And I'll be in Scotland before ye!
Well, it looks like I got that part right, although I certainly didn't take the low road to get here. The song "Loch Lomond" is supposedly about a Jacobite Highlander who was captured and sentenced to be executed, while a younger soldier who had fought alongside him was to be released back to Scotland as a messenger. Therefore, the younger soldier was going to take the "high road", the physical road to Scotland while the older soldier was to take the "low road", the spirit path through the underworld, back to his homeland.
If there's one thing Scots are proud of, it's how long they were able to keep the English out of their country despite the massive inequality in their sizes and populations. Our first stop on our trip to Loch Lomond highlighted this very well, when we went to Stirling to see the Wallace Monument. The tribute to William Wallace, who fought against Edward I of England and was played by Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart, is a massive building on top of the hill Abbey Craig, near the site of Wallace's defeat of an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Tony did a dramatic retelling of the battle, complete with a fake English accent for the English soldiers, as we were on top of the Craig, where he could indicate the site of the battle. It was pretty amusing, especially since he referred to any generic English soldier as Nigel. It also really highlighted the difference between Scottish and English accents when he was imitating the other.
After the Wallace Monument, we drove through Stirling and passed Stirling Castle and a statue of Robert the Bruce, the original Braveheart. Robert became King Robert I of Scotland following the Wars of Independence against Edward I of England. According to legend, the Bruce always wanted to go on the Crusades, but was unable to. At the end of his life as he lay dying, his closest friend and advisor, Sir James Douglas or "The Black Douglas", came to him to tell the King that he was going on the Crusades and the Bruce begged him to take him along. Since he was dying, this was impossible, but Douglas agreed to take his heart along, and used it and the legend of the King as a way to rally his troops against a Moorish army in Granada. Tony told us that the Scottish Crusaders were highly outnumbered by the Moors, so Douglas rode back and forth in front of his troops, inspiring them to fight before leading the charge. He had the Bruce's heart in an iron box on a chain, and as he charged the enemy, he whirled it over his head before loosing it at the Moors and shouting, "Lead on, Brave heart, lead on!" I have heard different versions of this story, and am not sure what is true, but at the very least, the Bruce's heart did travel to Moorish Granada with the Crusaders, and is to this day buried in a separate place than the rest of his body.
From the Wallace Monument and Stirling, we moved on to Doune Castle, famous for being one of the two castles where filming took place for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Doune Castle was the location for numerous scenes, such as the taunting scene with the French, the "Camelot" song and dance routine, parts of the Castle Anthrax segment and the wedding disrupted by Sir Lancelot. We were only there for ten minutes or so, because Loch Lomond is quite a distance from St. Andrews and we had to keep going.
We made one more stop before reaching Loch Lomond, stopping at Loch Katrine. The steamship Sir Walter Scott makes trips around the loch on a regular basis, making it the only steamer still in regular use. It wasn't out on the loch when we were there, since it's being refurbished to use biofuels rather than a wood furnace. Scotland is really far ahead in this whole "green sustainability" movement.
Finally, we drove the rest of the way straight to Loch Lomond, listening to the song on repeat until we sang along sufficiently well for Tony to turn it off. I never realized how large it actually is. We were at one of its narrow points and it was still almost a mile wide. It gets up to five miles across! The day had started off as sunny, but when we got to Loch Lomond it turned into what I like to think of as "Scotland weather". The sun disappeared behind the clouds and it turned windy. Mist started creeping down the mountains across the loch, shielding their tops from view. It was beautiful, in a kind of wild and gray way.
I walked by myself along the edge of the loch for awhile and I have one thing to say about the landscape. After seeing it myself, it comes as no surprise to me that there are so many stories of fairies and giants and things of that nature that come from Scotland. There's no bare dirt anywhere, and there are random patches of moss all over the place. If one of those patches had lifted up and a fairy or leprechaun came climbing out, I'm not even sure I would have been surprised. It just feels like that kind of place. But perhaps that's just me. Even without that feeling though, it's a beautiful place to visit. I'm glad we made it to Loch Lomond-- we almost stopped at Loch Katrine to take a boat ride on The Lady of the Lake rather than continuing onwards, but since it was the Loch Lomond day tour, we eventually decided that we had to make it to the loch.
It was a fun but very tiring weekend, as both trips got back almost two hours later than they were supposed to. But it was very much worth it. Seeing some of the rest of Scotland was great. I might make a few more weekend trips with friends, because I'd still like to see more (like Loch Ness!), but if I don't get around to it, at least I've seen quite a bit more than just St. Andrews!
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Highlands, Take Two
Alright, so more details about my trip. We left St. Andrews at about 10am and got back at 7pm, almost two hours after our scheduled time. The reason for this is that our very enthusiastic tour guide, Tony, didn't seem to have an actual itinerary. Quite a few times during our trip he commented, "Well, I haven't been this way in awhile, so why don't we pop over this way to see such-and-such?" It was very entertaining though, because Tony kept up an almost constant stream of information about the areas we were going through and different sites.
We started by traveling north to Dundee and then down to Perth, crossing over and then following the Tay River. On the way, we passed Discovery Point, where the Discovery, a ship used to explore the Antarctic in 1901-1904 is kept in Dundee. We also passed the site of the Tay Bridge Disaster, where a train went off its tracks into the river as the bridge collapsed in 1897. According to Tony, this event was immortalized in a poem by William Topaz McGonagall, popularly known as Scotland's worst poet. Having read the poem (which can be found here- http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/pgdisaster.htm), I'm inclined to agree with him.
Our first stop was in Dunkeld, which happens to lie in Birnam Wood, of Macbeth fame. I was excited to be in Macbeth country, since it's my favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies, but we were really only there to use the "loo" before heading into the woods for a walk. We were going to The Hermitage, a national trust site that was originally owned and managed by the Duke of, of all things, Atholl. Today, the area is public property and the Duke's "folly", or a building built with no purpose other than entertainment, is open for people to view. It's a very small building in the woods with only two rooms. Called Ossian's Hall, to celebrate the blind poet Ossian, the building has a balcony looking out over a medium-sized waterfall. Next to the building is a small wooden bridge over the waterfall, apparently built by one of the Duke's nephews as a birthday present. The Hermitage is also home to a 194 foot tall Douglas Fir, one of the largest trees in Britain.
After we walked through the Hermitage, we stopped at a monument to the Black Watch. Apparently the Black Watch is known throughout the world, but in Scotland, its reputation can be either good or bad depending on who you are talking to. It was created as a way for the English to have someone keeping an eye on the rebellious Highland clans of Scotland, and participated in numerous conflicts with them. Thus, some people in Scotland see them as traitors and murderers, while others look upon them as having provided protection.
From the monument, we drove onwards to Loch Tay and Kenmore, the town next to it. Loch Tay is home to the Scottish Crannog Centre, so we got a quick peek at a Crannog, which is "a type of ancient loch-dwelling found throughout Scotland and Ireland dating from 5,000 years ago. Many crannogs were built out in the water as defensive homesteads and represented symbols of power and wealth", according to the Centre. The demonstration crannog was a small, man-made island just big enough to hold a stone hut. It apparently was a reproduction of an Iron Age one. Pretty clever way to keep out wild animals, I have to say. Kenmore, the town next to Loch Tay, has the oldest inn in Scotland, as well as, unsurprisingly, a golf course.
Then came the highlight of the day for many people- a tour of the Glenturret distillery, the oldest whisky distillery in Scotland. There they produce Glenturret single malt, which is also one of the ingredients in The Famous Grouse blended whisky. The tour took us through every step in making whisky, and also explained what you are looking for when you smell or taste a whisky. It was interesting to see how little goes to waste in the making of whisky. For example, after the barley it is made from is used in the whisky, it is then used again as cattle feed. No wonder the Scots make such a profit from whisky.
The day ended with one final stop, at what was once a Roman fort, over two thousand years ago. Today, there are no real remnants of the fort left except for a series of short but steep hills running across a plain. These hills were constructed by the Romans in order to slow down Pictish attackers. I didn't test it, but my friend Neil ran up and down a few and attested to their ability to tire people out. It's hard to comprehend a time period like that-- over two thousand years. I was discussing it with Reuben, a JSA from Norway, and we had to agree that in comparison to some of the things we were seeing that day, the United States is an absolute baby. Everything here is just so old. You can tell by looking at the land, especially in the Lowlands-- people have been living there and cultivating it for such a long time that it shows through in small things like where the trees are and how the fences run. At least that's the feeling I get.
And now, off to bed, because it's late here. I'll update you on my trip to Loch Lomond tomorrow, hopefully. I've been doing a lot of work for class and everything lately, so we'll see if I get to it.
We started by traveling north to Dundee and then down to Perth, crossing over and then following the Tay River. On the way, we passed Discovery Point, where the Discovery, a ship used to explore the Antarctic in 1901-1904 is kept in Dundee. We also passed the site of the Tay Bridge Disaster, where a train went off its tracks into the river as the bridge collapsed in 1897. According to Tony, this event was immortalized in a poem by William Topaz McGonagall, popularly known as Scotland's worst poet. Having read the poem (which can be found here- http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/pgdisaster.htm), I'm inclined to agree with him.
Our first stop was in Dunkeld, which happens to lie in Birnam Wood, of Macbeth fame. I was excited to be in Macbeth country, since it's my favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies, but we were really only there to use the "loo" before heading into the woods for a walk. We were going to The Hermitage, a national trust site that was originally owned and managed by the Duke of, of all things, Atholl. Today, the area is public property and the Duke's "folly", or a building built with no purpose other than entertainment, is open for people to view. It's a very small building in the woods with only two rooms. Called Ossian's Hall, to celebrate the blind poet Ossian, the building has a balcony looking out over a medium-sized waterfall. Next to the building is a small wooden bridge over the waterfall, apparently built by one of the Duke's nephews as a birthday present. The Hermitage is also home to a 194 foot tall Douglas Fir, one of the largest trees in Britain.
After we walked through the Hermitage, we stopped at a monument to the Black Watch. Apparently the Black Watch is known throughout the world, but in Scotland, its reputation can be either good or bad depending on who you are talking to. It was created as a way for the English to have someone keeping an eye on the rebellious Highland clans of Scotland, and participated in numerous conflicts with them. Thus, some people in Scotland see them as traitors and murderers, while others look upon them as having provided protection.
From the monument, we drove onwards to Loch Tay and Kenmore, the town next to it. Loch Tay is home to the Scottish Crannog Centre, so we got a quick peek at a Crannog, which is "a type of ancient loch-dwelling found throughout Scotland and Ireland dating from 5,000 years ago. Many crannogs were built out in the water as defensive homesteads and represented symbols of power and wealth", according to the Centre. The demonstration crannog was a small, man-made island just big enough to hold a stone hut. It apparently was a reproduction of an Iron Age one. Pretty clever way to keep out wild animals, I have to say. Kenmore, the town next to Loch Tay, has the oldest inn in Scotland, as well as, unsurprisingly, a golf course.
Then came the highlight of the day for many people- a tour of the Glenturret distillery, the oldest whisky distillery in Scotland. There they produce Glenturret single malt, which is also one of the ingredients in The Famous Grouse blended whisky. The tour took us through every step in making whisky, and also explained what you are looking for when you smell or taste a whisky. It was interesting to see how little goes to waste in the making of whisky. For example, after the barley it is made from is used in the whisky, it is then used again as cattle feed. No wonder the Scots make such a profit from whisky.
The day ended with one final stop, at what was once a Roman fort, over two thousand years ago. Today, there are no real remnants of the fort left except for a series of short but steep hills running across a plain. These hills were constructed by the Romans in order to slow down Pictish attackers. I didn't test it, but my friend Neil ran up and down a few and attested to their ability to tire people out. It's hard to comprehend a time period like that-- over two thousand years. I was discussing it with Reuben, a JSA from Norway, and we had to agree that in comparison to some of the things we were seeing that day, the United States is an absolute baby. Everything here is just so old. You can tell by looking at the land, especially in the Lowlands-- people have been living there and cultivating it for such a long time that it shows through in small things like where the trees are and how the fences run. At least that's the feeling I get.
And now, off to bed, because it's late here. I'll update you on my trip to Loch Lomond tomorrow, hopefully. I've been doing a lot of work for class and everything lately, so we'll see if I get to it.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Failte don Ghàidhealtachd (Welcome to the Highlands)
So today, the main part of my day was spent taking a tour of the Scottish Highlands (or Hielans, as people with a heavy accent pronounce it). Scotland is divided almost in half into the Lowlands, where St. Andrews is, and the Highlands, the mountainous northern area. Obviously, even though Scotland is not that big of a country, this is too big an area to cover in one day so we got just a taste of what the region is like by traveling along the edge of it. Unfortunately, I have to head to bed now before my trip tomorrow, but I will post a full update of what happened as soon as possible. It was a really fun trip and I have a lot to say about it, including that I got to see Birnam Wood (of Macbeth fame). But for now, sleep. I managed to go running before my trip today and hope to do the same tomorrow, so it will be an early morning!
Friday, 20 February 2009
Disability
I finally begin to see why people in the U.S. are overly politically correct and why we have so many words to describe conditions in order to avoid offending people. We had to submit a health form to the school last week in order to be covered under the National Health Services here if anything happens to us. Then today, I get an email that reads as follows:
Hi Amanda,
We are currently updating our files and noticed that you have recently
changed your disability Status. I am taking this opportunity to remind
you there is assistance available to you if it is required. If you
would like to make an appointment to come and meet one of the disability
advisers please let me know.
Many thanks,
Helen
It took me a second to figure out what on earth they were talking about before I realized that by "disability", they meant diabetes, as I obviously had to include it on my health form. I've never thought of it as a disability before, and still don't think it is. In the U.S., no one would ever refer to it as such, for fear of offending me. But here, people are less cautious, and getting that email today highlighted this as one of the biggest differences that I've encountered thus far. No one at home would ever offer me a "disability adviser", and for that, I suppose I can only be glad. I never thought I would appreciate our overly PC society, but I suppose I'd rather put up with that than with referred to as disabled. I'm still not really sure how to react.
Hi Amanda,
We are currently updating our files and noticed that you have recently
changed your disability Status. I am taking this opportunity to remind
you there is assistance available to you if it is required. If you
would like to make an appointment to come and meet one of the disability
advisers please let me know.
Many thanks,
Helen
It took me a second to figure out what on earth they were talking about before I realized that by "disability", they meant diabetes, as I obviously had to include it on my health form. I've never thought of it as a disability before, and still don't think it is. In the U.S., no one would ever refer to it as such, for fear of offending me. But here, people are less cautious, and getting that email today highlighted this as one of the biggest differences that I've encountered thus far. No one at home would ever offer me a "disability adviser", and for that, I suppose I can only be glad. I never thought I would appreciate our overly PC society, but I suppose I'd rather put up with that than with referred to as disabled. I'm still not really sure how to react.
Thursday, 19 February 2009
It comes in pitchers?
I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote. I guess I've been spending so much time adjusting to life here that I haven't even realized how much time is going by. The second week of classes is almost over, and it definitely seems like nothing I can't handle in terms of academics. The only thing that might be a problem is time management. The way courses work here, we spend a lot less time per week in class, but have a great deal more reading to do outside of class. In order to make sure we actually get everything we need to done, a few of my friends and I have come up with a system to kind of check in on each other and make sure we set goals for ourselves on what we want to accomplish. For instance, I've been trying to go for a run at least a few times a week. Since everyone here knows this, they check in with me at lunch or dinner to see if I went running that day. It's actually really effective, knowing that you have people looking out for you. We also make library and study dates together with the same effect.
Even though I've only been here two weeks or so, I've found quite a few people who I've been getting along with really well. They're all very open and friendly, intelligent and motivated. As I've already explained, they're great at checking in on each other and making sure everything is going well. On top of that though, they're a lot of fun to hang out with. We've made some fun discoveries, such as finding out that a pub near us serves Long Island Iced Tea by the pitcher. Does this seem like a poor choice to anyone else? We thought it was, so Kelsey, James and I decided to order it one night to test. Turns out it's actually not too bad. I think making it in a pitcher allows the bartender to mix in a high proportion of Coke, so it's less alcoholic by volume and ends up being safe. It's definitely a good deal though. The whole pitcher is seven pounds (the money kind, not the weight kind), and comes to about nine drinks total, making it a great choice if you want a drink that lasts long enough to talk over but isn't too expensive.
We've also found a great little cafe in town, where the coffee is so good that I'll even drink it. I hate coffee, but I took the chance of trying it at this place and was immediately hooked. True, it was a mocha rather than a cup of black coffee or something of that sort, but it was fantastic. They also served absolutely fantastic scones. I think Kelsey, Stephanie, Hannah and I spent about an hour and a half over coffee there. It's a very welcoming place, and, since it's not part of a chain, we got to feel good about ourselves for supporting local business.
Apart from having found people to hang out with, I've also been enjoying having a lot of time to myself. Like I said, I've been going for runs, and usually spend at least an hour a day walking. The town is not very big, but it's so quaint that I can't help enjoying it the same no matter how many times I see it. And yes, I'm sure some of you are laughing at me for using a work like quaint, but I'm not sure how else to describe it.
I'm also really excited to see more of the rest of Scotland. This weekend, I'm signed up to go on two separate trips, one to the Highlands and one to Loch Lomond. I'm not sure exactly what these two trips entail, but at the very least I know the words to the song! I'll be sure to let you all know how the weekend goes. For now, I'm off to bed! Those 9am classes ruin all my fun.
Even though I've only been here two weeks or so, I've found quite a few people who I've been getting along with really well. They're all very open and friendly, intelligent and motivated. As I've already explained, they're great at checking in on each other and making sure everything is going well. On top of that though, they're a lot of fun to hang out with. We've made some fun discoveries, such as finding out that a pub near us serves Long Island Iced Tea by the pitcher. Does this seem like a poor choice to anyone else? We thought it was, so Kelsey, James and I decided to order it one night to test. Turns out it's actually not too bad. I think making it in a pitcher allows the bartender to mix in a high proportion of Coke, so it's less alcoholic by volume and ends up being safe. It's definitely a good deal though. The whole pitcher is seven pounds (the money kind, not the weight kind), and comes to about nine drinks total, making it a great choice if you want a drink that lasts long enough to talk over but isn't too expensive.
We've also found a great little cafe in town, where the coffee is so good that I'll even drink it. I hate coffee, but I took the chance of trying it at this place and was immediately hooked. True, it was a mocha rather than a cup of black coffee or something of that sort, but it was fantastic. They also served absolutely fantastic scones. I think Kelsey, Stephanie, Hannah and I spent about an hour and a half over coffee there. It's a very welcoming place, and, since it's not part of a chain, we got to feel good about ourselves for supporting local business.
Apart from having found people to hang out with, I've also been enjoying having a lot of time to myself. Like I said, I've been going for runs, and usually spend at least an hour a day walking. The town is not very big, but it's so quaint that I can't help enjoying it the same no matter how many times I see it. And yes, I'm sure some of you are laughing at me for using a work like quaint, but I'm not sure how else to describe it.
I'm also really excited to see more of the rest of Scotland. This weekend, I'm signed up to go on two separate trips, one to the Highlands and one to Loch Lomond. I'm not sure exactly what these two trips entail, but at the very least I know the words to the song! I'll be sure to let you all know how the weekend goes. For now, I'm off to bed! Those 9am classes ruin all my fun.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Snow?
Well, so much for the St. Andrews Bubble. It snowed for most of the day today, ending up with about two inches total. And of course, I forgot my camera when I went out, so I didn't get to take any pictures of the snow. I'll have to steal some off the other students later. I feel bad for anyone who was planning on golfing today, but the students are having a blast. A lot of people from my hall skipped all their classes today so that they had more time to play in the snow, building a huge fort outside the front entrance to Andrew Melville. There are now fleets of snowmen overrunning St. Andrews, to the point where someone even built one on the fringes of the cemetery near the cathedral ruins. I also passed through multiple snowball fights and whaled my friend James in the side with a good one. My dorm even got bombarded by the residents of New Hall, the next dorm over, who stormed the front door when someone opened it and attacked. Apparently the fort was less than effective.
Other than the snow, not much has been happening here. The Societies Fair was yesterday, where all the student organizations gather together to try to get new members. I actually ended up missing it because I forgot it was yesterday, but I've found enough friends in my dorm that went, so I plan to just follow them to anything that sounds like it would be to my liking. For instance, the St. Andrews Whiskey Tasting Society had an event tonight at the Old Course Hotel. Unfortunately, James and I were unable to attend due to our lack of semi-formal clothing, but this is an issue we intend to remedy as soon as possible. We'll not let a little thing like clothing get in our way. Whiskey might not be my thing, but hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Scotland, learn to drink Scotch. Especially when you can get free samples from hundred pound bottles of whiskey by paying a four pound entry fee for the night! That's a deal, especially when your entry fee is donated entirely to charity. How could I pass up helping people like that? Apparently local distilleries donate bottles to the Society, since it raises money for charity.
However, since we were lacking the correct clothes for whiskey night, James and I went along with some other friends for ballroom dancing. When we arrived, that was canceled due to the snow, so we wandered around St. Andrews, awkwardly walked through a private party in a bar and generally had a good time. The JSAs (Junior Semester Abroad) in my hall have tended to band together. For example, tonight I hung out with Katherine, a girl from Austin who is in my Scottish History class, Stephanie (Mt. Holyoke College), Sarah (not sure, but here on a program with... Baylor? Butler? Update later), James (William & Mary) and Kelsey (UVA!!!!). I think it's mostly because all the people in our hall have been here for a semester already. They have their friends, and while they're nice enough, they're less likely to come knocking on your door on their way out to see if you want to go. JSAs will do that, because they don't have set groups of friends already. But we'll have to see how it progresses as the term continues. I've found people I like, so hopefully that's enough! I have people to go out with and eat with, so I'm happy. Kelsey and I have even bonded over the fact that we'll never complain about Newcomb Dining Hall food again. Oh St. Andrews...
Other than the snow, not much has been happening here. The Societies Fair was yesterday, where all the student organizations gather together to try to get new members. I actually ended up missing it because I forgot it was yesterday, but I've found enough friends in my dorm that went, so I plan to just follow them to anything that sounds like it would be to my liking. For instance, the St. Andrews Whiskey Tasting Society had an event tonight at the Old Course Hotel. Unfortunately, James and I were unable to attend due to our lack of semi-formal clothing, but this is an issue we intend to remedy as soon as possible. We'll not let a little thing like clothing get in our way. Whiskey might not be my thing, but hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Scotland, learn to drink Scotch. Especially when you can get free samples from hundred pound bottles of whiskey by paying a four pound entry fee for the night! That's a deal, especially when your entry fee is donated entirely to charity. How could I pass up helping people like that? Apparently local distilleries donate bottles to the Society, since it raises money for charity.
However, since we were lacking the correct clothes for whiskey night, James and I went along with some other friends for ballroom dancing. When we arrived, that was canceled due to the snow, so we wandered around St. Andrews, awkwardly walked through a private party in a bar and generally had a good time. The JSAs (Junior Semester Abroad) in my hall have tended to band together. For example, tonight I hung out with Katherine, a girl from Austin who is in my Scottish History class, Stephanie (Mt. Holyoke College), Sarah (not sure, but here on a program with... Baylor? Butler? Update later), James (William & Mary) and Kelsey (UVA!!!!). I think it's mostly because all the people in our hall have been here for a semester already. They have their friends, and while they're nice enough, they're less likely to come knocking on your door on their way out to see if you want to go. JSAs will do that, because they don't have set groups of friends already. But we'll have to see how it progresses as the term continues. I've found people I like, so hopefully that's enough! I have people to go out with and eat with, so I'm happy. Kelsey and I have even bonded over the fact that we'll never complain about Newcomb Dining Hall food again. Oh St. Andrews...
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Old Course
Well, I did it! I finally made it over to the St. Andrews Links yesterday after class and spent an hour or two wandering the courses and looking around. Unfortunately, this leaves me with a confession to make-- I have absolutely no idea what courses I was walking on or how they progress. I couldn't for the life of me tell you if I was on the Old Course, the New Course or one of the many other courses they've put in at St. Andrews. Actually, that's not completely true. I can tell you that at one point I walked past the start of the New Course, since that's the only sign I saw the whole time. Other than that, I couldn't give directions to save my life. I usually didn't even know what direction people were teeing from. Maybe I should go back later with a map or something...
Regardless, it was a really pleasant walk. The course (whichever one I was on, I think it was more than one) is very well cared for and looks like it would be great to play on. Except for the wind. I'm sure that quite a few people have hit shots on that course that would have been perfect only to have a sudden gust come up and mess it up. There were quite a few people out yesterday, even though it's not exactly golf season. They're lucky that St. Andrews has what the locals call the "St. Andrews Bubble", where there is very little precipitation year round. From town, I can see hills covered in snow or rainstorms, but it all misses here due to some unique weather patterns. So even though summer is the more popular time for golfers, they can actually come year round and still expect to be able to play.
Golf tourism does a lot for St. Andrews, although I think it also affects some of the people that live here kind of negatively. I've met a few people who seem to have come here hoping that practicing on the Old Course at the home of golf would help them be better players and eventually make a living at it. It seems almost like they are looking for the history of the place to somehow infect them and make them famous. Unfortunately, this isn't really realistic and I think a lot of them end up disappointed, since St. Andrews doesn't offer too many other opportunities. It would be interesting to see what it's like here in the summer, when people are here for shorter periods of time to visit, rather than to make their future here.
Regardless, it was a really pleasant walk. The course (whichever one I was on, I think it was more than one) is very well cared for and looks like it would be great to play on. Except for the wind. I'm sure that quite a few people have hit shots on that course that would have been perfect only to have a sudden gust come up and mess it up. There were quite a few people out yesterday, even though it's not exactly golf season. They're lucky that St. Andrews has what the locals call the "St. Andrews Bubble", where there is very little precipitation year round. From town, I can see hills covered in snow or rainstorms, but it all misses here due to some unique weather patterns. So even though summer is the more popular time for golfers, they can actually come year round and still expect to be able to play.
Golf tourism does a lot for St. Andrews, although I think it also affects some of the people that live here kind of negatively. I've met a few people who seem to have come here hoping that practicing on the Old Course at the home of golf would help them be better players and eventually make a living at it. It seems almost like they are looking for the history of the place to somehow infect them and make them famous. Unfortunately, this isn't really realistic and I think a lot of them end up disappointed, since St. Andrews doesn't offer too many other opportunities. It would be interesting to see what it's like here in the summer, when people are here for shorter periods of time to visit, rather than to make their future here.
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