The Anti-Tardis

This was our last morning in Edinburgh. It started with a "was that really the alarm clock?" moment, resulting in 2 snoozes.  I guess we are starting to adjust to the timezone. At least Carrie wasn't up at 2:30am.  One thing I can directly see passed down from Carrie to Cody - "If I'm up, everybody should be up!".  I stumbled across the street and picked up our Starbucks order - Hot tea and hot breakfast - yum!  We packed everything up - man, it is odd when you have a lot of room - your stuff expands to the available space.  That has to be a theorem or postulate or something.  We loaded everything down to the curb to catch an uber.As we were struggling to get the luggage down the steps, Carrie remarked to the guesthouse employee - "you guys need a ramp." She responded with "We have one, I'll get it."  I guess you have only to ask :).  It did make it easier, though it was only a few steps, and I was ready to put on my martyr hat and ferry everything myself.  That proved unnecessary.Once on the curb, we requested the uber.  We were able to get everything loaded in, and on the way to the rental agency - or "car hire" as the locals call it.  Upon first arrival, we were a bit hesitant, as there wasn't even tarmac in the parking lot, just rough gravel.  We made it inside, and the check-in process was very easy.  However, when the car pulled around, there was a moment of apprehension.  The car descriptor said Ford Fiesta or similar.  Emma just got a fiesta, and I knew it had sufficient room for most of our stuff.  However, this was not a fiesta, and even if it were, the UK version of the fiesta likely had followed Alice's lead to "drink me."  (hence the title of today - it definitely was not bigger on the inside)It was super small, and required us putting down the back seats and stacking everything up.  In addition, the really nice gentleman who drove it out, told me there was only a quarter tank of gas.  I had paid a deposit to ensure that I brought the car back full, or in the similar state.  I doubt I will be able to guarantee any less than a quarter tank on return.  He told me that I could just bring it back empty, due to the difficulty with the luggage.  "You'll get a free quarter tank!"  With fuel prices here, I guess that is not insignificant.  Carrie was a bit frustrated with the whole thing, but it was nice to finally be on our way.We had to stop first at a petrol station to fuel up.  He gave me good directions there, and it wasn't far.  Carrie did make a point to inform me that the Diesel pump was black (as it was in Iceland), so I needed to choose the green one.  I got it fueled, and we were on our way.First on the agenda, Dunfermline Abbey and Palace.  This is the burial place of Robert the Bruce (the actual BraveHeart).  It was originally built by Queen Margaret, who later became St. Margaret, the only royal Scottish saint.  It was later built up by Robert the Bruce, and he (minus his heart) is interred there.  The Abbey is unused today, but there is a section of it that is used as a contemporary church.  Robert's tomb is under the pulpit.We left there, and with a few close calls with one-lane roads with 2 opposing cars, we made it to the visitor's center of Loch Leven castle.  However, the center was closed for lunch, and when we ambled over to the pier where you take a boat to the castle island, we were told that we needed to pre-book.  While Historic Scotland does have a pretty good site, someone did absolutely no QA on the Loch Leven page.  Nowhere on the page does it indicate how to order tickets.  I used the app, and it does have a Buy Tickets link, but Loch Leven is not on the linked page.  But, if you google Loch Leven Tickets, it does take you to a page in the same domain to order tickets, but it was sold out.  So, we left, grumbling.Back in the car, it was clear just how warm it is here.  Typically, our travels have taken us to cooler climes (excepting Mexico, obviously).  It is nowhere as warm as it has been in Sacramento, but for Scotland, it is HOTT (the extra T for emphasis).  It is nice to have the window rolled down when driving through the countryside.  Carrie has gotten a few cow/sheep pics, and is hoping the quantity will improve soon.Before we got out of town, we saw a cashmere outlet.  We had our first "man, it's good to be driving ourselves" moment.  It was really nice not to have to drive for the first few days, but it is nice to be able to stop on a moment's notice.  Usually this involves talking to sheep, but this time, we got to shop for knitted items.  We looked for some gifts, and found some factory reject items for massive (like 90%) discounts.  Back on the road, we headed to some coastal towns.First on the agenda was Pittenweem.  Once we finally navigated  the series of one-direction roads (not the band), we made it to the harbor.  The breeze was blowing wonderfully, and felt amazing with the bright sun.  For a working fishing harbor, it was fresh and clean.  We walked along the pier, and got some nice pics.  On the way back to the car, we got some tasty Scottish ice cream (well, mine was actually a sorbet, but let's not parse words).Refreshed, we wound our way out of town, on to our next stop - Anstruther.  There is an award-winning fish place there - the Anastruther Fish Bar, and was is time for a late lunch.  We found a parking place (quite a challenge, as it is bursting with people) and headed inside.  Carrie was attracted to the fresh local crab dish.  It was called "Dressed Crab."  Google told us that it was the white and brown meat mixed together with bread crumbs in a crab shell - or very similar to stuffed crab in the states.  When it came, it was a Neapolitan crab - white meat, brown meat, white meat.  The brown meat section had the consistency and color of baby poo.  Appetizing, right?  She picked out the white meat, and I shared some of my fried haddock (yum).  They also had Magners on draught.  The cold crisp cider, really hit the spot in this hot day.  This particular restaurant also has an ice-cream store attached.  To pay for the restaurant, you take your bill and pay at the ice cream counter.  The only problem is, lots of people were coming in just to buy ice cream, so there was a long queue to pay.  One characteristic of the British, is their ability to queue.  Were this in the US, I suspect many people would just leave.We walked around a bit and took some pictures, then got back in to continue down the coastal road.  The next town was Crail.  Following the signs to the harbor, there was a truck parked unloading something heavy.  I was prepared to wait, as there was a pickup truck in front of me.  He decided he didn't want to wait, and just came at me in reverse full speed.  I managed to back up as well, and turned around to find another way down.  We managed to do just that (and even found a puffin door marker to boot!).  It was a really small, quaint harbor area, and we got some cool pictures.  The roofs had the trademark Spanish red tile that is common in this area of Scotland.  This tradition came from the fact that Spanish Traders used these tiles as ballast in their ships, and ended up trading them to the Scots.  There's your fun fact for the day!From here, we just had a short drive to our B&B.  We arrived, parked, and came in to meet our host.  We were really excited to finally be at a B&B.  Eden Locke was the perfect way to start our trip, but we love B&B's.  Tonight we are in Kingsbarns (at Kingsbarns B&B).  Our host, Jim, was super friendly, and it was great to chat with him about the area, and the amazing weather.  Once everything was loaded in upstairs, Carrie laid down for some shut-eye.  I got the windows open, and there was a nice breeze.  It wasn't until I laid down myself, did I realize how draining the past few days have been.  I intended on relaxing and enjoying the breeze, and woke up an hour later.  It was amazing.I made some tea to go along with the biscuits in the room.  There was also hot chocolate mix, so Carrie wanted some of that as well.  We snacked on some of the remnants of nom-noms we had accrued over the trip, and stayed in all evening to work on pictures, blogs, and reviews.  BTW, Carrie has had over 10 thousand views of her reviews on TripAdvisor.  She should get some sort of medal!