Lower Largo, Scotland

Lower Largo is a coastal village of Fife, Scotland.  "An ancient fishing village, Lower Largo has gained fame as the 1676 birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The arrival of the railway in 1856 brought many tourists to Lower Largo's sandy beach. Lower Largo has retained many historic buildings, and in 1978 it was designated as a conservation area." (citation) The railway line through Lower Largo was closed in the 1960s, but the bridge can still be seen as you enter the town.

  

The weather has been in the 40's and 50's during our stay, but we have bundled up and enjoyed being outside anyways.  The beach is beautiful and has a very distinct high and low tide.  When it is high tide you cannot access the beach as the water comes all the way up to the rock wall.  To help us know if the beach is accessible, there is a tide clock in the living room.  The first day we did try to let the kids play in the sand with buckets and shovels, but it was just too cold.  After a couple of minutes Liam kept showing me his hands and wanting to go home.  We ran home and warmed up!  Since then we just take strolls on the beach.  Bobby has given Amelie a lesson on how to find smooth flat rocks and then how to skip the rocks.

There is a nearby playground that we have played at each day.  Most Paris parks do not have any swings so both Amelie and Liam have loved swinging.  We have brought a ball to run and play soccer too.  In our back yard area we have played tennis too.  That is Bobby and I have played with each other to see how many times we can keep it up.  The apartment we are staying at has balls, a children's tennis set, Pirates of the Caribbean Lego set, Hello Kitty bowls/plates, and most importantly Apple TV.  We have all been happily occupied! ;)

We take the Fife Coastal Path to the playground.

Liam picking "fowerfs." 

Gorgeous views along the walk.

The benefit of it raining on and off is there are beautiful rainbows!

On Wednesday, May 15th, we decided to hike the nearby mountain.  We had to walk to Upper Largo and then find the trail from there.  Since it was a couple miles away, we decided to use the stroller.  Once we arrived at the head of the trail, we realized we would not be able to use the stroller.  Since there was an elementary school at the trail's entrance, we walked around to see if there was a place we could leave it.  One of the teachers offered to allow us to store the stroller inside which was very gracious.  She also pointed out exactly where to go and tips of hiking with the wee ones.  It was a fun walk through pastures, next to barns with cows, and then up the mountain.  

The mountain became very steep followed by the weather turning from sunny to rainy.  

We decided to go ahead and turn back before making it to the top.  Amelie and I did more sliding down the mountain than walking down, but we made it down safely. We had to be careful of stinging nettles and other sticker bushes.  The view was beautiful so we were glad we made the ascent! 

Amelie patiently waiting for Liam to catch up.

We walked home on a different path to the coast.  The trees and greenery were gorgeous.  

On our way to eat at the Crusoe Hotel, we took a picture of the statue of Alexander Selkirk above his house.  

We are enjoying the peacefulness of this town.