St. Andrews: My Current Favourite City

Lo and behold, another post! I finally took some pictures of the lovely St. Andrews to show people.

These two, however, are not of St. Andrews...

Rabbit and Lamb Pie.
I'm quite proud of this, as I've never made a pie of any kind before.
*smugness*

Glorious Sunrise on Friday morning.
Taken from the back deck. 

Now for St. Andrews. I hope you are all appreciative of these pictures. For reasons which I am unable to explain, I hate taking pictures when there are other people around. As a result, many of these were taken casually, even furtively, with little care in regards to actually taking a good photograph. Sorry.

These were taken this past Saturday.

A tower at the end of South Street, just before you get to the cathedral.

A cool archway at the end of the sidewalk.
It is very low. I would have just been able to walk under it without ducking, but I ducked anyways.
Couldn't help it.

First view of the Cathedral.
The towers don't actually lean that much. That's just my camera trying to take it all in....

The far end.

The main entrance was used by important people like visiting bishops and such. 

War Memorial next to the Cathedral.

Cannons, aimed at the fence.
The pier is just beyond, in the background there.

These are the remains of a castle, I believe. 

On the pier.
Parts of it are very old, as you can see in some of the following pictures.
Other parts have been restored, and others are just plain old new. 

That little indent in the wall up ahead has a bench in it.
Perfect for basking and dozing :)
An old man nodded contentedly to me as I passed.

Fishing boats, looking back towards the city.
There are piles of lobster traps on the sidewalk there.

A rather suspicious pigeon.
I don't think (s)he approved of me very much.
Kept giving me the Eye from up there.

Sitting on the steps, you can see how weathered some of the stones are.
I'm not sure how much good the little wooden wedges do, though.

Walking back beside the wall surrounding the Cathedral grounds.

Younger Hall Music Centre.
Kayla, this made me think of you.
I can just imagine you studying music in such an impressive building and amazing everyone with your talent.
I think it would suit you.
*coughcometostandrewscough*

Imposing much?
Chapel of St. Salvator

A slightly better view of the whole building.
... Like I said, I tried to take pictures as surreptitiously as possible.
Some things had to be sacrificed. Like good angles.
Sorry.

So many chimney pots.

A little bit of home :)

Some rather posh student flats.

St. Andrews has many brightly painted doors, most of which are blue.
Possibly because Scotland's flag is blue with a white cross on it. 

However, there are many other colours as well :)

This is actually the side door to the Baptist church in which the Free Church meets on Sunday mornings.

Rose Lane :3

Catch-up

The boys and I went for a walk last week. (Last week?? Yeah, I guess it was...) 

The reason I haven't posted them yet is because I wanted to double check with Esther and Neil that they were okay with me posting pictures of their children so weird people like my friends and family could see them. (Just kidding, I love you all. Truly.)

Anyways, here's a few more pictures of life in Scotland. 

We're heading down in the direction of the old Quarry.
The stone from this area is a kind of orangey-pink.
If you go further North, you get granite, which is black.

James and I.
Photo credit: Thomas

Thomas and I.
Photo credit: James

James "riding" Asher.
Tom saw this...

...and wanted to try too... :)

Cattle. They were black, and in Scotland. So naturally they must be Black Angus cattle :]
(I have no idea, actually.)

Tom is saluting.
(In case you were wondering.)

A pretty house sign I saw in the lane.

Hehe :)

A few days later, I took the dogs up to the top of Lucklaw Hill. It is now one of my most favourite walks. The view up there is spectacular!

Those brown things are all dead ferns.
I saw a deer in there, as well as a fox. 

This scrubby stuff is all heather.
It will be gorgeous when it's in bloom. 

Bryn. 

Closer to the top!

These (very) spiky bushes with yellow flowers are all over the hill. 

Rolling hills and far, misty mountains. :3

Two mornings ago, it froze. No snow (unlike back home), but everything was all silvery and frosted. I took another trip up Lucklaw Hill. 

The field next to the house. 

The heather looked so pretty. 

Up at the top, the clouds obscured most of the view on one side.

However, the other side was crystal clear. 

Asher and I by the pile of stone at the top.
Good ol' self-timer. 

Tessa waiting with twitchy, wide-eyed anticipation for me to throw her stick.
Bryn just follows Tessa. He doesn't like sticks, it seems.

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I have made a couple of forays into St. Andrews, but alas, sans camera.

Pictures will hopefully follow soon, as it is gorgeous! Everything is so old! Last Sunday, I arrived an hour early for church, so I went exploring. I found the old St. Andrews cathedral.

Amazing.

I think I will have to pay the however-many-pounds it costs to go in 

and walk among the ruins and grave stones.

There is also a darling little used book shop tucked away down one of the streets. That made my Saturday. I bought two books: Kipling's Kim, and Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope.

Speaking of church, my first Sunday at the St. Andrews Free Church of Scotland was wonderful. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly that I felt at home immediately. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone in my new church community!