Our Arrival in St. Andrews
10/07/2008 02:42:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
After a one hour train ride from Edinburgh, we arrived in Leuchars (the nearest town to St. Andrews with a train station). Once there, we maneuvered our four huge suitcases and took a taxi to our new apartment. We drove past beautiful fields, vast farms, and quaint old houses. After about 10 minutes we pulled into the David Russell Apartment complex. We were so excited.
The David Russell complex is completely green! The development consists of a series of independent buildings clustered around a main building, and overlooking a man made lake, which forms part of the sustainable urban drainage scheme.
The main building's roof is topped with grass, which acts as a heat insulator during the winter and a natural cooler during the summer months. In 2006, David Russell Apartments was the first university residence in the country to be awarded the Green Tourism Business Scheme's Gold Award.
David checked into reception at the main building and got our apartment key (which is like a hotel swipe card) and we took our suitcases to the "Tulloch" building. Our apartment is on the top floor (no elevator). So David lugged our four huge suitcases up the stairs with his own personal cheerleader (me) helping him along.
Our new place is a studio flat with a great kitchen! There are twelve other people living on our floor. We are enjoying our new flat and spending more time so closely together :-)
Our first task was to go grocery shopping. We walked 20 minutes into the center of town to Tesco, the local supermarket. We were SHOCKED at how cheap groceries were compared to NYC. We loaded up our backpacks and walked back with all our goodies.
The first Saturday of each month is a great farmer's market about 10 minutes from where we live. The farmer's market has amazing local produce (including garlic cheese!!), fresh bread, and homemade soaps. The produce at Tesco's is also really good, but we enjoy having farm fresh vegetables and supporting the local economy.
Tea and toast, veggie sausages, roasties (potatoes tossed in olive oil, garlic, basil and rosemary), and sauteed tomatoes & mushrooms. A great way to start the day!
In the days that followed, we took walks in different directions from our flat, discovering a wooded path, walled gardens, the East Sands Beach, and other, more scenic routes into town.
We love our new home! You should come and visit!
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:
The David Russell complex is completely green! The development consists of a series of independent buildings clustered around a main building, and overlooking a man made lake, which forms part of the sustainable urban drainage scheme.
The main building's roof is topped with grass, which acts as a heat insulator during the winter and a natural cooler during the summer months. In 2006, David Russell Apartments was the first university residence in the country to be awarded the Green Tourism Business Scheme's Gold Award.
David checked into reception at the main building and got our apartment key (which is like a hotel swipe card) and we took our suitcases to the "Tulloch" building. Our apartment is on the top floor (no elevator). So David lugged our four huge suitcases up the stairs with his own personal cheerleader (me) helping him along.
Our new place is a studio flat with a great kitchen! There are twelve other people living on our floor. We are enjoying our new flat and spending more time so closely together :-)
Our first task was to go grocery shopping. We walked 20 minutes into the center of town to Tesco, the local supermarket. We were SHOCKED at how cheap groceries were compared to NYC. We loaded up our backpacks and walked back with all our goodies.
The first Saturday of each month is a great farmer's market about 10 minutes from where we live. The farmer's market has amazing local produce (including garlic cheese!!), fresh bread, and homemade soaps. The produce at Tesco's is also really good, but we enjoy having farm fresh vegetables and supporting the local economy.Here's a traditional Scottish Breakfast:
Tea and toast, veggie sausages, roasties (potatoes tossed in olive oil, garlic, basil and rosemary), and sauteed tomatoes & mushrooms. A great way to start the day!In the days that followed, we took walks in different directions from our flat, discovering a wooded path, walled gardens, the East Sands Beach, and other, more scenic routes into town.
We love our new home! You should come and visit!
2 comments:
Looks amazing! Can't wait to come and visit!
Thanks for posting such great photos. How cool that you live in a green building with grass on the roof! I can't wait to come see it in person. :-)
Post a Comment