Castles, Cake, and Open Road

 Despite having too-limited time in Edinburgh, we still decided St. Andrews (about an hour and a half away) was a must-see. We found a very jaunty, jolly Polish Uber driver who was happy to take us and bring us back, and soon we were speeding across the countryside. He was also just the nicest--he fed Elowen fresh strawberries and bananas from his lunch on the way to keep her happy.  He dropped us off at the Old Course, which is where golf was first played in the fifteenth century. And while I learned this from Wikipedia, it's still very interesting--James II banned the game in 1457 because it was so popular that young men were busy playing golf instead of practicing their archery skills. Today, it's hosted more than 30 Open Championships. And while to me watching golf is akin to staring at a wall, that kind of history made a visit to the course fascinating.  Taylor also took the opportunity to buy some Old Course polos, sin...

The next morning I couldn't walk up to Arthur's Seat given my jammed toe, and I doubt we could have made it very far with a stroller anyway. So instead, we took a taxi out to Craigmillar Castle, where one of the oldest towers in Scotland still stands (from the 1300s) and where Mary Queen of Scots convalesced after the birth of her son.  Though only about three miles from our hotel, it feels world away from Edinburgh, surrounded by forests and fields and with a far-off view of the ocean. (They also filmed parts of Outlander there, but I haven't seen more than a few episodes of the show.) We had the castle almost to ourselves and were able to walk around in peaceful silence, marveling at the ancient walls and imagining those who walked and lived and fought so long ago.  Smelling the flowers The castle also had some fun features for Elowen, including ...