We came to Dunfermline so I could run in the Scottish Half Marathon Championships. (Not competitive at 60). I was concerned about the course, as it looked hard on paper, but I had no idea. I have done 10 of them in the last year, but nothing like this. I have never been so exhausted before. I wanted to run a PB, and I did, by far the slowest ever. Scotland is just not the place for flat ground. The hotel that was sponsoring the event was full, so I chose Davaar House from the Trip Adviser site. I am glad I did. It is a wonderful old Scottish house converted into a 10 room hotel. The Superior rooms were booked, as were the standard doubles, so I chose a twin for us, and a single for my 94 year old mother. We had a loft room which meant 2 flight of steep stairs with heavy bags. The staff were very accommodating with these, but I was happy to carry half. The single room was pretty compact, but comfortable and mum loved the place. Our standard twin was sort of on the compact size, but fine, and there was room for all our stuff without the cases getting in the way, which is not an uncommon problem in UK and Continental Hotels, and room for all our things. There was a great view from our large window that either tilted or opened fully. Naturally there was no A/C, but this is an old house and it is Scotland, so not a problem. The large window easily allowed us to regulate the temperature. The room was very quiet and the beds were hard, but comfortable and mercifully comfortable pillows. We could not be more complimentary about Jim and Doreen, the owners. Jim is a true Scottish Gentleman and Doreen is a treat. She does all the cooking by herself for the restaurant, which is fairly small, but only one of two 5 Star rated restaurants in town. Every meal we had over our 3 days was just divine, and reasonably priced. Not the usual huge platefuls, but that suited me just fine. Quality, not quantity. I was glad to have the long run the next day so I could lash out and sample her Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was worth every calorie. Jim tells us that she is a perfectionist, and we saw no evidence to refute that in any way. Jim has either trained his staff well, or been lucky. We were so impressed by Matthew’s eager assistance in every possible way, that we mistook him as family.
This is my 20th trip around the World. All have been for at least a month and we have stayed in a lot of hotels, but this one was a joy. If we ever come back to Dunfermline, which sadly is not overly likely, but even if I needed to come to Edinburgh, I would stay here and commute. Such a joy to have free wi fi which is so easy to get on to, with as many devices as you like. This is one of my big bugbears.