Golf, ruins and the sea

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: saint of Scotland) here. Not much, apart from the legend, remains of those days and the most famous historical monument of the town is a Cathedral, constructed much later in 1159 AD, now in ruins. Memorials (of all shapes and sizes) have been put up by friends and relatives in memory of their loved ones. I found one of them the most interesting, raised in the memory of a young golfer, Tommy, who is believed to have won accolades in the game. His memorial was put up by contributions from sixty golfing societies. St. Rule’s Tower provides panoramic views of the sea and the town. There was also a haunted tower in the complex that apparently houses the ghost of the ‘white lady of St. Andrews’. In no mood to meet dead women, I beat a hasty retreat to the nearby castle.

So many reams of paper have been wetted to describe the beauty of the castles of Scotland. Despite being a resident of Edinburgh, I have never visited the Edinburgh castle. So entering the St. Andrews castle makes it my first ever visit to a castle. It dates back to the 13th century and is reminiscent of the struggle between the English and the Scots (it suffered over 400 years of sieges and wars). The beauty of the castle is enhanced by the fact that it is on a cliff right next to the sea that really gives it a stark appearance. The most interesting part of the castle, however, is a mine and a counter-mine. A mine was dug up by attackers to enter it. When the defenders of the castle came to know of the mine, they dug up their very own counter-mine to ambush and stop the attackers. The mine goes deep inside the earth and is very narrow - one of the few times in life, when my being short in height paid off!