A Family Affair (or, Mom decides on a whim to visit and we go to Scotland)
Of the many wonderful adjectives one could ascribe to my mother, spontaneous is not one that often comes to mind. But, last Sunday, following Phil Mickelson's victory at the Scottish Open, my mom said that she wanted to see Scotland, so I suggested she come that week and we could go to The Open at Muirfield. To my surprise and absolute delight, she decided to do just that! After arriving on Thursday and attending class with me (and standing in as my model) on Friday (more on that in another post), we boarded a train bound for Edinburgh. (Note: Mom managed to not only navigate the Tube during near rush hour, but she also did it with a suitcase !) Approximately four hours later, we had left the heat wave in London behind and fell into bed in Scotland, getting some well-earned rest before a day at The Open.
Saturday morning, we joined many thousands of other golf fans in making the short journey to Muirfield to watch the world's best compete for the Claret Jug. Unlike most tournaments in the U.S., the Open at Muirfield features 20,000 seats in a number of grandstands set up throughout the course, providing a great view of the action. We settled into the grandstand on the 7th hole (a short par 3 with some very deep bunkers) and saw nearly the whole field (we got there a bit late and missed the first few pairings).
After Tiger and Lee Westwood (on a hot streak at that point!) finished the hole, we decided to walk the course back towards the entrance, giving us the chance to see the likes of Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter and Phil Mickelson a few more times. It was a great day for golf, and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!
A bit of advice to any of you thinking of traveling to The Open, while tickets are not difficult to purchase, merchandise is! We put off our stop at the official shop on the grounds until the end of our day and they were very nearly sold out of everything!
On Sunday, we wished the golfers good luck from afar and headed to Edinburgh's Royal Mile to explore Edinburgh Castle. It was a beautiful, bright and cool day and we spent several hours touring all of the exhibits, including the National War Museum and, of course, the Honours of Scotland (the regalia, or crown jewels).
Edinburgh Castle
Views from the Castle
We retired from our touring after a lovely lunch at The Witchery and enjoyed watching Phil's victory from the comfort of our hotel room, with tea and shortbread, of course!
Monday morning we boarded yet another train, this one bound for the home of golf (in keeping with the theme), St. Andrews. While I had been to Edinburgh before, this was both of our first trips to St. Andrews and we picked a great day to do it - just chilly enough to give it the right amount of ambience. We toured the ruins of the Cathedral and Castle - Mom even made her way down to the beach to find a seashell or two - before catching a glimpse of the Old Course and heading back to Edinburgh.
St. Andrews Cathedral ruins
St. Andrews Castle ruins
St. Andrews is getting ready to play host to the Women's British Open
We wound up our trip to Scotland with a visit to Holyroodhouse (in a thunderstorm!) and then back on a train to our next destination, Swinton Park in the north of England.