On the Trail of the Apostle

Market Street, Ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, St. Andrews Castle

It’s not difficult to picture Kate and Wills strolling the leafy quads at the University of St. Andrews. The campus and the town are bathed in an air of privilege, affluence, and tradition. As the third oldest English-speaking university in the world (founded in 1411), St. Andrews is known as the “Cambridge of Scotland.” The university museum pays tribute to its long history with displays such as the silver medallions (usually sporting a student’s family coat of arms) that winners of the annual archery competition were required to commission and receipts in Latin for gifts given by freshmen to their upperclassmen mentors (traditionally raisins but today more likely wine for males and lingerie for females). The most impressive sight by far (for those not awed by the course that gave birth to golf) is the ruins of the enormous 12th century cathedral that served as Scotland’s ecclesiastical center and the resting place of the country’s patron saint, set high above the dramatic coastline.