15 July 2013

Day 25 - The Road to Scotland/Dalkeith Estate

Today was pretty much spent on a bus. It wasn't as bad as it could've been, because there were great views for the latter half and I got a window seat! Yes I am a total dork about looking out the window - I had made sure that the nook, iPad, and iPod were all fully charged and didn't use them once because I was afraid I would miss something out the window. There were many horses, sheep, and cows to be seen on the drive - this view is somewhere in Northumberland, so still in England:
And it was a good thing I kept an eye out, because there were two castles/castle ruins:
We left London at 10am, and arrived in Dalkeith, which is outside of Edinburgh, around 7:30pm. This is where we are staying, Dalkeith Estate (aka, Dalkeith Palace!)
This picture was taken at about 10pm, it stays light so late here:
The current house is from the 18th century, and belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch and is leased to the University of Wisconsin. It is amazing and at first we were not too happy about being so far out of Edinburgh, as it is about a 40 minute bus ride, but the house/palace/estate more than makes up for it! Queen Victoria and King George IV both stayed here. After grabbing a bite to eat, we decided to explore the house, as in the orientation we were told that any door that could open we could go in...and I love to open and explore everything!

We found the servant staircase:
Which on the third floor led to the servant quarters, all of which were locked:
There are seven of us LIS students sharing one big room:
And it is full of wardrobes, one of which we are convinced will lead either to Narnia or The Room of Requirement:
There are also two hidden doors in our room...which lead to secret passages, which unfortunately have their doors blocked off:
There are huge windows:
And this picture is kinda silly, but I was laying in bed going "why are there iron rails on the walls" when it dawned on me that they would hold the tapestries!
So our room was probably an important one, with secret doors and all! It is across from the ballroom:
So yes, Dalkeith Estate is amazing. Tomorrow we don't have to be at the bus stop until 10am, so I'm planning on getting up early and taking a walk around. We really have such little time here, I want to try to see and enjoy it while I can!













1 comment:

  1. Great photos - what a place! I read up on it last night and watched a youtube video a student took of the palace in 2008. Glad you're making the most of each moment. Love Mom and Dad :)

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