Been to Alnwick twice since the Gardens were opened. . . . no fainting that I saw

Karen, no fainting at Blarney either, have been there two times and spent a while reading the notices with the different plants and herbs. Most interesting, IMO

An added incentive now to visit Alnwick, in 2025 hopefully�

JUNE 3, 2023: A DETOUR TO ROSSLYN CHAPEL, AND THEN ONWARDS TO ANSTRUTHER FISHING VILLAGE

Our hotel called a taxi for us, a big taxi that holds 4 passengers and all their luggage, to bring us to the airport to pick up our rental car. Some people (I forgot who) recommended that we pick up our rental car at the airport so we don’t have to drive in Edinburgh. Good idea! I rented an automatic car from Kemwel/AutoEurope who I have been using for years. They are a broker; our rental was actually with Europcar. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the office and the employee saw the 4 of us and all our luggage, she told us the car we reserved didn’t have a large enough trunk for our luggage. We looked at the trunk and realized she was right. So we had to upgrade to a larger car at an additional expense, of course! After we paid the additional fee, we were off to Rosslyn Chapel.

I know this is a detour and in the opposite direction of the Fife Coast, but while we were in Edinburgh, my husband decided he really wanted to see Rosslyn Chapel since we both read the book and saw the movie The Da Vinci Code.

Regarding driving in Scotland, Ed and Joanne volunteered to be the designated drivers! -😊 I don’t like driving in foreign countries, and I did all the trip planning and making the reservations, so I was relieved and happy to be only a passenger. They both agreed it didn’t take them long to get used to driving on the left. The main issue at the beginning of our trip were navigating the roundabouts, especially around Edinburgh.

Rosslyn Chapel is beautiful and filled with ornate carvings on the outside and the inside. According to what I read, there are many different versions as to what the carvings symbolize. It was about a 20-minute ride from the airport so not too much out of our way and well worth it. There is a lovely outdoor caf� where we had lunch before we set off for Anstruther on the Fife Coast.

We checked into our accommodations for the next 2 nights, the Waterfront Inn on Shore Street in Anstruther, directly across the street from the harbor and marina. We really like this inn. Our rooms were spacious, clean, and looked like they were recently updated. The rooms are in the back and the restaurant is in the front. The rate included a delicious breakfast in the restaurant where we could order off the menu. So it was nice to have a change from buffets.

Anstruther felt very festive as they were holding their annual music and craft festival, held the first weekend of June every year. The crowds were not oppressive; we enjoyed the music, and I bought gifts from the vendors.

We had dinner reservations at The Ship Inn in Elie. They provide a complimentary “designated driver” service to guests staying within 5 miles or so, so we took advantage of this, even though we aren’t big drinkers. We typically have 1 or 2 alcoholic beverages with dinner. (Anything more than that and I would be under the table This is a great restaurant that overlooks Elie Bay so you have beautiful views along with delicious meals. We all ordered Cullen skink as starters and it is to die for! So tasty, and I think the best Cullen skink we had on our trip. Ed and I ordered grilled lemon sole, Joanne had cod fillet, and Roger ordered Pittenweem lobster that came with beetroot gnocchi. The hilarious thing is that his lobster was the most expensive meal on the menu and initially looked like it came with tons of lobster because the red gnocchi looks like lobster. Then he realized it was the gnocchi and he actually got very little lobster meat! Our meal ended with a spectacular dessert that we all shared because we were so full: chocolate cremeux. So, a wonderful beginning to our visit to the Fife Coast!

Rosslyn Chapel - became famous because of The Da Vinci Code

Interior of Rosslyn Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel

Another view of Rosslyn Chapel

Shore Street in Anstruther. The Waterfront Inn is the white building with the black awning.

Anstruther

Anstruther harbor with the craft festival vendors in the background

Anstruther marina

Anstruther marina

Anstruther scene

Anstruther

Anstruther coast

Funny sign - they knew we were coming!

Elie Bay

The Ship Inn in Elie

View from the Ship Inn

Cullen Skink - Simply Delicious!!!

Grilled Lemon Sole

Chocolate Cremeux

And one more photo of the craft festival

Traditional full Scottish breakast

Avocado Toast

Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon

Chariots of Fire Race in St. Andrews

St. Andrews - by the beach

St. Andrews coastal scene

Chariots of Fire race

Chariots of Fire race

Ruins of St. Andrews castle

St. Andrews - along the coast

Ruins of St. Andrews cathedral

Ruins of St. Andrews cathedral

Another photo of St. Andrews cathedral

And next up is the pretty fishing village of Crail!

Crail's pretty harbor

Another view of the harbor

Getting the boat ready to take out on the water

Taking the boat out on the water

Our "Oyster" ice cream treat!

Crail street scene

Another Crail street scene

Beautiful scenery

Lupines along the Fife Coastal Path

The lovely Fife Coastal Path

Another view of the coastal path

Pretty Crail coastal scene

We all ordered the fish and chips - delicious! Probably the best battered fish on the trip.

A Craft Fest always gives added value to a visit, doesn't it Karen?
Love that shot of the 'Ship Inn'.
I remember the various Crail shots in the (was it Starrs?) original 'Vacation Photos' thread back during the start of covid.

I am done. the golden hour

Great pictures. OOH -- I can taste the Anstruther Fish Bar fish&chips. One of my favorite places to eat in Fife.

In Crail - the whitewashed bldg with the flags on the left side of the road down to the harbor is a cute little gallery/cafe with a sun trap terrace out back looking out across the water.

Recognize every view . . . trod all the same places having stayed in Crail maybe 4 or 5 times over the years plus Kilconquhar twice, Pittenweem once, St Andrews once and Peat Inn once. Good times

Just realized that I forgot to post my description of what we did on June 4, the day we explored St. Andrews and Crail. So here it is!

JUNE 4, 2023: EXPLORING THE FIFE COAST

Our breakfasts this morning were so delicious! We all really liked what we ordered.

Our goal for today was to explore the Fife Coast starting with St. Andrews. But first, while we walking to the public parking lot to get our car, we walked through the festival vendors and passed the herring catcher boat, named the Reaper, from the Fisheries Museum. During the festival weekend, the museum was allowing people to tour the boat for free. It was very, very interesting and we learned how hard life was on the boat. They went out to sea for a long time and slept in very, very close quarters. I would be so claustrophobic and seasick! This was a popular job for women, too, because they made a lot of money. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the time to visit the museum because the weather was gorgeous and we wanted to be outside as much as possible. And we simply didn’t have the time. An extra day would have been nice.

Our first stop of the day was St. Andrews, where we happened upon the start of the Chariots of Fire Race! I can’t believe I have never seen this movie. I need to rectify that. From here, we walked along the coast and past the castle ruins and then the cathedral ruins. We didn’t pay to go inside because we already had tickets to see other castle and cathedral ruins. But the setting is lovely along the coast.

From St. Andrews we continued on to the very pretty fishing village of Crail. We walked around, then had lunch at a seaside shack (Reilly Shellfish) and ate crab salad sandwiches outdoors on a picnic table. After lunch, we wandered around and came across a small ice cream place serving ice cream from their window. We all ordered a delicious ice cream treat that I believe is called “Oyster” because it looks like an oyster. It’s vanilla ice cream sandwiched between 2 light flaky crusts that are covered in chocolate and sprinkled with shredded coconut. This was to die for!!!

Then from here we found the entrance to the Fife Coastal Path, which is a Scottish walking path that follows the coast and is about 116 miles long. You can walk it in sections. We only had time to walk on the path for about 20 minutes. The scenery is so beautiful and so spectacular. I love it! It would be wonderful to have the time to spend hours walking the path between the fishing villages, such as from Anstruther to Crail, for instance.
Tonight we did not have dinner reservations because we wanted to have dinner at the Anstruther Fish Bar, and they don’t take reservations. Luckily, we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes. We all ordered fish and chips, and we all loved the fish. The batter is light and the fish is so fresh. We were disappointed in the fries (chips), however. Cole slaw came with the meal and we didn’t care for the cole slaw either because it was way too creamy for us. We noticed this in other restaurants, too. The Anstruther Fish Bar has a smart set-up; you pay for your meal at their ice cream counter!!! So of course, we all ordered ice cream cones for our dessert! A great end to another wonderful day in Scotland!

zebec, I agree that craft and musical festivals add so much more to a visit. And this one wasn�t rowdy or overly loud.

janisj, so happy to know that our photos are bringing back nice memories for you.

I added the description of what we did in St. Andrews and crail. It�s post #72.

Yay, I've been looking forward to this report!

"You have to compromise when traveling with other people, and we are not good at compromising on our vacations."
I had to laugh at this because I feel the same way. I'm spending too much money to compromise on vacation, which is why there are only a few people I'm willing to travel on big trips with.

I'm so glad you had such spectacular weather. I think the warmest days I had were the days I was in covid quarantine!

[QUOTE=memejs;17479300]Yay, I've been looking forward to this report!

"You have to compromise when traveling with other people, and we are not good at compromising on our vacations."
I had to laugh at this because I feel the same way. I'm spending too much money to compromise on vacation, which is why there are only a few people I'm willing to travel on big trips with."
Couldnt agree more --

Beautiful photos, Karen. Exploring areas we didnt visit, so paying close attention.

JUNE 5, 2023: LUNCH IN PITLOCHRY, THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, A FUNERAL BRIDGE, AND ARRIVING IN NAIRN

After another delicious breakfast at the Waterfront Inn, we set off for our long drive to Nairn, which is about 30 minutes from Inverness. Thanks to janisj for suggesting staying in Nairn instead of busy commercial Inverness! We loved staying in Nairn; it’s a very pretty seaside town; close to the sites we wanted to visit, and has many good restaurants. All the restaurants we had reservations at are in walking distance of our accommodations.

A friend of mine suggested we stop in Pitlochry on the way for lunch. We had a very nice lunch at Victoria’s Restaurant. After lunch we took a short walk across the bridge (we needed to walk off some of our food!) that spans the River Tummel. Pitlochry makes for a nice lunch stop but I wasn’t overly impressed with it and probably would not spend a night here.

Our next stop was the Old Packhorse Bridge (AKA as the Coffin Bridge) in Carrbridge. This bridge was built in 1717 and it’s known locally as the Coffin Bridge because it was built to allow funeral processions to get to Duthil Church when the River Dulnain was overflowing. It’s not in use today. In fact, there is a sign warning people not to walk across it.

On the way to Nairn, we passed beautiful Scottish Highland scenery with grazing sheep and yellow witch’s broom everywhere.

Our accommodations for the next 3 nights are at the Sunny Brae B&B. We love this place; it’s our favorite of all the places we stayed at. The rooms are very pretty and spacious. In fact, our room had a sitting area. The views are beautiful overlooking a gorgeous park and the Moray Firth. There is a common sunroom where we had drinks every night before dinner. Rachel and John, the owners, are wonderful. The rate includes cooked hot breakfasts; you can order from a menu. John is the chef!

Our dinner this evening is at the Bandstand Restaurant, about a 5-minute walk from Sunny Brae. It’s one of our favorite restaurants. We ordered Cullen skink again for our starters. Superb! Just as good as the Ship Inn. I had steak and Ale Pie with the best chips; Joanne had duck; and the men had venison. The four of us shared another delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is just as good as the one at Caf� Royal in Edinburgh.

My lunch at Victoria's restaurant - prawn and avocado open sandwich

I don't remember whose lunch this is - I took only 2 photos of our lunches

Flowers at the Victoria's Restaurant

Bridge in Pitlochry

Lovely view from the bridge in Pitlochry

Coffin Bridge


Yellow Witches Broom

and more sheep

Sunny Brae Bed and Breakfast

Sunroom at Sunny Brae

Park across the street from Sunny Brae

View from Sunny Brae

Our bathroom