The rest of the trip was very much a combination of revisiting my old student haunts and celebrating our engagement. I’d put my organisational skills to work and the hotel were ready for us with a big suite, a plate of smoked salmon, and champagne on ice.

Our suite at the Old Course hotel, St Andrews

Champagne and smoked salmon

The bathroom sink was worthy of a photograph

Chromotherapy Jacuzzi. Or a fancy way of saying “Jacuzzi with coloured lights”, which proved important. The water in Scotland is brown because of all the peat in the soil, so you need the coloured lights to disguise it!

Aude, overlooking the Old Course

The final hole of the Old Course, with Hamilton Hall in the background

The Old Course

The Old Course

My legendary organisational skills were let down somewhat by dinner. Having failed to secure a reservation at the new seafood restaurant in St Andrews, I decided that I would wing it on the night. St Andrews in November – surely it wouldn’t be too busy?

Students must have more money than in my day – because the concierge at our five-star hotel couldn’t managed to get a table anywhere at all in St Andrews. We ended up eating at the hotel, which was actually a blessing in disguise. Aude had a superb piece of Scottish lamb and I had some wonderful venison, overlooking the Old Course.

We headed out onto the town and confirmed my thoughts – students definitely have more money than in my day. All of the bars have gone upmarket, wine-bar chic, which defeats the point. I can find that in London. St Andrews used to have loads of cozy bars with big fireplaces, but those are almost all gone. One or two remain, but they’re the exception rather than the norm. After a swift half pint in a couple of my old haunts, and a few aborted attempted at other old haunts which were now crap bars, we headed back to the hotel. We sat in the bar and drank single malt Scotch in front of a roaring fire. Just the way to end the night.