St. Andrews Day

We started week two off with a trip to St. Andrews. 

November 29th: Mom and I took a short train ride to St. Andrews for the day! We followed the "St. Andrews Walk" in the Rick Steves Scotland book!

We started at The Old Course - the world's first golf course! I had a very jealous husband!

The 18th hole

                                                                                                                         





West Sands: The first scene of Chariots of Fire was filmed on this beach.






The sea below these cliffs were once called "Witches' Lake" because of all the women and men pushed off the cliff on suspicion of witchcraft.

A martyr's monument, commemorating all those who
died for their Protestant beliefs during the Scottish
Reformation.

St. Salvator's College - if you're a student be careful not to stand on the initials PH. This marks the spot where St. Andrews alum and professor Patrick Hamilton - the Scottish Reformation's most famous martyr - was burned at the stake. According to student legend, as he suffered in the flames, Hamilton threatened that any students who stood on this spot would fail their exams.

Sally's Quad - the heart of the university

The rain at this point was getting stronger. We decided to duck into a little cafe, Bibi's, for some warm soup, and a panini. We ate lunch and waited out the downpour.







< St. Salvator's Chapel - dating from 1450, this is the town's most beautiful medieval church. It has a wooden ceiling, 19th-century stained glass, a glorious organ, and what's supposedly the pulpit of reformer John Knox.

We then went on a search for the university's shield. The diamonds are from the coat of arms of the bishop who issued the first university carter in 1411; the crescent moon is a shout-out to Pope Benedict XIII, who gave the OK in 1413 to found the university; the lion is from the Scottish coat of arms; and the X-shaped cross is a stylized version of the Scottish flag (a.k.a. St. Andrew's Cross).

 Next stop St. Andrews Castle. Built by a bishop to entertain visiting diplomats in the late 12th century, the castle was home to the powerful bishops, archbishops, and cardinals of St. Andrews.

 

The most interesting parts are underground: the bottle dungeon named because of its shape, where prisoners were lowered down, and never again see the light of day. Then we crawled into the mine/counter-mine tunnels. This shows how the besieging pro-Catholic Scottish government dug a mine to take the castle, but were followed at every turn by the Protestant counterminers. Mom and I went through the whole tunnel. If you have claustrophobia, this tunnel is not for you!

Looking back at the castle on the way to St. Andrews Cathedral
The beach below is called the Castle Sands, where students do
a May Day swim on May 1 - the only way to reverse the curse of
stepping on Patrick Hamilton's initials!

Next stop St. Andrew's Cathedral. We were racing the sun at this point to see everything, but thankfully the rain had let up! It was so beautiful. 

A little background:

My favorite picture from the day!

It was the relics of the Apostle Andrew that first put this town on the map and gave it its name. Since St. Andrew had a direct connection to Jesus, his relics were believed to possess special properties, making them worthy of pilgrimages. St. Andrew became Scotland's patron saint; in fact, the white "X" on the blue Scottish flag evokes the diagonal cross on which St. Andrew was crucified. He chose this type of cross because he felt unworthy to die as Jesus had. The cathedral was in the building process for 150 years, starting in 1160, sporting Romanesque windows and Gothic arches. 

St. Mary's College - the home of the university's School of Divinity (if Seth had chosen to go to St. Andrews to study, this is where he would have been). 

The massive tree on the right was purportedly planted by Mary, Queen of Scots.

The streets and houses of St. Andrews were so quaint! The streets and buildings are smaller at the oldest end of town, as if the whole city is shrinking as the streets close in on the cathedral.

New end of town

Old end of town

The highly recommended Fisher and Donaldson patisserie 

We had such a fun day! Thanks again to Rick Steves and your walking tour of St. Andrews.