Scotland 2022

Today we did not have a tour planned, and many places are closed due to the death of the Queen, so we decided to take a 'walk about'. The weather was super nice and sunny. We ended up walking over 6 miles and visited a cathedral, went to Dean Village and took the river walk there, dropped in at the museum of modern art, and ended up in Leith on the water front where the royal yacht is moored.  First stop was St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. Not on any tour guide books because it is 'new' and built in the 1800s in the neo-gothic style, but still a nice place to explore. The stain glass windows were great and one was done in modern glass and the sun shinning through cast colors on the columns.  After that it was a bit of a walk but we got to the out skirts of Dean Village.  There is a 13 mile river walk here, but we only went a half mile or so up river on way to art museum. Along the way we meet a local wearing a Seahawks jersey, so we had to chat with him. And he is a

Today the weather was not sunny but not raining either and we boarded our tour bus for St Andrews and fishing villages. Our first stop was just out side of town where we got a great view of the three great bridges that cross the North Atlantic sea harbor.  First is the 1890 amazing cantilever bridge the "Forth Bridge" It caries only train traffic these days. Then there is the suspension bridge just near it that is dedicated to mass transit vehicles. And the car traffic is on the new cable stay bridge the "Queensferry Crossing" bridge. Our next stop was the fishing village of  Anstruther. A nice stop at a small town on the coast. It wasn't raining but the wind was in the 30+ MPH range and the sea was very turbulent. At lunch time we got to St Andrews. The Mecca for golf players and I have now made my pilgrimage! Even with 30+ MPH wind, a raging sea just on the edge of the course, we still saw players teeing off! We toured the golf museum which had many stories, d

We have been lucky so far on this trip and had good weather but today the sky opened up and drenched us! So we limited our exploration to inside venues and still had a good day. We huddled under the bus canopy in the morning to keep from getting any more soaked then we already were and caught the hop-on-hop-off bus. Our first stop was the National Museum of Scotland" and what a wonder this place is. Its has the most eclectic and interesting exabits.  If you are ever here do not miss this place. Here are a few more pics.  From here we braved the weather and went foraging for food, lunch.  And then on to an old, 1600s, church, Greyfriars.  Greyfriars church was very pretty especially with the stain glass windows, but its real fame is the burial place of a scotty dog, Bobby. Bobby is known for staying at his master's grave for over 16 years after his death.  We got back on the bus and toured on the bus around some more then back to the hotel to dry off and have a spot of tea. But