Royal Atheneum Suites - Aberdeen, Scotland

All is normal, as we start the day: two pastries, a latte and a mocha.  A walk through the largest indoor downtown mall in Dundee (that seems a little too specific).  Oh yeah, we don’t really like shopping.  Okay? A walk down some random street that led to a park which led to the river path back to the hotel. Then lunch.

So ScotRail lets you buy a ticket that’s good for the whole day, but you buy it for a specific train (I guess that means that they guarantee a seat on that train).  We have tickets for the 1:00 train to Aberdeen, but opt for the 2:00 train, so we could have a leisurely lunch. What? The 2:00 train just got cancelled! We rush to get the 1:00 train with minutes to spare. What? The 1:00 train just got cancelled.

V&A Museum

 We wait two hours for the 3:00 train, it’s now on track 1 instead of track 4, then, guess what! It’s suddenly cancelled.  Deb has called “Uncle!” We are taking the bus, but the bus station is a half mile away and we have about 10 minutes to catch it.  As we are running out the station Deb says, why don’t we take that fancy bus over there, in front of the train station…the one that says “Aberdeen.”  WOW, this gorgeous all electric brand new intercity bus, sure, why not!.  And the kicker!  It was a half mile walk from the train station in Aberdeen to the hotel…the bus stop was across the street from the hotel.

This place is sort of a condo hotel, it’s a suite with a mini kitchen, so after dinner, we bought a couple of bottles of wine and wound down some TV shows.  Tomorrow, we explore Aberdeen.

Four Seasons - Dundee, Scotland

 

RRS Discovery

Today was an explore Dundee, and we Dundat.  Our first stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum.  For the decade or so that I have been blogging, I have tried to stay positive.  I was having trouble with the architecture of the V&A Museum, so I asked chatGPT for help in how to say I think it’s ugly. “I haven’t yet learned to appreciate its uncompromising sculptural qualities.”  I guess it’s suppose to represent the cliffs of Scotland?!?  It’s a huge building with very few exhibits, but the coffee was good.

On to the Discovery Museum.  The RRS Discovery was a three masted tall ship with steam power, and was the first ship built from the keel up as a research ship.  The mission was to explore Antarctica.  As you walk from one exhibit room to the next you start to realize how difficult this trip was going to be.  

The exhibit culminates with the ship itself.  By this time you know so much about everything you are looking at.  Absolutely excellent.  We were so engrossed we didn’t realize it was after 1:00…we almost missed lunch - Italian.  

After a one-one tie in Dominos we did an African-Caribbean dinner. BBQ ribs, Jimaca coleslaw, and of course, French fries.

Tomorrow off to Aberdeen.

V&A Museum

Four Seasons - Dundee, Scotland

“We are not the Americans who raised your petrol prices by 50%. We are from Boston where you fellow Scots drained all our beer kegs during FIFA!”  This is our battle cry!  There were four women hikers who have been ignoring us for four days (they say they didn’t notice us).  Deb got them to open up a little and exchange a few pleasantries.

McManus Museum

We caught the bus to St Andrew’s and then on to Dundee with no problem.  Dropped our bags off at the Malmaison Hotel.  Found the McManus Museum.  All about the history of Dundee.  An interesting part was about the arch that Queen Victoria had built to celebrate her visit.  After  a while it was deemed “unloved” and taken down and reused.  Dundee has always been a gritty industrial city.  The major industry is Michelin Tyres.  A decade or so ago, they decided to become the “coolest” city in Scotland.   An interesting challenge.

Strawberry lime cider

We were having lunch at the Barrelman when we got a call from the hotel.  The Malmaison Hotel is a refurbished old building with a quirky vibe. I thought it would be fun to stay there.  Unfortunately, there was a torrential flood last night and they temporarily lost seven rooms. They had called to tell us the good news that they were able to get us a room at the Marriott Four Seasons across the street.  This is the hotel where quirky went to die!  At least the Four Season has a bar;  I beat Deb two more time in Dominos.  Deb said it was time for dinner, and put the domino set in her purse (they may be gone forever). Dinner was lamb kabobs at Milah’s Turkish Kitchen.

Honey Pot Guesthouse - Crail, Fife, Scotland

 

The weather forecast for our last day is rain, thunderstorms, gail-force winds.  Reality was a little drizzle in the morning and partly cloudy sky’s in the afternoon.  The guide said that the path was completely washed out and we had to walk on the highway for the first three miles.  On the way there was a hand made sign that said the guide was WRONG!  We hiked the beach instead of the highway and it was absolutely gorgeous.  This was actually the best part of the entire walk.  Waves crashing on the rocks, a dozen or so castle ruins.  A coffee shop every mile or so in the morning and a tavern in the afternoon.

We were a little angsty about hiking thirty miles in three days, but in reality, each day actually got easier(that’s a very relative term!).  Could we do it again? absolutely!  Would we do it again? Can we get back to you on that!  

We got to the Honey Pot, which is right next to the Golf Hotel where they accidentally dropped our bag yesterday, it seems everyone in Crail was in on the snafu.  I brought the bags up to the room in my mud encrusted hiking boots.  This did not go over well with the owner.  She was very friendly to that point, but we haven’t seen her since.  I don’t think I did any permanent damage, but I won’t feel safe till I am on the bus at 9:50 tomorrow (she suggested that I be on it, even though the bus runs every hour!)

We had dinner at the Golf Hotel.  Chili over French fries!?!  The other restaurant in town sells Fish and Chips. So far we have not had a meal that didn’t include French Fries.  Tomorrow is Dundee.

Ship’s Inn - Elie, Fife, Scotland

 

Today is a little overcast, with drizzle!  We asked the bartender if it always rains in Scotland.  He said he wasn’t sure, he’d only lived here for three years (old Scottish joke).  Had a nice chat with the owner of the Lomond Guest House where stayed last night.  He used to work at the University at Aberdeen, but after Covid all the students seemed so apathetic.  So last year he quit and bought a Bed & Breakfast. So far his guests have been far from apathetic.  He made us focaccia sandwiches with Italian salami, roast peppers and mozzarella. Delicious!

We made a morning stop at the Crusoe Inn in Lower Largo. Named for Robinson Crusoe.  It’s said that Daniel Defoe based his novel on Alexander Selkirk who lived in the town.  Well it makes a good story, and provides an interesting motif for the Inn (including the Men’s Room - I’ll just leave that part to your imagination!)

By late afternoon we had come to the outskirts of Elie.  After a steep climb of about 400 ft, we came to the pillboxes and gun emplacements built to defend Scotland in WWII.  Of course, no one has attacked Scotland since the Jacobites in 1746.  (In fairness, we have pillboxes and gun emplacements in New Hampshire and no one has ever attacked New Hampshire)

Our only tiny, wee little problem was that our luggage did not arrive.  After a few phone calls our luggage was found in Crail, one town away and was delivered by dinner.  All’s well, that ends well.

Rosebay Willowherb

Lomond Guest House - Leven, Fife, Scotland

 This is the day of our highly anticipated, some angsty first day on the Fife Coastal Path.  Someone is going to remember to take our bags from Kirkcaldy

to Leven, while we walk along the shore for ten miles or so.   Deb has checked the weather and it’s suppose to be gorgeous all day. What could possibly go wrong?  As it turned out, the only thing that was slightly askew was that it was Sunday, so many places were closed!  Not sure why I didn’t think about that when I booked it last fall!

Much of the walk was beautiful, right along the coast.  For the most part it was an easy walk.  Along the way, we came to a Castle ruin.  A local was coming the other way, and explained in a fairly heavy brogue how he had lived here all his life and never noticed it until recently. I bet we got at least every tenth word!

We had already been warned that the last three miles or so would be just walking through towns, not on the shore. And there…across the street….all bright and shiny…the Brig Pub…it’s doors wide open…inviting us in!

A pint of Tennents, and a pint of dark berry cider (and a wee stop at the loo!), and we’re off to finish the first day of our walk (two more days to go!)

Tomorrow we are off for Elie, but it’s an easy walk.  Less than nine miles with only one little hill to go over.

Strathearn Hotel - Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland

 

We planned our day carefully, and made some adjustments to our schedule.  We had breakfast at 8:00 and second breakfast at 10:00.  We finished the morning with a walk-about (we got all the way to the end of the Royal Mile at Holyrood Palace, the Scotland “cottage” that the king of England stays at) ending up with lunch at 12:00.  Took the train across the famous red bridge that goes over the Firth of Forth to Kirkcaldy, in time for a few pints at the bar (Dominos - I won one, lost one).  Promptly at 6:00, we were escorted from the bar to the dining room (more like an eviction than an invitation). Back to the room by 8:00. And so ended the day.

We have morphed ourselves from tourists to hikers.  Got our hiking boots, hiking pants, granola bars, trekking pools, rain gear, first aid kit, flares (just kidding about the flares).  There is a little park that connects to the Fife Coastal Path right across the street from the hotel.  There is also an eight foot high stone wall.  We think we have a solution….we’ll find out tomorrow.