Where William Met Kate

Who hasn’t heard the story of how Prince William met Kate? In honour of the royal fairytale the International Society spend a sunny Saturday exploring St. Andrews on the trail of William and Kate.

St. Andrews, the place on the outer Western coast of Fife, where William and Kate famously met while attending university. On this summery Saturday the lucky 35 students on the St. Andrews trip of the International Society can dream of following in Kate’s footsteps – even if just for a short while. The bus takes off from Stirling University in the early morning and takes the fastest route to St. Andrews in order for us to enjoy the whole day on the coast. We drive past Perth and Dundee and are finally able to seen the ocean in the distance!

Upon arrival a big surprise waits for the participants – the Dunhill celebrity golf tournament takes place the same weekend as our trip does. If we can’t meet Prince William we might as well run into Hugh Grant or Michael Douglas, can’t we?

Setting off past the beach we head up towards the city center, always on the lookout for some celebrity to pass us by. We pass St. Andrews Castle, with only ruins left standing, but a magnificent view over the cliffs and the ocean. On it goes through some pretty backstreets towards St. Andrews Cathedral.

Surprisingly enough, we only find ruins of the walls, gravestones, and a gigantic tower in the place where we expected to be inside a cathedral. But if the imposing ruins are anything to go by, this must have been an impressive building once. Wondering why there is always something so haunted and mystical about Scottish graveyards we head over into the city centre. The whole city is crowded with people from all age ranges and countries, tourists on the hunt for the best souvenirs, students relaxing in the sunshine in the dozens of cafés, and us intermingling with all of them. A real mini-weekend-vacation.

After lunch and coffee at the café “where Kate met Wills (for coffee!)” we head back towards the golf court in order to get a glance at some celebrities. And it looks like we’re in luck, according to the crowd standing around the court – after a quick glimpse at Jamie Dornan we feel like we at least spotted one celebrity, even if it wasn’t Prince William.

After all the impressions of the day it is finally time to say goodbye to St. Andrews and head back towards Stirling, this time however by driving on a more scenic route through the heart of Fife. Arriving back at university we all feel like we have just come back from a holiday – St. Andrews really is a magical place.

Interested in joining us on one of our trips and events around Scotland and Stirling?

• Friday, November 4: Watch the fireworks in the Bridge of Allan Strathallan Games Park with us in honour of Guy Fawkes Night! Get ready for live music, food stalls, and a huge bonfire!
• Friday, November 11: Pack your bowling shoes and meet us for a fun night at AMF bowling centre for some friendly competitive bowling.
• Thursday, November 24: Join us for a night of Scottish dancing at our famous Ceilidh!
• Saturday, December 4: To finish off our activities for this year we are heading to Edinburgh Christmas Market to get ourselves in the Christmas spirit!

Check back here or on our Facebook page for more announcements and our activities for the new year!