A tiny town perched on the cliffs above the North Sea, St. Andrews is world renowned for two things: it's ancient university (where Prince William and Kate Middleton met) and golf. I found the bit about the royal couple fascinating, imagining them walking the same streets and sidewalks we were, gazing out at the same misty sea. As to the golf part I'm admittedly not much of a fan, but Josh rattled on and on about the 'Old Course' which is apparently the holy grail of golfers the world over. And I guess they also dictate the rules of golf for like, everyone. In other words it's a really big deal in the sports world, so I took a photo. ;-)
Both the course and town of St. Andrews itself literally sit right on the water. It's beautiful.
We took a stroll along the water before stopping to nosh on a picnic lunch we'd picked up at an organic market before leaving Edinburgh, sipped a shared cappuccino in the back corner of a packed coffee shop, then set out to explore the ruins of St. Andrews lost cathedral. I was anticipating wandering around the remnants of this ancient church. Somewhere on these grounds lie the actual ruins of Andrew the apostle, as in Andrew the apostle of Jesus. Fascinating.
Upon first laying my eyes on it, I had to catch my breath. With the heavy mist hovering like a cloak, it's simply stunning.
You can imagine how gorgeous it must of been centuries ago. Once upon a time it was not only the largest cathedral, but the largest building in all of Scotland.
Like everything else in the tiny town, the cathedral also sits at the edge of the sea. I found it both romantic and haunting... stirring.
It awed me...the history, the remains of the structure itself, the fact that the apostle Andrew is laid to rest here. Amazing.
I snapped one last shot of Josh at the Old Course while waiting for our group to return. From golf, to the royal couple, to the Scottish Reformation and ancient Biblical history...my heart was full of thought-provoking complexities. No time to wade thru all of that yet though, we had a group to get packed up and to the airport early the next morning...
...but before we did, our group had one last surprise for us ;-)