Elie, Pittenweem & Anstruther

Our Easter break holiday in Fife saw us visit Elie, Pittenweem & Anstruther on Wednesday.

The sky was flirting with bits of blue but the wind & windchill factor delivered Arctic conditions!

Elie

Optimistically, we headed to the beach at Elie. Big mistake. The beach was huge, beautiful, sandy and sub-zero. Less than a dozen steps onto the beach and I had lost two toes to frostbite. We had to sacrifice a tauntaun to survive.

Had the weather not been causing us to scrape ice off our eyes, this would have been a very pleasant place to hang out. As it was, our trip to Elie’s award winning beach lasted less than five minutes.

Pittenweem

Pittenweem is a small fishing village with lots of windy lanes leading from the main street to the harbour. It’s also home to The Cocoa Tree, a small cafe nestled in the back of a chocolate shop.

I made a rookie error for a blogger. I didn’t photograph the food, apart from one waffle. You will therefore need to close your eyes and imagine warm ginger cake with cream, a dark chocolate gluten free brownie, crepes with home-made chocolate sauce and a tasty selection of hot drinks. A delightful treat.

Anstruther – Scottish Fisheries Museum

And off to Anstruther, which gave us both the high and low points of the day. If you’ve heard of this village, it’s probably because of it’s world famous fish and chips, which we enjoyed on Sunday. It’s a fishing village through and through, and is home to the Scottish Fisheries Museum, which we visited.

Now, I didn’t know what to expect from such a museum. To be honest, the topic sounded a bit dry and my expectations were pretty low. When we were told it was £8 per adult we were a bit surprised. Luckily, the kids got in for free. We were given a guide and the friendly lady at the desk gave us directions on how to get through the huge buildings housing the exhibits.

The subject matter was not boring at all. It was an eye-opener and very humbling to read about the history of fishing in Scotland. From the stone age tools used for fishing, to the building of a fishing industry and the lives that the fishermen led, it was all thoroughly fascinating.

The museum was home to several galleries that each documented different aspects of the history of fishing in Scotland. The dummies in the display were a little lacklustre but this was more than balanced out by the brilliant storytelling and information on display. There’s no doubt – it was hard, dangerous work. Many lives have been lost, and continue to be lost, in this industry.

The exhibits had loads for the kids to do. There were topical games to spot Easter chicks and seagulls and dressing up boxes for children in some galleries. There were models, artwork, photos and newspaper cuttings. It was all extremely interesting and poignant.

The shop had some genuinely nice gifts in it. Overall, I’m happy that we got our money’s worth. It was an education and a fascinating insight into something which most people, including I, take for granted.

Parking ticket

We came out of the Museum and crossed the road to the car. Emma gasped – there was a parking ticket on the window. We looked at each other, confused. We had bought a ticket. Emma had had to ask Rachel for the 60p for the ticket because she was out of change. We’d stuck it to the dashboard and checked before we’d gone in. But nonetheless, there was a ticket. The car park ticket wasn’t in view.

I opened the door and the ticket was on the floor. At first, we couldn’t figure it out. It was a horrendously windy day, but we had seen the ticket on the dashboard. Then the penny dropped. Our kids get out of the boot of the car. We’d checked and then gone around to open the boot and get them out. The only explanation we can think of is that the wind or boot slamming blew the ticket off. I checked the ticket and the sticky bit wasn’t sticky. Nightmare.

I appealed the ticket, which isn’t the sort of thing you really want to be doing on a holiday, but it had to be done. I sent a picture of the valid ticket to the council too. I’ll have to wait and see whether or not Fife Council allow our appeal. Not the relaxing day I’d hoped for!

Edit

The parking ticket appeal was successful and the fine was scrapped. Huzzah!