs come out in droves. We felt immersed in it all. St. Andrews is the oldest golf course in the world. It was established in 1552.

Famous pub Dunvegan

Just a hop, skip, and a jump from the 18th hole. Famous golfers, including Tiger Woods, have visited over the years for a pint and some fish and chips. Photos cover every inch including the ceiling.

University of St. Andrews established 1413

top university in the UK

one of two ecumenical chapels established at St. Andrews in 1450 

Cathedral of St. Andrew ruins built in 1158. Largest church built in Scotland.

Originally Medieval Catholic Church until 16th century Scottish Reformation

One of the more 'recent' tombstones -famous pro golfer who won Open Championship three times

We explored the town during our stay. Everything has remained from centuries ago. It is a very old city as you can tell. Fascinating for sure.

Kingsbarn

Carnoustie

Castle Course

I've put all the golf photos together.  List was: Kingsbarn, Carnoustie, Castle course (St. Andrews), Lunden Links, Gullane #1, and North Berwick. All terrific courses and hard - especially Carnoustie. It's nickname is Carnasty...agree. We had only 3 minutes of rain for all our rounds which was amazing, but did have 30 and 40 mile an hour winds with occasional 50 mph gusts a couple of days. Whoohoo. Hey, we're a tough group, handled it just fine. I call it hearty golf in Scotland. No electric golf carts, so you're walking every round using a pull cart or utilizing a caddie.

We had a little free time in between golf rounds and went to a scotch distillery. The process and history was fascinating, plus the scotch tasting super informative. They are not exported but are named and included in some of the Johnnie Walker labels. And yes, we purchased - of course.

Blair Castle

the castle was filled weapons in multi rooms - you apparently can't have too many.

Tapestry room - the many tapestries were sold to the duke by Cromwell after Charles I was beheaded.

Next up was Blair Castle, owned by the Duke of Atholl. It was started in 1269 absolutely dripping with history. The castle was placed in a charitable trust and the public can visit year round. The current 12th Duke of Atholl was born, raised, and continues to live in South Africa. At one point in history the grounds in entirety covered 346,000 acres. Blair Castle is also the home of the Atholl Highlanders, the only private army in Europe owned by the Duke of Atholl.

yup another gentleman in a kilt - couldn't resist.

view from our room

Our last few days were centered in Edinburgh. We stayed at the Scotsman Hotel, where the original building had housed the The Scotsman newspaper offices for almost a century before. There are supposed to be a host of ghosts there but we saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary.

haggis is sheep innards mixed with spices, etc. I've had it once - not repeating.

Mark did not buy - can't imagine why.

a real person - augh

I'll give points for creativity

one more kilt photo

Mark's photo of the main street - what crowds!

We walked the streets of the incredibly old city of Edinburgh, doing a little shopping and eating. Apparently we picked the busiest time of the year to be here. Festival time and the city population doubles. There is the Fringe which is literally hundreds of comedy acts that perform over three weeks and also the Military Tattoo which performs at Edinburgh Castle at night with international military bands and light show. Part of our group went the last night of the trip and said it was fantastic.

Edinburgh Castle

Built in 1595 at the gates of Edinburgh Castle as a home, morphing into church then royal apartments, now world famous hotel/restaurant of 50 years. Honoring the many women and men who were burned at the stake as witches.

Last visit was to world famous Edinburgh Castle. 2 million people visit a year. It stands on Castle Rock above the town and has been a castle since the 11th century and home to many Scottish monarchs. As with any ancient site there have been endless wars, occupations, and prisons. Mary, Queen of Scots, had her baby there in the royal apartments and the Scottish Crown Jewels are there. (the oldest in Britain).

Very long post but I wanted to get it all in. We loved every minute of our trip and highly recommend a visit to Scotland if you haven't been.