No matter how many castles I see, I always love to see more. Is this a symptom of being born in America? On my recent trip to N. Ireland, my cousins took me to
Quoile Castle. They've recently started restoring it, and soon you'll be able to actually go inside the tower. This thought really excited my 13 year old cousin Aaron who dreams of being a castle tour guide.
So maybe it's not my Americanness that makes me long for a good castle. Perhaps it's just something that runs in the family. We love us a good castle. Even half a castle:
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| (Quoile Castle, Downpatrick, County Down) |
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| (My cousin Leah inspecting the garden) |
A lovely thing about this wee castle-ette is that they've dedicated the visitor center to teaching wee ones about the local wildlife and insect-life. It's done really well and is super interactive. You can watch the local fish in a wee tank, and there's a camera on a nest of birds (complete with a log of how they have grown). They even keep bees and have stuffed versions of the larger, potentially dangerous animals that live in the area. It was sweet to see the kids learning in such a hands on way.
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| (Looking out upon the gardens) |
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| (In the river Quoile nearby...sadly there was no moat) |
And I have to add a gratuitous photo of my wee cousin Lucas because he is adorable:
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| (Lucas!) |
Oh my goodness he looks like my wee Neffe. So cute!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome about the castle's nature center. I'll never get sick of castles, either, and that's after living in one for a year. ;)