However, once we got to the bus station, it was more like brunch. And once we got on the 11:40 bus to St. Andrews, it was more like lunch.
We drove past some horses, sheep, and hairy coos, and dropped off our bags at the station so we were unencumbered for our venturings.
It was pretty close to a nice day when we got here, so we hit the links right away. "The links" being the Ladies' Course (also called the Himalayas), a miniature golf course. I totally bested Alex (though he has a few years experience on me). We played a full eighteen holes at St. Andrews!
And it was good we did it then, because the rest of the afternoon wasn't fit for anything. We walked on West Sands, the beach right by the course, until it started raining. On the beach were these squirts of wet sand, like Playdough being pushed through a tube. Each was accompanied by an airhole a foot away. Our guess was razorclams, with an airhole and excavating their burrow.
We hid under a shelter for a bit, allowing me to dust off my sandy feet. After the first burst of rain, we made it dry all the way to St. Andrews University (and past Butts Wynd). However, it was too wet then (and getting a bit late) to go in and appreciate the castle ruins and cathedral ruins that we walked by.
We had a meal of fish and chips between attempts to find Internet or use a payphone to contact our CouchSurfing hosts. After failing on both counts, we checked into a hostel for the night.
Alex was still raring to go (though "Friends" was pretty tempting), so down towards East Sands this time we went. It was sunny (amazing for both Scotland and 7:30), and we made it to the harbor right by the sea pretty quickly (with only some slight cat-stalking).
Though we didn't know at the time, the tide was in, allowing brave souls to be out in sailboats, kayaks, and surfboards. We saw some especially brave (or stupid) people climbing out in their bathing suits). The water seems to be warmer than the air, but that's still impressive.
We looked out over the coastline, and, as we are now guity of doing for the second day in a row, pointed and said, let's go there.
The sun was on its way down toward the horizon, but we had a good two hours to make it a few miles on a trail on top of cliffs by the coastline.
It was remarkable. We stopped every hundred feet with a new angle toward St. Andrews, or the cliffs and rocks below, or the snails or trailer parks on our path. And the weather held nicely as we forged ahead (and through a less used and much more vegetative trail then the main one, at one point).
The journey was amazing, and I can only hope Scotland is going to continue to be as picturesque as this evening.
We arrived back into town at the end of dusk, or 10:30pm, for some Jaffa Cakes (I don't know, Alex has heard of them and wanted to try) and pizza. Feet again very tired.
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