As I mentioned in my first Scotland post, St Andrews has been on my bucket list for a very long time. Today was the day!!! But first, a little Outlander stuff (back burner for me today.)
We were up and out of Edinburg by 8 AM and I was ready to go. It is a very neat city, but I'm really not a city girl. Too much traffic, too much noise, just too much!!!
Our first stop of the day was the charming little village of Falkland. It to is a filming site for Outlander. We have certainly learned alot regarding filming technology while on this tour. The filming staff scouts out places that might be used for a 2-3 minute secquence, and then on to the next location. In Falkland they chose a house for the home of Alex Randall and a gift shop for the pharmacy that Claire used. In both cases it was just exterior shots as the insides were all studio filming. So, we didn't spend a lot of time there, but it was a darling little village.
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| Alex Randall's house |
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| The pharmacy Claire used |
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| Not part of Outlander, but check out the date over the door! |
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| Also not part of Outlander, just a charming little Beer Garden |
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| Check out how tight the parking is for home owners |
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| And the other side |
From Falkland we headed to St. Andrews....I was about jumping out of my seat!!! Along the way we drove through some of the most narrow streets. These coach drivers have nerves of steel, I swear.
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| Very narrow streets for a very large coach! |
Our approach to St. Andrews Links was through a very narrow road in town that actually cuts across the #1 Fairway. There is a marshall at the intersection directing traffic to make sure the golfers have the right-away. Then our coach dropped those of us who wanted to visit the course down near the beach so that we could walk up from #1 Green to the Tee Box.
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| Warning sign at the intersection |
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| The 18th hole |
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| The walk up #1 Fairway |
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| The road that crosses the 1st Fairway |
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Waiting to cross the 1st Fairway
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I walked up along the first fairway and to the Cafe for lunch and enjoyed the terrific view of the #1 Fairway and the beach. From there I wandered around until I decided I better head for the coach or be left behind.
While on my walk I passed St. Andrews University (where William and Kate met) and then got a little lost, but luckily Simone had given us all maps so we could find our way to the coach.
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| St. Andrews University campus |
From St. Andrews it was about an hour drive to Dundee our layover for the night. After we were checked into the Apex Hotel we had 30 minutes to unwind and then it was back on the coach for another hour drive to Drummond Gardens.
Once again we were at an Outlander filming site, this time the site was used as the gardens of Versailles where Jamie and Claire run into Black Jack Randall, their arch enemy!!
The property is stunning and its gardens fantastic. The castle comprises a tower house built in the late 15th century and a 17th century mansion where the Drummond family still lives. The gardens date to the 1630s, although they were restructured in the 19th century.
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| Looking up at the Castle and Tower House from the Gardens |
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| Formal Garden |
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| The Tower |
Gate into the gardens
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| Kitchen garden |
At the end of our tour I asked our guide how large the total property is. She could tell me that the gardens were 14 acres. However, she couldn't tell me the total acreage, she didn't know. She pointed south and said the closest town was 15 miles and she knew the estate went all the way to that town. Wow!!
From there we headed back to the hotel for a much needed down time. I am exhausted and in desparate need of a hot tub!!!
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