St. Andrews

Leaving the abbeys, I watched an apocalyptic sunset on my way towards St. Andrews. My couchsurf host met me at the bus station, and we had a pleasant chat. He was actually English, studying in Scotland. 

The next morning I killed time waiting for a restaurant to open by walking along the Old Course, the oldest golf course in the world, where the game has been played since at least 1552. After a breakfast buffet overlooking the links and the ocean, I headed over to the ruin of St. Andrews Cathedral.

The cathedral museum has interesting tombstones, Celtic crosses, and odd iconography. 

Next to the cathedral there once stood the Church of St. Rule, but now only the bell tower remains.

There is quite a view from the tower's heights. 

Just down the coast is the ruined castle. 

The castle suffered a long siege, during which the besiegers dug a series of tunnels to try to get behind the walls. The defenders dug a counter tunnel that intercepted the enemy one and killed the miners. The tunnels are some of the best preserved bits of siege engineering anywhere. 

St. Andrews is also Scotland's oldest university town. My couchsurf host attended university, and I enjoyed some of the architecture of the establishment, especially the Department of Logic and Metaphysics. 

I had an early start to the day, so I was able to quickly head onward to Arbroath Abbey.