Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Exploring St. Andrews {Crail + Anstruther}

It's hard to believe, but we've been in St. Andrews for 3 weeks already! We are unpacked and starting to feel settled. We are living in a little village just outside of St. Andrews called Strathkinness. It's so tiny it doesn't even have a convenience store, only a pub, primary school,  church and a post office.

We're definitely out in the Scottish countryside! You might think I would feel isolated, but I'm enjoying the peace and the quiet. We have a lovely view of the Eden Estuary and down into the city of St. Andrews.
The blue in the distance is the Eden Estuary that leads to the North Sea
If you look closely in the distance you can see the towers in St. Andrews!
The drive "into town" is only about 5 minutes for us, so we're certainly not far from the things we need. We feel very blessed. Everyone here seems friendly and helpful. I pass neighbors and local villagers on my way to drop Maddy off at school each morning or at the park on the way home. It seems like a really tight knit community and I'm looking forward to becoming part of it. It's certainly been hard to leave our dear friends in Aberdeen. But it sure does help when you land in a place where you feel at home.

One of the added bonuses of moving is the opportunity to explore a new part of Scotland.
Last weekend we took the short drive down to two fishing villages on the fife coast called Crail and Anstruther. It was a gorgeous 70 degree day and the sun was shining.  It was so nice spending time as a family and getting to see some beautiful scenery!

{A Few Pictures of Crail}
The girls playing at a park right on the coast. 
I think their favorite part was throwing rocks into the water.
They could have done that all day I think!
And I could have just stood their looking at this rugged coast all day!

A corner of the Crail harbor
Full view of the Crail Harbor
{Anstruther}
The last bits of our fish and chips from Anstruther Fish Bar - oh my, so good!
Gorgeous place to enjoy your fish and chips overlooking the harbor
They have won multiple awards for their battered haddock that is pulled right from the North Sea each day!

The girls enjoying some very brightly colored ice cream ;)
The cute shops
Looking at the shops from the other side of the harbor
Love this little fishing village!
Showing the girls a sea urchin that was left in the lobster trap.
We even got to see a boat come in with buckets full of lobsters!
Gorgeous place to enjoy the view!
On our way home we pulled over by a wheat field to get a close up look of the hay bails. 
Love these three!
They loved how BIG it was!
Crail and Anstruther were definitely worth the visit. Such quaint little fishing villages!

5 comments:

Jessie Wittman said...

I love that Strathkinness has a pub but no convenience store. :D I'm also glad to hear that you like the peace and quiet of the countryside since that's where we'll be living. Love the pics of Crail and Anstruther!

Katie Barker said...

Your pictures are just so crisp and beautiful. If it's that new camera you have then I want one! It looks gorgeous. My fav are the landscape ones from your house and the one of the girls with their icecream and them running in the field. Glad you are already exploring and enjoying.

Unknown said...

I can only imagine how sweet this place will be in the Spring with lambs everywhere. Enjoy- that is one of my most favorite parts of the world!

kellyH said...

looks so beautiful!

Lacie said...

How beautiful!!!