Peregrinator Mark: Anstruther: fish and chips and not much else

St Andrews is in the northern part of "Kingdom of Fife," and Anstruther is in the South. Whenever I heard about students here going to visit another city in Fife, Anstruther was the primary destination. This place had a mythical aura because Prince William would come here to eat at the Anstruther Fish Bar, which has been selected as the best fish and chips joint in the UK for years. I'm not a big fan of the fish and chips here in St Andrews, but everyone told me that this restaurant was legendary.

After my failed attempt to go skiing last week, I still wanted to do a day trip somewhere around St Andrews, especially since I had done so little traveling around here. I sent a mass facebook message at 2 am the day before we left, so only a handful received the message in time to go with me the next morning. I told everyone to be at the bus station at 10:25 because the timetable told us the Anstruther bus left then. Unfortunately, the bus leaving at 10:25 didn't have the right bus number and had the wrong town destination in the marquee. We still lined up with everyone to get on the bus because there were no other buses, but I was suspicious. I went back inside and checked the list of departures to see what was wrong while the others waited in line. Just before they got on the bus for Dundee (which is not exactly the most cultured or posh city in the UK), I waved them to come back inside. I then waited at the information desk for a few minutes before an employee actually paid enough attention to me to ask me if I had a question. She explained that road work had caused the buses to have different times and gave me a new timetable. I've gradually learned that Scottish buses are not the most reliable busses in Europe: more than once I've watched my bus drive away ten minutes too early or show up thirty minutes late.

Because we took the long way around Fife, the ride to Anstruther was about an hour long even though it is only 10 miles or so away from St Andrews. Our first stop was the infamous Anstruther Fish Bar overlooking the harbor. This restaurant did not disappoint. For £7.60 I got a box of fried haddock fish, chips, bread with butter, and a drink (for me- coffee, which isn't exactly a traditional drink for fish and chips, but whatever). I'm not sure why they gave us bread and butter as an appetizer. It was just plain sliced bread I could find at Tesco and cold butter that tore the bread apart. Besides, my meal already had enough fat and carbohydrates. Surely a healthier choice would have been some fruit? Then again, I love fried pickles with my fried catfish back home. That's not exactly healthy, either.

After lunch we strolled around Anstruther to see the other attractions. The only other open attraction was the Scottish Fisheries Museum, and most of us didn't want to pay £6+ to see old nets and stuff. Maybe another time I'll go if someone is so inclined, but this day we just walked around the harbor and towards a church in the distance. Along the way we learned that there's not much else to do or see in Anstruther. Other than their famous fish bar, it's just another Scottish fishing town not too different from all the other small towns here. I did get a chance to take some cool pictures of buildings and along the shore. After our hike on sidewalks so narrow that we had to dodge oncoming traffic, we went the the Ship Bar next to the harbor for an afternoon pint. Actually, I only had a coke since didn't feel like a drink this day.

We left the bar early enough so that we would not miss our bus. Once again, the timetable was wrong even though it was the most recent one. We finally found a bus going back to St Andrews about forty minutes later, but it was filled with school kids going home. I find it weird that there are no school busses and that the students use the regular bus system.

I might go back to Anstruther this semester because there are boat trips from here to nearby islands, including one with a 7th century religious site covered with birds.