Today, Several Scottish Towns (Castles)

Hello everyone. This is not Chelsea.

Today, Chelsea and I traveled to some interesting spots up and down the west coast of Scotland with Dina Iordanova and Jonathan Rosenbaum. Dina is the former chair of the film department here at St. Andrews, but she is on leave right now and will be returning as the St. Andrews provost next year. Jonathan has been the quite famous film critic for the Chicago Reader over the past 20 or so years (he has also written many books on film).

Let me tell you a bit about our day with pictures. First, we went to a fishing village called St. Monan's to have lunch. We ate at 'The Seafood Restaurant,' which was quite a nice place. I had grilled cod over creamed cabbage with potatoes and mushrooms and a creamed squash spread (I also had a starter of smoked salmon, which was fantastic). Everyone had interesting food, but I can't remember quite what went into each dish... besides mine, because I ate a lot of it.

This is St. Monan's. Really a small fishing village.

We also had a laugh.

I believe this is when I said something deep and philosophical.

After our meal, we traveled over to Kellie Castle in Pittenween, Fife. I don't know how to describe Kellie Castle other than with the pictures below. The one really notable thing is that it has a HUGE garden in the back of it, where volunteers grow fruits, flowers, and vegetables. There is a little hut in the back where you can go to purchase these fruits and vegetables by leaving money in an 'honesty box.' The fruits and vegetables are just in baskets that you can take...

This is Kellie Castle. Notice the modern windows... I guess castles aren't so drafty anymore. They also host murder mystery parties here. Epic.

We're having a little walk through the gardens. That building in the background is where the fruits and vegetables hang out until you buy them from the 'honesty box.'

Finally we went over to Crail, where Dina lives. Crail is possibly the most beautiful town I've seen in Scotland. We had some coffee at a cafe in Crail, and then Dina showed us the golf course (beautiful) and her home (beautiful). Here's a little shot of the town, and the waves we watched while we were sitting outside at the cafe.

Oh pretty Crail. There are surfers just off the frame on the right. They looked like they were having fun, there were nice waves.

*Crash* - *Roar*

On the way back to St. Andrews, we drove back past the hotel where the G20 is being held on Saturday. Obama and I are probably going to hang out afterwards, or maybe beforehand if he is busy. Fewfta, busy day. I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted to.