Fife Day Trip
Today (24th Jan) we headed out of Edinburgh for a bit of a tour of Fife. For the first time since moving here we ventured northwards over the Forth Bridge to Fife, heading west to the small village of Culross. It was really nice and quiet with cobbled streets and old buildings (including a palace and abbey!) it was like stepping back in time...until you looked out across the Firth of Forth and saw all the industrial factories. We had a meander around and then headed off back eastwards through Dunfermline up to Kinross and Loch Leven. As soon as we got inland the place turned white where the snow hadn't yet melted...there was a covering of a good few inches which was nice to see, however as it was a really overcast day the snowy hills seemed to blend into the sky! After having a little walk along the loch edge we got back in the car and drove through Glenrothes to the coast, and followed this round to the old fishing village of Anstruther. The harbour reminded me of Port St Mary and Peel - looked like PSM but was more touristy like Peel. After having a walk round (and visiting the sweet shop) we decided to treat ourselves to fish and chips from a local chippy. Acting like proper tourists we sat outside to eat...it was really tasty and we got plenty of comments from the locals about us enjoying our food!
It was about 1.30pm by the time we ventured onwards, continuing round the coast about 10 miles to St Andrews, home to Scotland's oldest university (and where Kate Middleton met Prince William!). There was a really nice vibe to the town - nice shops, old buildings, bustling with locals, students and tourists. It didn't seem that big although according to Wikipedia it's got a population of around 17,000 people which I found quite surprising. We had a good walk around the shops, past the Holy Trinity Church and some of the university buildings, up as far as the ruins of the cathedral before making our way back to the car. I would definitely go back to St Andrews when we have more time...I could imagine it would be nice in the summer when it's a bit warmer! By this time it was about 4pm and time to head back to Edinburgh - we took a fairly direct route through Cupar and back on to the motorway and over the bridge getting back to the flat around 6pm. The gritters were back in action on the roads as we made our way back in preparation for the last of the snow that's forecast for tomorrow so I'm glad we chose today for our trip out....we had a lovely day, it's been so nice to start exploring the places around us!
Check out a few snaps from our day.....
