An Introduction to Scottish Sport

Our weekend began and ended with “sport,” as it should in Scotland. On Saturday, we took John to the Rugby Club, which is right in front of the Old Course Hotel, and quite picturesque…though packed with people on a Saturday. John joined in training with the P3 team, and his coaches were great and quite patient with him as they explained the rules. He caught on quickly (though I still have no idea what’s going on…it just looks like an elaborate game of “Pickle” to me…see video below) and loved it, and wanted to play in the tournament the next day. So we signed him up, got a pair of stripey socks for him, and started to think about how we were going to redefine our weekends in Scotland around rugby matches.

After “training” we took a short road trip, to Crail and Anstruther, which are small fishing villages in a coastal area of Fife called East Neuk. Both are quite picturesque, and we took walks along the sea in both areas. In Crail, as we walked along the Coastal Path along the ocean, we saw very few other people. Imagine my surprise, then, when we came upon two boys, and they casually walked past us and said, “Hello, Emma.” After they passed, I asked how on Earth she knew two boys in a tiny fishing village on the coast of Scotland, but apparently they were in her class at Greyfriars. Still, it was quite jarring!

From there, we drove to Anstruther and had another meal from a “chippy”…this one, a place called the Anstruther Fish Bar, which has been voted repeatedly as the best chippy shop in the UK. Accordingly, there are often lines out the door, but since it's January and it was about 3:45 pm, we only waited for about 15 minutes. I can attest that it's well worth the wait, however, and David and I split the haddock, which was absolutely fantastic. We also tried mushy peas for the first time, and I can safely say that I just don’t get the appeal. They’re quite a bit like baby food, actually…just mushed up peas, served like mashed potatoes. If you ever have the chance to visit Anstruther, I highly recommend the Fish Bar, and suggest you take a pass on the peas!

On Sunday, we went to the rugby tournament and reminded ourselves that though we were cold, it was about 50 degrees F warmer here than it currently is at home in Hamilton! John had a ball during rugby, of course, and carried the ball a few times in each of the three games, though he has a way to go until he completely understands the rules and what he’s supposed to be doing. After rugby, we went to a leisure center in St. Andrews, which is sort of like a community center/gym, but has a huge, very warm pool with a big twisty slide and an Aqua Zone…like a big blow up obstacle course in the water. Though the kids had a blast, I think David and I enjoyed ourselves even more laughing at the kids who were slipping and bouncing around this thing. Leisure centers are common in Scotland, and there’s another, larger one in Dundee about fifteen minutes away, so it looks as if it will be another staple (along with rugby!) of our weekends in Scotland from now on!