I headed back to a much more populated part of Scotland today.  Started the day off with a trip through Dundee—a city known historically for its jam, jute and journalism.  Today, the only industry that survives is journalism. Dundee is the home of the Sunday Post. 

Dundee also had a past as a whaling center, but that declined when the whale population dwindled.  Yet that very industry is what set up Dundee as the premier location for the first scientific exploration in 1901 to the Antarctic.  Captain Robert Scott led the first voyage on the Discovery. 

Did you know Scotland has more golf courses than any country in the world?  Did you know they were the creators of the game?  I was told today as I visited both the Carnoustie and St. Andrews Golf Courses that the Scottish people originally called the game that you played with a small leather ball flog.  But decided to change the name when the associate to flogging developed.  They reversed the letters and came up with the word golf.  Don’t know if that’s a true story, or a Scottish tale.  You decide.

In the area of St. Andrews golf course is also St. Andrews University.  The university was one of the first universities in Scotland, and one of the first in the world to allow women to attend.  They could not get a degree, but they could be educated.  In recent history, the university is also the one Prince William chose to attend. 

The highlight of the day so far would have to be St. Andrews Cathedral.  In medieval times, St. Andrews was the premier cathedral city and place of pilgrimage.  The area has been a monastic center since 747 AD.  Over the years the community developed until St. Andrews became an important center of religious life in eighth century.  The cathedral reached its preeminence when its bishop became Scotland’s first archbishop in 1472.  However, it did not survive the Reformation of the Scottish Church in 1560.  The ruins are still beautiful to wander through, as do the many ornate gravestones that lay within the grounds.

Tonight, I will attend the Military Tattoo.  The rain has stopped, but the clouds remain.  It doesn’t matter though.  I’m a Seattleite in Scotland.  A little rain won’t hurt me. 

--Gerri