Menootanaboot; St Andrews, pt 1

Yes, dears, there will be an extended posting on my visit to this ancient town. I went photo-mad, as you might expect, and I don't want to hang onto too many shots for Tuesdays, or you'll still be travelling this trip come Christmas! (okay, exaggeration, but you get my drift...) So, today, the arrival and the first part of the walkabout, and the second part will be here on Monday. (Tomorrow, a nature video with several random clips I made.) This also means a little more Less Speak and More Peek for these posts!

The drive from Strathkinness to St Andrews is less than half an hour. There was rain as I left the park, and, as mentioned, the wind from Storm Kathleen was still raging. By the time I reached the Bruce Embankment car park, right beside the Royal and Ancient Golf Club Museum, Aquarium, (and, of course, The Course), it was still only nine in the morning. Being Sunday, parking fees didn't start until one o'clock, which meant I would only have to pay the four remaining hours of the day before getting the overnight park up included, through to nine on Monday morning. Bargain for under three quid - especially as there are modern and lovely toilets on site!

I wanted to be early because I knew the park would fill up quickly. Sure enough, by the time I got out walking 45 minutes after arrival, the previously empty corner was already filling. The Grey looks like he is on a massive slope—that's partly an optical illusion due to my being up higher still. Although there was some slope, it was well within the tolerance for fridge and sleeping. You will note, also, that by this time, the rain had more or less given up. Blown well away by the increasingly menacing wind.

My first target was the Wardlaw Museum to visit the Nature of Iran exhibit. Ana met me at reception with a lovely warm welcome and directed me through to what was a relatively small, but truly exquisite display. I had permission to photograph and use them here... so let them now do the talking...

Loved that last one - being a Taurean and all... 😁 I have realised, too, that I have never created a label specific to museum visits. Correcting that now, as there are bound to be quite a lot more in the future of this blog!

The Wardlaw is a small museum, as these places go, with only six display rooms. Each is delightfully laid out, though, and not overwhelming, as can sometimes be the case. Now, I do have a few more images from those other rooms to share with you, but they will appear in part two of this post so as not to overwhelm any less robust internet signals! I do hope you enjoyed this glimpse of nature through ancient Iranian eyes. As I said, it wasn't a large exhibit, and I have brought you about a quarter of it, so you have a fair idea. There were also ceramics and metalwork, as well as more ornamentations. I left feeling very satisfied with my visit.

tbc...