Day 4 - St.Andrews, Cairngorm , Tomintoul

We had chosen to stay at Lathones as it was close to St.Andrews, the birthplace of Golf.
While my husband and I are not golfers, I had been introduced to Golf by General Koshi. He had designed the golf course in Cochin and had given me an afternoon tour of the CIAL golf course. He himself was awed by was this golf course.

"The place where Uncle had always wanted to play Golf was at the place where Golf started - The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the oldest and most prestigious golf club in the world. But to play there, one must write in with the handicap certificate and desired date of play. Then a lot is taken of the chosen candidates. Thankfully, a tea planter from Scotland, with tea estate in India, was Uncle's friend and happened to be a club member. Thus, Uncle got to play at the Home of Golf."

Since then I had wanted to visit this place. While charting this trip I had deleted many places from my list....but not St.Andrews.

It was a cold morning and after a hearty breakfast where I was served 'Veggie Haggis' and other vegan versions of Scottish delights (appreciate the effort, but yuck!); we asked the manager about parking spaces in St.Andrews. He told us about a parking lot which tourists are not aware off.

We found the parking lot without any trouble.

From here we walked.
What a place!!

The old golf course!!

So many golfers were putting away.
We walked along side the course....

Our destination was Swilcan bridge.

It is an important cultural icon in the sport of golf. It is extremely small and was used by shepherds to ferry their sheep across, but now it is a great photographic point as on 3 sides , it is just greenery. It is said to be 700 years old.
Some golfers have given their farewell speeches from here.

We were assisted by some truly avid golf lovers in taking our photographs, who had earlier seen commenting on the swing/putt/lenght of some of the golfers. Of course, they added,"No pressure,boys!" like the true English!

From here we walked to see the Castle.
What old world charm buildings by the sea!!

And because we had the Explorer Pass, we could enter the site easily.

There was this old gentleman who was their with his grandsons.He wanted to explain the history of the building etc...I was interested in listening, his grandsons just wanted to run!

Anyway, my husband got romantic and took some photos of me which I never thought I would get!!
Usually, I make him pose and take a multitude of his photos, while he might take one photo of mine!!

We admired how people and kids were taking dips in the cold sea.

 Yup! that child seems naked! I was covered in layers of clothes!

There is a mine shaft, which you can enter....This was dug by the attackers ,but they were successfully counter-mined by the defenders. Both the mine and counter-mine cut through solid rock.

This is the counter mine.

It was so steep and was perilous, but worth a visit.

From here we went to see the Cathedral, the largest church to have been built in Scotland. But now a ruin. Many famous people are buried here. But we had to leave as we had a long journey ahead of us.

From here we walked through Market street to our car.
We bought some apples, bananas, crisps and water so that we would not have to stop for lunch.
I had to use the public toilet. They charge about 1/2 a pound for usage of the facility, which many disapprove. When I walked in a person had just paid and the door opened for her, she held it open for me. I am still undecided if I did something wrong.

The Market street was the prettiest street we had seen. Had such a charm. It was so beautiful,I did not take any photos!

Our next destination was Cairngorms National Park. It was 200 kms away.
I had not wanted my husband to drive much on the first day after getting the car. But today was different!

We passed via Dundee, saw the V&A museum from the outside.

 RRS Discovery is parked outside!

And more architecture...

I had wanted to go to Aberdeen.....maybe next time.

We stopped on the way for a quick bite. Muffin and banana.

This bunny was found dead....:(

What a view we had during lunch!

This place - Pitlochry, is a MUST stop for all tour buses. Obviously, we did not go.

This is river Tummel. There was also a river Tay.

Road was tarred red....Why?

Soon we reached Cairngorms National Park.

We were here to see the Reindeers. These had been hunted so much that they became extinct in Scotland. Sometime in the 1950's, they were reintroduced and were protected in the park.
We had hoped to go and meet the large herd, but we were an hour late.
So, we went to the paddock close to the main building to see them up close.

This person explained a lot of things about reindeers and answered many questions. He did not mind standing in the hot sun! There was a gujarati family (who were avoiding us)....The grandmother kept moving the grandkids to the shade.
But you have to stand in the sun to feed!!

This is Origami. What a soft coat she had!

My husband loved these gentle animals.

The birds also took their share of feed.

While we were driving towards the Reindeer centre, we had seen a huge lake. Lots of people had parked their car and were either swimming, boating or sun bathing.
Since we had time, we decided to head back.

The lake was called Loch Morlich.
My husband got some crisps and peanuts from the car....these ducks arrived from nowhere!

After spending some time relaxing, we started our trip further North - to  Tomintoul, to the highest village in the Scottish Highlands.

On our way we saw this handsome!! He is a highland cattle.

Tomintoul is a very small town and we passed through so many deserted areas to reach here.
Nethy Bridges caught our eye. Next time we will stay here. It seems it is a popular tourist place.

And this is Tomintoul.

Everything revolves around this green square.

Our B&B was manned by Les and John. Les does everything. She is a 'loud' person with a warm heart.
I was welcomed with a loud scream of my name and some Tomintoul Whiskey.

This B&B has character. Originally a 17th century cottage with a cowshed, the original walls can still be seen in the dining area.
At the end of the road was a chapel where a marriage was happening. I was looking forward to seeing the groom in kilt and a beautiful bride. Sadly, I did not see.

She booked us a table at the Clock House for dinner and the food was excellent.

 It was so cold, but my husband wanted to walk around town. But we rushed back soon....mainly because I was soooo cold1
The B&B looked sufficiently romantic!!

There was an old book in which there are photographs of the old town...

Can you find the B&B?