On Saturday afternoon, the At Home and Abroad Society (AHASoc) organized a trip to two local towns, Anstruther and Pittenweem.
Let us just take a second to really absorb the fact that there exists a cute, little fishing town called Pittenweem.
Ready? Okay.
So on Saturday, we met up with the sweet coordinators of our trip, Sarah and Joanna, and other students who are studying abroad at St. Andrews. We took a bus to Anstruther, a fishing town famous for its fish and chips, right in time for lunch. 🙂
They definitely lived up to their reputation! Absolutely delicious (and so cheap!) To get the real authentic experience, we ate our lunch outside on benches right by the harbour. There was also a “Heart and Stroke” charity shop right next to the restaurant, which was pretty funny considering we were all tucking into fish that had been battered and deep fried… I hope my arteries have a sense of humour, too.
After lunch, we walked around the town and poked into some of the local shops. The sunshine that greeted us when we first got there rapidly became replaced by dark, ominous clouds, and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees F. However, we soldiered on because this is Scotland and it’s a waste of breath to talk about how cold it is. It will be cold from now until, well, I leave.
Anstruther is home to the tiniest light house I’ve ever seen. Look how small it is! Also, I am REALLY EMBARRASSING.
(Shout out to Daniel for literally taking this picture so many times until I liked it.)
After we were done being touristy, we hopped back on the bus and ventured to Pittenweem, another tiny town about 10 minutes away. All around us were remnants of the ocean’s most recent hauls. However, because it was the weekend, the area was essentially silent (save for the sounds of the ocean rocking against the pier) and I really got the feeling that we were intruding in this little, sleepy village.
We stopped into The Cocoa Tree Cafe and Pittenweem Chocolate Shop for a sweet treat to top off the afternoon. Famous for its decadent chocolate creations, our order combinations of hot drinks and baked goods were sure to send us into a sugar coma, but it was all worth it when I tried my hazelnut hot chocolate and tasted the first bite of the chocolate cake!
That’s about it! Thanks to AHASoc for putting on such a great afternoon trip and reminding us that we don’t always have to travel a far distance to find something new and exciting – sometimes it’s just around the corner!
Adventurious 