Lydia left earlier this afternoon for Edinburgh to catch her 6 a.m. flight tomorrow back to Germany. We both enjoyed her five-day visit, and it was her sole week of summer vacation as she prepared for and then aced her placement exams for much of the summer. After most of Friday spent in the library and Lydia exploring the nearby city of Dundee, we got together with a few of my friends for a Friday night card game. A few of the girls were American and one, Rachel, was Scottish. Rachel gave great insight into the Scottish referendum vote of 2014 and how unlikely it is to fully pass with Scotland gaining complete independence from Great Britain. Scots currently are quite split, but the consequences and struggle that would come along with full indepence would be an enormous proce to pay. Scot nationalists support complete independence, and repesent a more extreme political party here. Rachel discussed the threats Scotland would be under as an independent nation as it would have no military or police force or national security force if not connected to Great Britain, and that the rest of the U.K. would not be supplied with oil, as the oil wells off the coast of Aberdeen, a northeastern Scottish city provide nearly all of the oil to Great Britain. Taxes for Scots would be raised if independent, and the idea of Great Britain split is tought to understand. The parliament at westminster is very much against a seperation, as is prime minister David Cameron. In many ways, I support Scotland as it feels like an underdog in comparison to England, with friendly, heart-warming people and a population of 5 million (don't forget the 7.5 million sheep!) in comparison to 50 million, and I would imagine small sections of the referendum could not hurt if passed, but full independence probably wouldn't be the best.
Saturday morning we decided to tackle the nearby fishing villages of Crail and Anstruther. I needed to head back to work on some schoolwork, but Lydia also continued on south to Pittenweem, which she said was her favorite village of the three. We took the bus there, and it was wonderful having Lydia along. I wasn't exactly sure yet how the buses worked, and had made the stupid decision to avoid them for the past month solely for not knowing how they worked schedule-wise. Having Lydia and her european travel knowledge around was perfect. We were a few seconds late to the bus as it was pulling out of the station for the coastal route we were to take but she motioned to the driver and through some type of bus driver/Lydia sign language, she asked him to turn around and pick us up. We bought our day tickets on the bus, and unlike some American bus drivers I've met/perhaps just feared, this driver was incredibly kind and friendly. We sat with some elderly folk and were off to the rural fishing villages along the coast of the kingdom of Fife.
It was about a 30 minute drive to Crail, and once there, we were greeted by a small cute village. I'm continually plagued by motion sickness on buses here, and take precautions/treatment each time I'm travelling, but I tend to always emerge from the journey needing to put something bready in my stomach once back on solid land. We stopped at the first place we saw, the Honeypot tea room. We entered and found a nice window seat. Several elderly ladies surrounded us at seperate tables eating scones and everybody knew everybody. Shortly after we had sat down and ordered our tea and scones a man in a wool sweater walked in the front door, the same door we had came in. He greeted us immediately, and I found it kind that a fellow customer was so outwardly friendly. Then, he climbed behind the counter and pulled out a carrot cake cupcake bringing it immediately to our table. We learned he was the owner of the Honeypot Tea Room and Guesthouse, and the business operated out of his home. He explained that he had baced the nutty carrot cupcakes that morning. Lydia and I split it as it was "on the house," and it was really quite delicious. After a tasty scone and some peppermint tea, we were off to explore Crail!
It had become quite cloudy, but not at all rainy or windy. The streets were cute, and the buildings quite old. We found many of the buildings had lovely years and initials carved into the stone. The initials mark the first initials of the first married couple to live in the home, and often the year of marriage.
I thought of my my Mom, a pharmacist with this, and the initials and year are clearly marked.
As well as here.
We also stumbled upon an amazing pottery studio and shop that was really quite beautiful and had such nice pieces.
Where we enjoyed tea, scones, and a carrot cupcake.
The streets of Crail.
The lovely North Sea! The waves were ferocious...
I loved this view!
No lobster was seen!
I continue to be amazed by the amount of flowers still thriving here.
We stumbled upon this beautiful and aging cemetary in the churchyard. Many of the graves were those of Scottish soldiers killed in the first and second World War.
And from there, it was on to Anstruther, a slightly larger town a little farther south known for the most delicious.....fish and chips, possibly in the entire U.K. Testing this statement was first on my list to-do list once in Anstruther...
This nice harbor greeted us as we emerged from the bus.
Thankfully, the destination in question was not far...Lydia and I decided upon take-away fish and chips for 5 pounds 90 pence, rather than sitting in and paying 8 pounds. We knew it wasn't warm out, but were so pumped for our fish and chips we knew we would find somewhere to eat them.
While waiting in line, I was positioned in front of this warm area where every few seconds, more fresh fish came from being fried. Hands (never gloved....gloves here don't seem to exist in any food service job...) reached in every few seconds to pull pieces of fish.
Wrapped not in newspaper, but a newspaper-print decorated box, I can safely say that Anstruther Fish Bar was the absolute best fish and chips I have ever tasted. Ever. It was extremely delicious.
We sat overlooking the harbor, and plenty of vinegar and salt was poured and sprinkled on top giving the fish and chips such a delicious taste. We had really tiny wooden forks, but it was more of a hand food. The fried fish wasn't greasy and didn't get on our hands when handling it but was just completely delicious. As I told Lydia, the only thing I didn't like about the meal was that I was staring out at where the fish I was eating may have been swimming around happily an hour before. She commented though that the fish had a nice, free-range, run-of-the-full-North-sea type of life. :) Also, I've been seriously debating how to introduce/return with some of these lovely foods (scones, fish and chips) that I've been enjoying here. Especially to share with those reading this blog who may be getting hungry. I've condsidered tossing a ton of these tasty foods into my suitcase before leaving but fear I might not be allowed back into the states with a ton of fish and chips in my suitcase.
From there, we explored Anstruther further and walked around for a couple hours.
Anstruther.
Lydia requested to take this, Elizabeth Place.
:(
It seemed a bit cold to walk into the sea, but this staircase in a parking lot led the way.
Shells on the side of a building.
From there I headed north back to St. Andrews. Lydia and I enjoyed a fun homemade dinner with friends last night, and this morning the two of us joined two of my friends for the University non-demoniational service in St. Salvador's chapel here. It really was such a wonderful service in a chapel dating back to the late 1400s. We sat in a long aisle, staring at those across the aisle, and the songs and what the reverend spoke about were all so wonderful and calming. I believe it was an Anglican church, but could probably best relate to a Congregational church in the U.S. Very welcoming, inclusive, and it felt like basic Christianity which I liked.
Lydia left later this afternoon and it truly was a wonderful visit. It was her first to the U.K. and I know she loved seeing much of Scotland and exploring St. Andrews. I was able to get some work done, and tonight turned in my first essay here. I went through twelve or thirteen drafts, but the the final draft is the sole draft to be turned in and still feels a bit like a first draft. I'm happy with it but feel like it's being turned in rather blindly and have no idea what to expect with it.
Tonight, my dad John hosted a family dinner. It was incredibly fun. My mum Lizzie hosted one last week with my (full!) brother Garreth and my sister, but tonight I was able to meet my five (!) siblings on my Dad's side. Garreth of course, was present, as well as two brothers and two sisters. John desired to have six children, and specifically three girls and boys. The evening was just so fun and filled with laughter, delicious food and drink, and so much family love. :) It's wonderful too as we each have incredibly different backgrounds. I am the sole American and John is the only one whose English. My brother Hugo is Scottish, Garreth (my one full sibling) is Welsh, my sister Annika is Australian/German but is living in Holland, my brother Josh was born in Zimbabwe but lives in Singapore, and my other sister Mia is French. John made a delicious curry, but right before we were to eat, he pulled out an entirely seperate meal for me, saying, "Liz, I know you're mostly vegetarian," I totally didn't mind eating what had been prepared, but the bowl of lentils, cilantro, feta, and tons of hoummus was so incredibly delicious and one of the best meals I've had here. I know I'll soon be trying to recreate it. I tried a bit of curry too which was just as tasty.
Today was also my brother Josh's birthday which was super fun as John had made the most delicious brownie like cake with something called minstrels (like sugared pieces of chocolate) and white chocolate baked in. It became a birthday cake for Josh and we all sang. It felt so fun to be apart of a large group where we all got along and enjoyed it all. We call ourselves the 'Trevor Clan' after John's surname. We're all looking forward to the activities we'll be taking part in with John in two weeks for Raisin. More on that then. :)
And, some family pictures from tonight:
All the children of the Trevor Clan! From left to right:
Garreth (my full sibling!), he's Welsh, myself, Hugo, he's Scottish, Annika, she's Australian/German/Dutch, Josh, he's Zimbabwean/from Singapore, Mia, she's French.
With our dad! Garreth, myself, Hugo, John, Annika, Mia, Josh.
And with that, I'm headed into another week of academics and excitement:)
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