Craigmillar Castle

We woke up on Saturday with one more sunny day before a line of rainy days forecast to follow. After Cindy went for a morning run, we corralled the kids once more and headed out for castle-viewing. This one, Craigmillar Castle, is also located in Edinburgh. We hopped on a bus to the southern part of Edinburgh and departed at a stop located about a half mile north of the castle. We then walked up the road a bit and found a path through the grass that leads to the castle.

Most of the half-mile walk to the castle was uphill through a very nice park. The kids got to blow apart several dandelions, say hi to a few dogs (one of whom was a bit too exuberant in barking back his hellos), and raid the adjoining gift shop. The damage was minimal; primarily a few red-quill pens that reminded the girls of Harry Potter.

Once we got in the castle, Claire insisted on being held by Cole for virtually our entire visit. The castle was perhaps our favorite of those we visited so far! It was easy to wander in the various rooms and envision what the dinners would have been like in the main hall, or imagine Mary, Queen of Scots resting in her bedroom. That said, from the descriptions given at the castle, it seems like the Queen was less than happy around this time. The "Craigmillar Bond" was taken here by several noblemen, which was a glorified pact to kill her husband, Lord Darnley. (But then, historians argue whether or not this was just peachy with Mary. We're not taking sides; we're just here for the castle.)

The spiral stairs at this castle were far safer, and Katie and Dani rocketed up and down every tower they could find, with Dani testing various portions of the castle to sleep on. She would lie down pretty much anywhere (bedroom, fireplace, area-where-a-latrine-probably-was) and announce that, in case we missed it, she could sleep there.

The views from inside the castle, and from its roof, were very pretty. They weren't as dramatic as what you'd see from Edinburgh castle (or Tantallon, for that matter), but rather looked over distant hills and grassy parkland.

We then boarded a bus back to the city and had an Indian buffet lunch. Claire had felt pretty rotten all morning and was just holding on at this point, but she was plenty energized enough to run around the table and leave her mom and dad playing defense while they tried to eat.