Chewy & Anne

(Let me start this post by saying that there are a lot of fun links throughout the text. Unlike other posts, I'm putting links to specific pictures that need to be seen in relation to the story, but maybe don't physically fit within the text. So click away, friends!)

St. Andrews

It can be so easy to get caught up in the picturesque town of St. Andrews or to bury myself in my schoolwork, letting weeks pass like days. But every once in a while I'm reminded of how much I miss home. Being five hours ahead can make communication with family and friends difficult - I have to wait until about 1:00pm until anyone I know is even awake, and then when I'm ready for bed, everyone is home from work and ready to start chatting. I'm lucky I have someone to keep me company day after day, but I know we both miss our Moms, Dads, siblings, and best friends.

Anne and Chewy visiting in St. Andrews, enjoying the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral.

So it was a real treat for Patrick and I to have our good friends Chewy and Anne come up to St. Andrews for a visit. They visited the UK for their honeymoon (d'aww) and had been in London for five days before traveling up by train to Scotland for an additional four days, finally returning to London to finish up their trip. While this was not their first trip to London or Scotland, this was their first time visiting St. Andrews. Patrick and I pulled out all the stops for them. We started at the North Point Diner, where "Will and Kate met for their first cup of coffee". Decent food, nothing special, good for a quick bite. Afterwards, we visited the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, as Chewy has a deep love for ruins. If you're interested in reading more about St. Andrews Cathedral, you can find it here when Patrick and I first arrived in St. Andrews.

The ruins of St. Andrews Castle, overlooking the ocean.

After visiting the pier and seeing the ocean for the first time that day, we headed over to St. Andrews Castle. This was the first time any of us had been into it, because you have to pay to go in. We passed through a cheesy history of the castle - or at least that's what I think it was, I couldn't get past the hilarious plastic mannequins dressed up like castle-dwellers past - and entered the grounds of the castle. The castle was built c.1200 by Roger de Beaumont and stayed in use until 1689, after which parts of the castle were used to repair the pier and the castle fell to ruin. Regardless of its diminished state, the castle is still impressive. My favorite part, and hopefully the favorite of my three taller companions, was climbing down into the mine. the shaft leading downward was only a few feet tall, so we all had to crouch down. It was wet, there were no stairs although there was a hand rail, and I wasn't even sure if it was somewhere we should go. Regardless, we all braved the tunnel and made it to the end, a number of stairs leading up to a closed off wall. It may not sound impressive, but the sheer madness of deciding to go down there - "at your own risk" as the sign told us later - and doing the most physical trekking of the day made it worth while.

The Mines - this is climbing back up to ground level.

We refueled at Pizza Express, entertained by a handful of uniquely funny children sitting near us, and then visited the Old Course and the West Sands (which, again, if you're interested in reading about them, you can find it here in a previous post) before showing Chewy and Anne our "base" and then sending them back on their bus to Edinburgh.

Scott Monument in Edinburgh

The following day, Patrick and I made our way to Edinburgh to visit them. I'm never disappointed by Edinburgh. Granted, this is only the second time I've been, but it's such a special city, so full life and yet so rich with history. There are such wonderful contradictions everywhere you go. For example, we first walked into the old town and had lunch at The Hub Cafe & Restaurant, which is in a building that looks just like an old cathedral. The building was constructed between 1842 and 1845 as the Victoria Hall to house the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, however was never consecrated as a church. Great food, I had a vegetable pie in a truffle creme sauce, the boys had pies (sorry, I can't recall what kind! They looked almost like chicken pot pies), and Anne had a delicious looking burger.

Edinburgh Castle

We spent the majority of our day at Edinburgh Castle, a place I had been dying to see since arriving in Scotland. It sits at the beginning of the Royal Mile, or High Street, atop the remnants of a now extinct volcano. I thought we were going to enter one building, just one big castle with old rooms of stone, however the castle was more like a little village. Most of our time spent there was out of doors in courtyards, running up to the ledges to see the vast view of Edinburgh. It is simply breathtaking how magnificent the view is.

Looking out over the spectacular view of Edinburgh.

We climbed the hills leading up to the top of the castle, stopping along the way to check out exhibits and buildings we were allowed to go into (the castle has always been in use, and there are parts that are off limits to the public, such as soldier's quarters). At 1:00pm every day, except Sundays, the castle fires off the "One O'Clock Gun", an enormous gun that was used to keep time for ships but is also used for special occasions. It is also used to mark friendships because guns fired in friendship cannot be quickly fired in anger. This is not the only one in the world; there are many still in use (there's one in Vancouver).

Edinburgh Castle

The oldest building in the castle is St. Margaret's Chapel, which was built by King David I (1124-53). Margaret died here in 1093 and was later sainted in 1251. The opening lines of a small book we purchased for £1 sum up the chapel perfectly: "It's a very small chapel - it doesn't hold more than about twenty people, and it's very old, and it's very lovely". Margaret became Queen of Scotland through her marriage to King Malcolm III (successor to Macbeth, King of Scots). She was a very loved queen, and she loved her subjects equally.

One of the many views out from Edinburgh Castle. The tall spire is The Hub.

We also got to see the Honors of the Kingdom: the royal scepter, crown, sword, jewels, and the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Coronation stone, as it is used during the coronation of the monarch (it sits under the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey)

Walking over N. Bridge from the Old Town to the New.

After visiting the castle, Patrick and Chewy went off to a whisky tour and Anne and I visited the Elephant House for some tea, hot chocolate, and a shared shortbread cookie. We collected the guys after the whisky tour and headed to dinner at Abbotsford Restaurant, where we were serenaded by classic 90s and early 2000 R&B (think "Thong Song", "I'll Make Love To You", and "The Boy Is Mine"), and the boys got his first taste of Haggis. They said it tasted a bit like meatloaf, and it wasn't cooked or served in a stomach. After a stroll around the New Town, we had to say our farewells (which were very funny as we sat on the bus waving wildly at Chewy and Anne, who waved back with even more enthusiasm).

Haggis, Tatties, and Neeps!

It was definitely a memorable weekend and Patrick and I are so thankful to have such great friends. We look forward to our next trip to Edinburgh and hope that Chewy and Anne enjoyed the remainder of their honeymoon (which we noticed from facebook pictures was filled with tasty food!).

Cheers!

(For many many more pictures from our weekend, check out my flickr page!)