Wed 20 Apr - A New Van Perhaps?

Travelling day today. On into the peninsula of Fife. It's not too far from Stirling to Glenrothes (where we are spending the next two nights) so we have decided to go the scenic route along the coastline of the Forth estuary (the Firth of Forth). This means taking in sights we've already seen a week or so ago, but now from a different perspective

I've looked at Bass Rock from both sides now, 
And still somehow, it's Bass Rock's illusions I recall,
I really don't know Bass Rock, at all.

We did also get a viewpoint with both Forth bridges in the fgar distance but Liz's high zoom brings them much closer

Not really much to say of the journey, usual pleasant seaside backdrops, charming little villages with quaint harbours, particularly the area known as the East Neuk of Fife. You know, we could be in Cornwall for all the scenery helps. One unusual feature we spotted was the windmill just off the beach at St Monans. It was used to pump sea water into salt pans to make salt. First time I've heard of a windmill being used for such a purpose.

Anyway the main focus of this trip was the seaside town of Anstruther. Home of the famous Anstruther Fish Bar (my battered Haddock was good but nothing special, Liz has locally smoked Haddock and very good indeed). No Monty Python jokes here, we did that yesterday.

The other reason for visiting Anstruther was to visit East Neuk Campervans. They make a van that we were very interested in when we bought the Romahome but couldn't get to see one at the time as they did have any close enough for us to view. A good job too, perhaps. It would have been a very tough choice, they are quite a bit more expensive than our current van but have more space and facilities. A very nicely thought out van conversion. So much so that after our tour of a couple of van's we sat for a few minutes in our own van contemplating the pros and cons as to whether they would be the obvious next step when we trade the Romahome in.

Now nestled down in Glenrothes campsite but our warden made the mistake of telling us there is a good pub in the village of Markinch, just a short walk away. And the sun is still out, too good to miss. I suppose I should mention it has been a gloriously sunny day today with us stripping down to T-shirts this afternoon. Mind you we were ruddy freezing breakfast time in Stirling with the van neatly in 100% shade!

The pub turned out to be not so good. No real ale. We did find another and they had a keg craft beer on. Quite expensive and merely OK but it did give us a walk. Markinch is a small village which used to be the home to Haig whisky's bottling plant. Like many small scottish villages/towns the local community produce some excelent leaflets and brochures detailing the town's history and walks. It is a pity we weren't staying longer, industrial Markinich of yesteryear might be worth exploring.