Monday, September 10, 2012

Through the Grampians






After breakfast at Cordhu House we said good bye to Norman, who gave us directions for St Andrews saying, "it's a scenic drive." The drive was through the Grampian Mountains, and 'twas a glorious ride indeed. The mountains are mostly devoid of trees and covered with heather. There are large areas cleared of heather and we wondered why. That is the patchwork appearance seen in the photos. At one point we came upon about a dozen men on the mountain side snapping and flapping small flags. Of course we panicked thinking it was some sort of terrorist warning system or a kidnapping ring trying to divert our attention. A few miles on we stopped at a roadside cafe where I chatted it up with some geriatric bikers. They (and the old Scots woman at the next table) gave me the low down on all things Grampian. Seems the heather is burned in controlled areas each year. The grouse go into the old heather to nest. When the young are ready to feed the burned areas have sprouted new grow for them. The flag wavers were chasing the grouse from the old heather for shooting.
We're on the North Sea now at St Andrews, where the 3rd oldest English speaking university is located. It is also the home of golf. The sport has been played here since the 1400s. We can see the St Andrew Links from our hotel room. We walked the 3 main streets down to the Cathedral and back up to the Castle. I don't think St Andrews is as architecturally significant as Oxford, but it seems to have a great character all it's own. More photos at Flickr