Well we’ve definitely gotten great use out of our rain coats. I just wish I had rain pants and wellies to go with it. My feet were wet all day today – so wet that I could ring out my socks after our adventure into St. Andrew’s town centre (I spell things Scottish now…) this evening.
We started the day today driving to Perth for the Highland Games. We knew that we were going to get some rain since Hurricane Bertha decided to travel through… so nice of her! We just didn’t really expect this much rain, allllllll day long. We were able to see the Caber Toss, some of the pipe bands, and some of the dancers. Very cool, but very wet! My “waterproof” backpack did not keep anything of mine dry including my wallet which was filled with water as well as my phone, and Kevin’s waterproof camera bag filled with his lenses also got wet. We think everything is fine, but it was not a happy discovery. All proof that we were at the games was also disintegrated with the water… tickets, program, etc. However my hand stamp has still survived the entire day somehow.
Next stop was the St. Andrews Secret Bunker which was pretty creepy/cool/odd. Basically a farm house in the middle of nowhere that has a door that takes you underground to the hidden bunker that would have been the regional headquarters had any nuclear bombs been dropped in the Cold War. You walk into this house and then they send you down this long creepy corridor that leads you to the doors of the bunker. Ten feet of concrete surrounds you once you step inside the doors. You then go down a flight of stairs to the first floor, and another flight of stairs to the second floor. The history of it is pretty neat even if some of the rooms were a bit hokey. I learned some about nuclear bombs that the UK has (all located in Scotland, meaning if Scotland votes for Independence this year, then they will be removed immediately and UK will have none).
Last adventure was walking into St. Andrews. Raining quite hard the entire walk, but we were able to see the ocean, St. Andrew’s Castle and St. Andrew’s Cathedral – both ruins, but very pretty. We also happened upon a carnival going on even in the crazy rain. Ice cream for dinner and back to the B&B to warm up.
Long day tomorrow, but hopefully much to report. Fingers crossed that Hurricane Bertha will stop and let the next few days be fairly dry for Scotland standards anyway! Anti-rain dance!
Highland Games: Tossing the caber
The long corridor that leads to the bunker. Creepy!
Communications/Radar room in the bunker
The board behind us shows a map of Scotland, and this would have displayed the impact of the nuclear bombs had one dropped.
