Edinburgh Castle

When we purchased our tickets to go to Dirleton and Tantallon castles, we got a 5 day pass that allows us to pick any 3 days (within 5 days) to visit as many castles in Scotland as we like. We really only had two other castles on our list for this week and those are Edinburgh Castle and Craigmillar Castle, which are both quite close. Cole wasn't able to take the extra time off to visit the Edinburgh Castle. So, this morning, when we got up, I asked the girls if they would rather go to the gym or to the castle. They chose the castle.

I was a little worried at first, since the last castle trip was such an adventure. But, I have to say that this might be the best outing I've ever had with the girls. I loaded Dani and Claire into the stroller and had Katie walk beside me. On our way, we had to stop by and say hi to the statue of Greyfriars Bobby. And, we walked right by the Elephant House, which is the "birthplace" of Harry Potter. Katie has recently gotten into Harry Potter. We told her about him as a way to try to get her more interested in this area. And, she's pretty enamored by the character now.

Once we got to the castle, we got to see a changing of the guard. And, then we saw CANNONS!!! Katie was excited and kept exclaiming that she saw cannons. Her enthusiasm was contagious and soon Claire was even saying, "Can! Can!" Katie, and then Dani, climbed on top of a cannon, and a group of Chinese tourists came by and had to take pictures with the girls one after the other. There had to be at least 20 pictures that were taken. Katie and Dani were more than happy to pose and smile for the cameras. Claire wanted to be on the cannon, but wasn't interested in having strangers fawn all over her. They must have had their pictures taken for 5-10 minutes! It was rather amusing, and one of the photographers that work at the castle even commented on the humor in the situation.

After climbing on the cannons for a little while longer, we went to the top of the castle and got to see a memorial to the men and women who have served Scotland. And, would you believe that there were more cannons at the top of the castle?!?! That meant that the girls had to climb on these cannons as well. Finally, I was able to talk them down in order to go investigate some other areas, and we found a few staircases. Since we were on a military operation, I was not allowed to leave the stroller behind while I climbed the stairs.

One of the stair cases lead to the crown jewels. So, I let Katie and Dani climb up to see the jewels. They quickly returned to me, telling me how cool it all was and hoping that I'd be able to go back with them. I told them that I couldn't, and Katie asked if she could take Claire back up with her. I thought that was really sweet, but just couldn't allow it. But, I did let Katie and Dani go back up to see the jewels again. A little while later they came back down and Katie told me, "They said we're not allowed to go down the stairs alone." That got me a little worried. Then, I apologized to the woman that came down with them. She told me that they were really just worried that the girls had been separated from their tour group and the people that work there had been a bit frantic. I apologized many more times for causing them distress!!!

After that, we found a nice area in the shade where we could eat our lunch and wait around to hear the 1 o'clock gun. Every day, except Sunday, the 1 o'clock gun is fired. Katie really likes to hear the gun, so we've tried as much as possible to make that happen. This time, we were actually able to see the gun get fired. The girls perched on top of a cannon and while we waited, a man in a kilt played different songs on the bagpipes. At a few minutes before 1:00, Dani said that she wanted to get off the cannon and Katie said that she didn't want to be so close to the gun. I told them that they had to stay where they were and they didn't protest. Then, we watched a man load the gun and march back to check his watch. After checking it a few more times, he marched back up and fired the gun. My picture is a big fuzzy, because we ALL jumped when the gun was fired!

After this, I loaded all three girls back in the stroller (Claire sat on Katie's lap), and we headed back to the flat. When they saw their Daddy later that day, Katie and Dani had to tell Cole all about seeing the 1 o'clock gun get fired and the "little-big cloud of smoke" that it made. And, then the cloud floated off. I think they were both glad that I made them stay on the cannon to watch the gun get fired! What a fun day! When we first got here, I was really intimidated by the idea of trying to take all three girls anywhere. I didn't know if I would be able to navigate the streets. And, I really didn't know how I would handle being in a strange place if the girls got a bit unmanageable. But, this was the perfect trip. I actually can't wait to take them out again! Good thing, since we've still got another castle to see sometime in the next 2 days!!!

Castles!

So, it's really hard to decide where to start. So much happened this day. I guess I should start by saying that all in all, it was a good day. We had our share of challenges, but the views were amazing! We got to see some really neat castles and we had been hoping to see a few before we returned home. And, for those of you who think that everything had been sunshine and roses for us, this post will give the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Hiring a Car in the UK

To visit Dirleton and Tantallon Castles, we decided to "hire" a car, also known as renting a car. Cole found a place that would let us rent a car as well as the 3 car seats for the girls. All 5 of us went to the rental car place, and there was a huge line! The girls were perfect angels while we waited. They had fun sitting on the floor and coloring and playing.

It's significantly cheaper to rent a manual car, so Cindy got to drive while Cole navigated. Then, the fun began. Remember, we're driving in a foreign country. Not only that, but they drive on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! That also means that the driver's seat is on the right side of the car and the stick shift is on the left. That made things a little more interesting! Add to that the fact that they don't have street signs up at intersections, it makes it even more difficult to navigate through the city. They do have signs on some of the buildings at intersections, but they are hard to find and sometimes not even there. Plus, street names very frequently change on the same stretch of road in Edinburgh. Cole had to help Cindy out by letting her know when she was too close to the curb, which was rather frequent.

And to make matters worse, Dani's seat belt was too tight and it was hurting her tummy. However, she didn't exactly tell us what was going on. She just told us her tummy hurt and started screaming inconsolably. We tried bribes and reasoning with her. That didn't work. When we finally figured out that the seat belt was an issue, we fixed it. But, by that point she was too far gone and she just kept screaming full tilt. Cole and Cindy were getting headaches and trying to do anything to make it stop. Claire and Katie were just sitting in the backseat with her being angels.

Finally, Dani said that she needed to go potty. We're driving down the road (going too slow with cars passing us!) in the middle of nowhere and the screaming banshee now needs to pee. OH MY GOODNESS!!!


Would you believe that soon after that, we found a rest area on the side of the road with scenic overlooks of the water? We almost missed the turn, but we were able to stop. After stopping, Dani was still screaming. And, she promptly puked on herself, Cole, and the ground. (I remember when she was younger, we would sometimes tickle her for too long and she would throw up. So, we'd always have to reign it in whenever she started laughing too hard.)

After using the facilities, Katie was fascinated with the beach and the water and was telling Dani that the little green patches on the ground were islands and ran off to hop on the islands. Dani was still grumpy, but she at least stopped screaming. And, after a little while she did run off and have a little fun with Katie.

Soon, Dani had to go potty again. So, she and Cole went back to the bathroom while Cindy, Katie, and Claire played on the rocks. To top things off, while Cindy was carrying Claire, she stepped on a wet, green spot on a rock and fell straight down on her hip. Fortunately, Claire didn't get hurt or even startled! But, Cindy's right leg and camera lens cap were covered in wet leafy stuff. It was seeming like all the little things that we worried about in coming to Scotland were all going to happen on this trip!

Eating at the Castle Cafe

We finally made it to Dirleton Castle without any more incidents. Dani seemed to have calmed down and didn't cry the rest of the way to the castle. And, the other 2 seemed content. It was close to lunch time, so we stopped at the Castle Cafe just outside of the castle walls and we were able to eat outside. Katie and Dani happily colored pictures and Claire ran around barefoot. It was a wonderful place to eat. The food was really good, and the girls had enough space that they could wander around some while we relaxed. I think it was the turning point of our trip.

Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle is a medieval fortress about 19 miles east of Edinburgh and 2 miles west of North Berwick (where the Scottish Seabird Centre is). The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 13th century, and by the end of the 17th century it was abandoned. During the Wars of Scottish Independence (First War: 1296-1328; Second War: 1332-1357), it was heavily damaged and even taken twice by the English. In the 14th century, it was repaired by the Haliburton family and some additions were added to the fortress. The Ruthvens acquired it in 1505 and made several more additions. (The Ruthven family was involved in several plots against Mary, Queen of Scots, and her son King James VI.)

The castle is now in ruins and is maintained by Historic Scotland. It is a majestic castle that is really neat to visit. While we were there, the girls met a 4 year old girl named Anna. They had fun going through parts of the castle with her, and they all wanted to stay together.

We enjoyed walking through the castle and climbing various sets of steps. All three girls had fun running around. They all seemed to be in good spirits, and we were happy to realize that the calmness that we obtained at the Castle Cafe seemed to be sticking. At the end of the visit, we stopped at a nearby playground to let the kids swing and slide for a bit before we headed to Tantallon Castle.

Tantallon Castle

Our nest stop was Tantallon Castle. It was built in the mid 14th century and is about 3 miles east of North Berwick. It sits on a promontory opposite of Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. It is the last medieval curtain wall castle to be built in Scotland. This means that it has a wall that goes around the outside of the castle to protect it. For this castle, though, it has a single wall blocking off the headland, and the other three sides are naturally protected by the sea cliffs. This castle was built by the Douglas family and stayed in the family until the early to mid 1500s. Now, it is maintained by Historic Scotland.

This is a truly magnificent castle! Just walking up to the outside wall, the views were breathtaking. Claire was rather tired, so Cole took the big girls inside while Cindy and Claire walked around outside. Claire didn't agree that she was tired and screamed a little. But, after putting the stroller seat down flat and pushing her around on the bumpy grass, she soon fell asleep. She stayed asleep for almost an hour! But, it was so windy enough up on top of the cliffs, that we think she got rather cold while she was sleeping.

The castle itself was beautiful. We enjoyed walking up the spiral staircases and getting a bird-eye view of our surroundings. However, getting back down the stairs was another story. And, after doing this once, Katie decided that she didn't want to go up any more spiral staircases. Dani had to prove that she wasn't scared and went up a second time with Cole. Although, she was definitely scared on the way back down! We all enjoyed exploring the castle, and, we really enjoyed being outside and taking in the scenery. The girls also talked me into letting them take a few pictures themselves. Below is a picture that Katie took of Cindy and Dani. She might be a future photographer! This castle must have the best view of any other castle around!

Views of Bass Rock

Tantallon Castle directly overlooks Bass Rock. We were able to see this island when we went to the Scottish Seabird Centre. It's fascinating, because it looks like the top is all white rock when it is really a large population of birds. From the castle, we were able to get a close enough look at Bass Rock to actually see individual birds flying around the top of the island. It was amazing to be able to clearly see the birds flying around it! And, while we were letting the kids run around the castle, we enjoyed watching the birds circle around in the air and then dive down like torpedoes into the water. This really was the most relaxing part of our trip.

Driving Back to Our Flat

Soon enough, we realized that we should head back to our flat. So, we loaded the girls back in the car and prayed that the return trip would be less eventful. We weren't lucky, though. This time, Claire started crying some. We thought that she was just tired and grumpy. But, after a little time, she threw up all over herself and her car seat. We think that she was just car sick. The poor thing looked absolutely miserable. We were about halfway back to the flat, so we decided to stick it out and get back to the flat asap. Sweet Katie held Claire's hand the rest of the way back. Dani, on the other hand said that she thought she might throw up, too. Then, Katie commented that she was the only kid who hadn't thrown up that trip. And, when we were almost back, Katie kept telling us that she had to go potty really bad. So, we were afraid that we were going to have another mishap!


Thankfully, that is the end of the story! We saw some beautiful sights. Katie was able to wait until we got back to the flat. Cole went out and got yummy food for dinner. The kids all went to bed early. Cindy was able to easily return the rental car the next day. Since Claire mostly got the baby seat dirty, there was no extra charge for her mess. At least now we know that we can drive in the UK if we need to. Those poor curbs and car seats just better watch out for us!