I am sitting here with my favorite cereal (Pecan and Maple Crunch, courtesy of Sainsbury's) thinking about the events of yesterday. After church, which I was actually on time for, I met some friends at my flat and we headed to Craigmillar Castle. This great ediface of history and tourism is apparently just down the street from where I live - a fact I was not aware of until a few days ago. Yes, yes, I know. I've been here nearly eight months and didn't know there was a castle down the road. In my defense, we had to wander through a lot of woodland (or a 'wood stand' as my agriculture-environment majoring flatmate calls it in her well-informed way) and some field before we finally saw it, cresting a hill, overlooking some cows. Here are a few photos, some of which were taken by me and some by friend Sarah:

on our way to the castle - lots of green

a fuzzy view of some edinburgh from the hill ascending to...

the castle! ignore the cars, and you can almost sense what Mary Queen of Scots felt when she stayed here (one cannot mention her enough when visiting historic Scottish landmarks)

castle in close-up. here's a turret. and yes, I stood on it.

trees, just inside the doorway. brilliant interior design.

and last, but not least, I stand on the battlements overlooking some cows while thinking of my brother - Sarah snaps a photo and we converse about the difference between hay and straw.