Holiday in Yorkshire - September 2017 - Days 5 - 6

On Tuesday, Mum and Dad went into York, while Rob and I headed out to Robin Hood's Bay. It was a warm and sunny day, so too hot to leave Brock in the car.

We had checked the tide times in advance, so were able to time our walk to take in the whole of the bay and around the picturesque fishing village. Dogs are allowed on the beach at all times of year, and it is popular with fossil hunters as the cliff is continually crumbling - we saw small rock falls occurring as we were walking.

Lunch was taken outside, overlooking the promenade and sea, at the Swell Cafe Bar. We had the ploughman's lunch and mineral water or green tea. It was busy and the service was a little slow, but very friendly and the food was good.

The walk back up to the top car park is extremely steep!

Later that evening we treated my parents to dinner at The Nags Head in Askham Bryan. The food is always superb in there. We all ate far too much, but enjoyed it thoroughly. I had the three egg omelet with cheese and onion, and chunky chips, followed by banana split. Yum!

The next day we went to York and Mum and Dad had a rest day after all of their walking in York the previous day.

We gave Brock a 50 minute walk along by the river, before he had a 'little rest' in the car (we parked in the Piccadilly multi-story car park: a 'bargain' at £7.50 for three hours). We looked around The Shambles, bought some food for dinner in M&S and had lunch in Molly's Tearoom in The Antique Centre. I had a very good egg mayonnaise sandwich on gluten free bread and Rob had a veggie breakfast of eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and baked beans. Recommended! The antiques were interesting to browse, too: numerous cabinets of well grouped and laid out treasures. I was very tempted by some red and blue faceted, glass jewellery, but managed to resist.

Holiday in Fife: Days 6 and 7: Cambo Gardens, St Andrews and Crail to Anstruther Coastal Walk

Cambo Gardens were our first port of call on Thursday 24 March. It is our third visit to these lovely gardens. They are famous for their snowdrop display, which was just about finished, but there were still plenty of Spring bulbs to see - and the pigs!

 The forest walk leads down to the sea.

The stables, which are going to be refurbished shortly.

Some of the pigs - you can buy potatoes to feed them. So cute! There was a sow with a litter of piglets in a distant area, but we didn't go over to disturb them.

A collage of some of the flowers and statues we saw; including hellebores, primroses etc.

We had a morning coffee and cake in the cafe - dogs allowed and gluten free available, so it gets my vote! I think we might have been the only people there apart from the staff.

For lunch, we went back into St Andrews to Tulsi - a Thai and Indian Restaurant. We had the vegetable thali, which was delicious. A large compartmentalised tray each of rice, dal, okra, aubergine and spinach with potato curries. The owner/waiter was very friendly and helpful. Rob had a mixed veg curry instead of the okra with his, and parathas. We were also given complimentary poppadoms with mango chutney. With two soft drinks, the bill came to £31.40. There was far more than we could eat, although I would have liked to! The food was mildly spiced, but with plenty of flavour, made with freshly prepared vegetables and herbs. I am sure we will return next time we are in St Andrews.

On Friday 25 March, it was another sunny day, so we headed out to walk from Crail to Anstruther along the coastal path. This is one of my favourite sections of the walk. 

Looking back to Crail harbour.

Strange rock formations.

Cellardyke.

Anstruther harbour.

We had a coffee and cake in the Coast Coffee Cafe, sitting outside overlooking the harbour. Very pleasant! We just had time to wander around the harbour before heading to the bus stop to catch the bus back to Crail. The buses run along the coast hourly during the day.

Lunch was at the Crail Harbour Gallery. Dogs are allowed (at least in the garden) and we piled in there with everyone else on this lovely day. The garden overlooks a small sloping area with chickens in it, and beyond that, the sea. It is quite 'cosy', so everyone soon started chatting and it was a very friendly little party. The Cafe serves paninis and fish dishes, but sadly no vegetarian gluten free food, apart from cake. Rob had a cheese panini with salad and crisps. I had yet another piece of cake: this one with apple. I would definitely come back to this cafe again, though, for the coffee and the view.

The week had gone very quickly, as holidays always do, but I'm sure we'll be back for another visit to Fife. The best bits were the lovely coastal walks, visiting the pretty fishing villages of the East Neuk, and shopping in St Andrews. Most of the cafes we visited were very good - my favourite lunch was at Cuppa Coffee House in Pittenweem, favourite main meal at Tulsi, and favourite takeaway (we only had one, but it was good - hot and spicy!) was from Eastern Touch in Anstruther.