St. Andrews

Our journey today took us to the far reaches of the Kingdom of Fife, to the city of St. Andrews. St. Andrews is known of course as the birthplace of golf, but its also the home to the famous University of St. Andrews, an 11th-century cathedral, key moments of the Protestant Reformation, and the beach where they filmed the opening scene of Chariots of Fire! All that other stuff is fine, but Chariots of Fire is my favorite movie, so making a pilgrimage to the famous opening scene (you'll be humming the song for days!) was an absolute must.

Its just like I was there, only 100 yards behind them, lungs burning, wishing I had a plate of fish & chips.

The movie still from the running scene.

my shot (pretty close considering it was from memory)

This plaque is right near the beach (self-explanatory, huh?)

Ok, we also saw that other stuff too. It really was a beautiful day to spend at the beach, and St. Andrews is a stunning town to go sightseeing. I'm sure we will be back before the end of the year.

On Sundays the Old Course at St. Andrews is open for the public to walk on the grounds. We all checked out the 1st, 2nd, and 18th holes of the most famous golf course in the world. I tried to instill the same sense of awe in the kids, but got a lot of "yeah dad I know, you told me already. Its really old". Anyway, here we are at the 1st fairway with the club house behind us.

 

Undergraduate students from the university in their scarlet robes. 

St. Andrews University (not the whole thing)

Holy Trinity Parish Church

Both Kate and William went to St. Andrews.

St. Andrews Cathedral (well, the ruins at least)

 

For everything we did today, I think the kids had the most fun rolling down a grass hill.