Fairy Tale Castle

Edinburgh ended nicely, with a tour of The Real Mary King's Close (a neighborhood from the 17th-century preserved underground) and a bit of shopping on Princes Street, but for the past two days my family and I have been residents of Dalhousie Castle in Scotland. It's been truly magical. I have my own room (The Cockpen Room) and my parents are in a room called Robert the Bruce. My room is lovely-- very eighteenth-century with soaring ceilings, a canopied four-poster bed, and its own balcony.

The castle was built around 1300 and originally belonged to the Ramsay Clan. King Edward I (Edward Longshanks) of England stayed here before beseiging somewhere, King Henry IV actually DID beseige here, and Queen Victoria took tea in the Library. The whole thing is dripping with history. We walked the grounds this morning and found an old watchtower, which we were later told was built 700 years ago, too. It's in ruins now, but you can go in and look up to the sky. The whole things looks so Arthurian. Kay mentioned that the castle should rent out medieval costumes for people
like meto wonder the grounds in, and honestly I think they would make money off of that venture.

The castle also has a Falconry. They have the most beautiful birds of prey, and we talked to a few of the falconers about how to care for the birds, the different types, and how to train a bird for the sport of falconry. My favorites were the owls. The big ones are so majestic and the little ones are so cute. We watched some people learning to fly them, but I opted to try archery instead of falconry. The morning was beautiful for it! By chance, I ended up being the only person signed up for archery, so I got a private lesson (or private 'tuition', as the falconer put it). I got to shoot for almost an entire hour. Most of my arrows hit the target, but they were all hitting in the bottom right-hand corner on the black or blue instead of in the red or on the yellow bullseye. As we were nearing the end of the hour, I told the falconer about my love for Shakespeare (she was shocked that Shakespeare was popular in the USA... yeah), so as I prepared my final arrow she shouted, "Get a gold for Shakespeare!" and I DID! I somehow hit the bullseye! It was absolutely fantastic!

The afternoon was spent eating lunch in the Orangery, visiting the oh-so-21st-century spa (though the power went out briefly and they had to guide me around the medieval corridors with a candle, that was pretty cool!), and seeing yet ANOTHER wedding. Apparently Scotspeople get married any old day of the week, and wedding season also equals bagpipe season. This wedding was gorgeous, too, but how could it not be, at a castle? Also, the falconry offers the use of an owl to fly your wedding rings down the aisle in a silk bag straight to the best man. Super cute.

Dinner at the castle is at their restaurant called The Dungeon, which is, predictably, in the dungeon. The food is excellent-- I had the duck both nights, and tonight I had a strawberry consumme and Jammy Dodger for dessert. The duck, oddly enough, came with popcorn. I have now eaten popcorn with a fork.

We leave tomorrow for London (the best city on Earth) and I'm very excited to ride the Tube, revisit the Tower, possibly the Globe, Covent Gardens, and especially Drury Lane, but somehow I can't shake the feeling that all of this is just a jaunt away from Bath. I was looking at a magazine in the spa today and saw a Mark's and Spencer's add and thought, "Oh, yes, I should go there when I get home," and 'home' was Bath. I'm a little sad that I don't actually get to visit Bath this trip... how strange. I was rather happy to leave there when I did. But now... I kind of want to go back for a visit, though I know it couldn't possibly be the same. But a Snakebite at the Huntsman, a walk down the towpath, high tea at the Pump Room, and a stroll up Milsom Street would certainly be welcome. Even Oxford would be like a familiar hug, the England I know and love, the England where I lived.