England/Scotland 2024 Pilgrimage – Day 8: Dundee, St. Andrews, Pittenweem

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Foggy Sunday

The fog was as thick as split pea soup this morning. It had lifted enough to not inhibit driving, but we went over a very long bridge and saw nothing but the road and the cable-stays going up into the clouds. A perfectly lovely Scottish day.

Church in Dundee

Driving just over an hour, we went to Dundee to worship at Gilfillan Memorial Church, a Congregational Church. Why, you ask, did you drive all that way to go to a church denomination that you’ve not even mentioned during this trip? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me preface it with this.

Have you read the Sensible Shoes novels?

If you’ve talked books with me, you very likely have heard me rave about the Sensible Shoes novel series by Sharon Garlough Brown. It is a down to earth, relatable, soul-care slice of life stories of four women who become friends at a spiritual retreat. She has three other novels and a children’s picture book. Sharon is a spiritual director which is evadent in her writings.

I’m on Sharon’s email list and have been on several of her book launch teams, so it feels like I “know” her a bit. She had shared that she and her husband moved from the USA to Scotland for him to pastor a church. When we decided to do this trip, I emailed her and asked, if it didn’t feel like I was stalking her (let’s be real, I WAS), would she share the name of their church. IF we were in the area on a Sunday, and that was a HUGE “if,” we might possibly join them in worship.

Gilfillan Memorial Church

So here we are on a Sunday, an hour plus from their church… and in the general direction of where we were headed anyways! So, yup! I jumped on the stalking wagon and headed to church.

Probably half of their small congregation was “on holiday” today, so there were 20ish people there. The building is old and beautiful. Curiously, it is sandwiched between other businesses. It is like row houses, but businesses. The whole block seemed to be one huge building, portioned out.

Jack and Sharon Brown

It was a blessing to worship with them. Sharon and Jack were gracious and we enjoyed talking together after the service. Jack is very interested in the same era of church history that Gregg has been focused on during this trip, Celtic Christianity in 500-700 AD-ish.

As we talked, he recommended several books. One is historical fiction over 900 pages. I’ll probably let Gregg read that one and tell me the highlights. That, or we go on a VERY LONG road trip and listen to it on audio. But wait, as I was typing this, Gregg was looking up the book and informed me that it is 1,134 pages. This girl is a slow reader so the odds are great that I’ll pass on that book. (Glastonbury: The Novel of Christian England by Donna Fletcher Crow)

As we talked, Sharon told us a story of them going to a small town for hot chocolate. Afterwards, you “ask for the key.” It is a key to unlock the cave where a monk lived in the 700s. Hot chocolate AND an adventure?! Who’s in?! MEEEEE!

Who knows, maybe someday our paths will cross again. Jack was signed up to pursue a doctorate at IWS (Institute of Worship Studies) in Jacksonville when Covid cancelled that plan. We invited them to stay in our home should he decide to do the online version which requires students to be on-site a few weeks a year.

University of St. Andrews

Speaking of Covid, we had reservations and tickets for a vacation in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 2020. We were going to stay in dorm housing since students would be gone for the summer. The plan was to do day trips, hiking along the Fife Coastal Path and explore the area for a week, then fly to Ireland for a week.

Since that didn’t happen, we HAD to include St. Andrews in this trip. Curiously, it was impossible to get a place to stay anywhere near there. Today we found out why. This weekend, the incoming freshmen and their families were in town. The “freshies” wore (or carried) red capes. Between that and the old buildings, it felt like a Harry Potter movie. Here is a bear wearing one:

By the way, The University of St. Andrews is Scotland’s oldest university, founded in 1413. Just try to wrap your head around that one. Students were learning here before the Gutenburg Printing Press was invented in 1440, before “1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” over a hundred years before the Reformation, and 363 years before America was born. Not to mention, over a thousand 611 years prior to today. [Edited after I actually did the math. It is still a long time, but NOT 1,000 years.] Hard to grasp!

Scottish Meat Pies

Sharon also told us the name of a good bakery “across the street” were we could get Scottish Pies. When I came here in 1986 with Kathy, we were on a budget trip. We’d go into bakeries and each get a meat pie. It was a pastry in the shape of a small deep-dish pie, filled with finely ground meat. The Dundee bakery was closed today BUT we found one in St. Andrews. Oh, my heart!

We each got a warm Scottish Pie and shared a rhubarb tart and a large shortbread cookie. We sat on a bench facing a busy street to eat and enjoy people-watching. The spices in the pie instantly took me back to my 26 year old self, traveling overseas for the first time. It was the perfect comfort food on this foggy and very Scottish weather day.

Quads and Castles and Cathedrals

With full bellies, we walked around town. We saw a spot where the first Scottish Reformation martyer, Patrick Hamilton, was executed for heresy in 1528. It was just outside the entrance to the Quad – a wide grassy square with buildings on all four sides. From there we walked to see the castle ruins, followed by the HUGE St. Andrews Cathedral ruins.

Hot Chocolate in Pittenweem Fife

Once we had seen all we wanted to see in St. Andrews, we were off to Pittenweem. The half hour trip was VERY foggy as we drove a long the North Sea coastline. This is the small harbour town Sharon Brown had told us about. We found The Cocoa Tree Cafe shop where they make chocolates. They also have quaint seating areas so we sat down to order.

Gregg had a white hot chocolate, I had their signature hot chocolate, and we shared a chocolate chip scone with creme. OH.MY.DELIGHTED.TASTEBUDS! It was the best hot chocolate I’ve had since a “liquid chocolate” shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2015.

St. Fillan’s Cave

Following Sharon’s instructions, we asked for the key. A short walk from the chocolate shop, down a steep hill, there in the side of a limestone cliff was a gate over an opening leading into Saint Fillan’s Cave. Saint Fillan is believed to have lived there as a monk in the 700’s, writing and talking with the local folks about his faith. I can’t imagine living in a cold, wet, dark place for very long. This trip has reminded me what an “easy” and luxurious life I live (and would be hard-pressed to give up.)

Back towards Edinburgh

Edinburgh is on a bay off the North Sea. We are staying the night on the opposite side of the bay. In the morning we’ll head south and say goodbye to Scotland. It’s been a lovely week with you!