Yesterday, before we left town, we checked out the castle. We had had a wander about the first night we arrived, but didn't have time to see it (although we did unintentionally wander past the oldest pub in town). The streets are narrow and many are cobblestone. All roads seem to lead up. The castle is the highest point on an outcropping of rock which contains the city centre and it's oldest buildings (a jail, a church, a cemetery....). It has an amazing view in every direction as it is high over every other point. It was built by James 4th & 5th. It has been used in various ways by various people over the years. It sounds like the army used and was housed in it for a time and remodeled much of it to their purposes. The buildings themselves are in pretty great shape although few of the first & oldest buildings still stand. Although the structure is lovely and the view stunning, I actually was a bit disappointed. After Hardwick Hall the other day, I was looking forward to seeing a lot of the furnishings of the place. What was it like? How was it used? Except for 2 rooms, it was basically unfurnished. The two rooms that were furnished were the Queen's bedchamber & inner hall. In the inner hall, at least, were some lovely tapestries. Not originals, replicas, but absolutely lovely.
The rest of the town sprawls out below, covers old battlefields, and is much flatter. We talked to a woman who lamented that the young people didn't recognize the treasure that they had living in this place, with this history. The gentleman who sold us our castle tickets told us this was the best weather they'd seen in a year.
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