St. Andrews

Yesterday we went to St. Andrews, which is about 1.5 hours north of Edinburgh. The drive up was gorgeous, and Marius slept the whole way which was an added bonus! The town is pretty small, about 18,000 people and half of them are students at the University. As you drive up to the town, you first drive by the famous golf courses located right on the coast. The town itself is adjacent to the course and lays slightly higher up on a coastal bluff giving it great views out to sea. The university is one of the oldest in the UK (third to be exact) so it has a prime old town location in the heart of the town and along the bluff. In typical UK university style, the buildings are mostly stone with slate roofs and many of them are super old. Gorgeous! Our friend is lucky enough to be renting a HUGE flat that is literally across the street from the university. The place is 3 stories and has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms!! And he lives by himself, can you believe that? So, needless to say, I think we'll end up visiting him often! If only Simon liked and played golf, he'd be all set, right?

Oh, and the street that our friend lives on is called Butts Wynd! Too funny huh? I'm sure they pronounce it "wind" is in to wind up a toy and not "wind" as in to fart. But I took a photo anyhow!!! I love how the old street "sign" or rather stone block is still visible next to the modern one. I hope that detail comes through in the photo.
So, anyhow, we spent the day just walking around the golf course and town. It was a lot more cold than I had expected, and I didn't have Marius's blanket in the car... So I had to do some quick shopping to get him some warm coverings. The little kids shop I popped into was on the shi-shi-foo-foo side (like most of the shops in St. Andrews as it's sort of like a Santa Barbara in that there is a lot of money floating around the place), but luckily they were having a sale on snow suits!!! So, I got Marius the ridiculous orange outfit you see in the photos! Simon loved the thing and insists that I come visit him at work with Marius in it. He looks like a giant carrot in it!