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Holiday in Fife: Day Five

Saturday 22 September 2012

The journey home, via Dunfermline

We had time for a last look round Anstruther, before loading up the car for the journey back to Dumfriesshire.

Brock makes a new friend.

Rob plays chess in the SNCL in Dunfermline and knows the Pittencrieff Park area well, so we headed there first. The Park was gifted to the town in 1903 by Andrew Carnegie, who made his fortune in the American steel industry. It is a huge park with acres of grass, trees, gardens, play areas etc etc. Brock was delighted to see so many other dogs. We were equally delighted to be able to stop for a coffee in the cafe there and keep Brock with us at an outside table.

 

 We wandered into the town for lunch later on and ate at an outside table of an Italian Restaurant called Carlucci. I had a mushroom risotto, which was a very large portion with sliced white mushrooms and a creamy sauce and chopped parsley. Although it was quite tasty, it needed a bit more flavour in the stock, maybe using some wild mushrooms or a hint of lemon. Rob had gnocchi with tomato sauce, which he enjoyed. We could see the impressive city chambers building (below) from our table.

 After that, it was a straightforward drive over the Kincardine Bridge and back down the motorways home. If we had had the full seven days (instead of just four), it would have been good to visit Dundee (where we once lived for a while), and Edinburgh. There is certainly plenty to do in the area for a week's entertainment.

Holiday in Fife: Day Four

Another sunny day, so it was off to Cambo Gardens, Kingsbarns, near St Andrews.

There is a huge Victorian walled garden with a vegetable plot, herbaceous borders, fruit trees etc.

One reason we picked this garden to visit was the fact that they allow dogs on a lead, so Brock was able to accompany us. We took the woodland walk down to the beach and found another golf course running along the coast, and part of the Fife Coastal Path.

There is a small covered courtyard where you can enjoy tea, coffee and cakes. The waitress managed to produce a gluten free chocolate chip muffin for me, so I was quite happy with that. There is also a gift shop, and plant sales area. Entrance to the gardens costs £5 per adult.

 

The town of Cupar was our next stop. We had lunch in a small cafe, where we had courgette and carrot soup and a sandwich for Rob with Mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes/gluten free roll for me with egg mayo. The food was very good and reasonably priced and the proprietrix was very helpful. I think it was called Cafe Moka.

We had a walk through the small park and continued along the river bank where there were people fishing and walking dogs.

Back in Anstruther that evening, we decided to have chips for dinner. There is an award winning chip shop that we had intended to eat at, but the queues were too long, so we went to The Waterfront Restaurant up the street and sat outside overlooking the harbour, eating some of the best chips I have had in a very long time. Brock was with us and enjoyed the attention he received from a boy who seemed quite smitten with him. I had some ice cream from the Anstruther Fish Bar Ice Cream Parlour, which was delicious: cherry cola and rum and raisin flavours.

Holiday in Fife: Day Three

Thursday 20 September 2012

St Andrews
Anstruther

It was due to be our only cloudy/rainy day of the holiday, so we headed for St Andrews. It is a charming small city, famed for its University (the third oldest in the English speaking world) and for being the 'home of golf'. The famous Old Course dates back to medieval times.

Brock running at top speed. He was over by the jogger a second ago!

Brock enjoyed his walk on the West Sands Beach: a huge, empty expanse of sand backed by a narrow band of sand dunes. After which, Brock, had a sleep (or, more likely, a good bark) in the car, while Rob and I went off to explore the town. There are a good range of small shops, cafes and restaurants to browse.

We bought some delicious cakes from Fisher and Donaldson; and some handmade bread, mature Ayrshire cheddar and spicy pumpkin chutney from a deli. I had fun spending a birthday gift voucher in The Body Shop, before we had lunch in a branch of Bella Italia.

Rob had Pasta Norma (wholewheat rigatoni, roasted aubergines and garlic in a cherry tomato sauce, with fresh basil and baby mozzarella). I had a 'special' of salad leaves topped with bruschetta with goats' cheese, and red pepper tapenade. There were sadly no gluten-free, vegetarian options. The food was pretty good and it is a nice little restaurant with a view over a busy street. The bill with two mineral waters came to £21.15.

The rain had started in earnest on the drive back to the accommodation, so we decided to have a rest before venturing out into Anstruther later. Anstruther has a lovely harbour and marina, restaurants, shops and two very small, sandy beach areas. Tourist attractions in the area include The Scottish Fisheries Museum and Scotland's Secret Bunker (a large, underground bunker, built in case of nuclear war, and hidden beneath an ordinary-looking small house.)

Holiday in Fife: Day Two

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Cellardyke to Crail Coastal Walk
Drive to Pittenweem & Elie
Dinner in Falkland

Taking a picnic lunch with us, we set off on the 3 - 4 mile coastal walk from Cellardyke to Crail. The Fife Coastal Path runs from the Forth Estuary north to the Tay Estuary covering 117 miles.

 Field of wheat with beautiful blue sky - seen from the coastal walk.

It was a lovely, sunny day and we enjoyed seeing the farm animals, birds, insects, flowers and sea views along the way.

 

At one point, there were some extremely weird rock formations that looked like a head.

 

At Crail, (above) we caught the bus back to our starting point before driving on to the pretty fishing villages of Pittenweem and Elie (below).

 

 People learning to wind surf.

 

Lighthouse at Elie.

In the late afternoon, we drove inland to Falkland (famous for its Palace (part of which, is seen below)), hoping to get a meal at a Chinese Restaurant we had visited a year or so back, but sadly it had closed down. Instead we had a meal at the Stag Inn. Rob had nut roast with mashed potato and vegetables, with the garlic bread from my meal. I had five bean vegetable chili, and we shared a portion of 'hand cut' chips. It was a filling and tasty meal. The chunky chips were particularly nice.

Autumn Sun in Fife!

Hello everyone! We are just back at home after an enjoyable 4 day holiday in Fife.

We visited lots of towns and villages in the area, and stayed in Cellardyke, which is very picturesque and surrounded by a string of lovely coastal, fishing villages. Highly recommended for an autumn break!


Day One:- Tuesday 18 September 2012 - Journey to Cellardyke, via Kirkcaldy.

On the way to Cellardyke, we stopped off at Kirkcaldy, for a walk on the beach and a look around the town. Here is a photo of our new rescue dog, Brock, enjoying the beach at Kirkcaldy. About a minute after this photo was taken, he found a dead 'thing' hidden in some long grass, to roll in. Ugh! Some wet wipes came in handy.

 

Some views of the self-catering flat we stayed in, Seaglass. The flat was just right for us - very 'shabby chic', with white-painted walls, bare floor boards, rugs, local art work on the walls, a comfortable bed and sofa. Brock liked the hatch from the sitting room through to the kitchen, as he could keep an eye on us, when we were making dinner. I should add that pets are not normally allowed, but the owner made a special dispensation for us on this occasion!

 

Cellardyke Harbour