Anstruther, Crail and Edinburgh....

Took a drive to St. Andrews last evening . It was misty and the roads were smooth ....it was soooo romantic , there were vast green fields with red poppies lined on either side of the road and a thick veil of mist hung over it. There were neat rows of quaint little cottages with beds of lavender, poppy and other more exotic and vibrant couloured flowers. St. Andrews was cold...a chilly wind blowing from the waterfront (the North Sea to be precise!) and as we took a detour
on our way back, we stopped by two fishing villages by the coast...Anstruther and Crail....small hamlets, with colourful boats and yachts in the docks and several eateries specializing in 'fish and chips' !!!! On the whole, the drive was heavenly and picturesque and i hope i can take a similar drive with a special someone someday.....the sheer beauty is breathtaking.....

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Today i took a tour of Edinburgh. Went early in the morning .....by train to Edinburgh...took the 9.59 am train (yeah yeah....on the dot that too!!!). Reached Edinburgh in an hour and a half. Hopped off the train and bought the tickets for a bus tour of the city. The buses were the usual double-decker ones, that are so essentially a part of the roads in the UK. There was a cheerful guide who not only gave us an overview of the places visited but also interspersed his narrative with funny anecdotes and tongue in cheek comments about everything on God's earth including the Royal Family!!!!

We saw the old and the new town of Edinburgh, and also a quick tour of the places where great playwrights and literary figures like Robert Louis Stevenson and J.M Barrie (Peter Pan) once lived. The tour also touched upon the port where the Royal Yacht Britannia is now docked. I got down at the dock but didn't enter the yacht....more like a ship ....its a huge thing!!! Visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. Also visited the Edinburgh Castle and witnessed the change of guards and took a stroll round the grounds. An impressive layout of massive grounds and well reserved canons and objects of yesteryear. But somewhere down the line, i felt that everything out there was highly commercialized....it was teeming with tourists...of all shapes and sizes (including us ofcourse!) and there were shops selling souvenirs ,within the precints of the fort.

The weather was a mix bag....it rained, and then there was a bit of sunshine and then it became dull and weary yet again. It was almost 3.30 pm when we got over with the tour. Took the 5.05 pm train back to Dundee and since i've got a terrible cold, the days' events have slowed me down and i just want to curl up in bed and doze off!!! Its five minutes to 9.00 now and its bright as a button outside...if i didn't have much faith on the world around me...i would have thought that it was 9 in the morning!!!!