“I’m going to see a castle!” I said joyously.
“Actually, it’s not technically a castle.” said basically everyone in response, because apparently all of humanity has been to Europe and seen real castles. Even the server at the Empress who overheard my comment had to chime in and say it was too small to be a castle. I found this annoying because despite being an adult, I still find the ideas of castles to be enchanting and full of magic, but damned if they aren’t right. Even Wikipedia uses quotations around the word “castle” to denote that Craigdarroch is merely charading as one.
This *ahem* mansion has actually gone through several reincarnations. Obviously it started off as a family home, then became a military hospital. Later it would serve as a college, offices, and a conservatory for music before becoming what it is today: a museum.
First off, what you should know before visiting is, there are four sets of stairs you will have to climb to get through the tour. Yikes. This place is also comprised of a whopping 39 rooms. I get that it’s not a castle but yeesh, how much bigger do you have to be?
You have to give Craigdarroch some points in the castle column though. It’s sheer opulence is totally palace-worthy. Everything is fancy to the point where you question how anybody could actually live like this. Seriously, could you imagine having kids run around this place? If I grew up on this estate, that elegant furniture would have so many of my initials carved into the wood work that my parents would have re-occurring strokes every time they saw them. They’d then walk around wringing their hands saying, “See? This is why we can’t have any nice things.” Were children really so well behaved a century ago that they didn’t wreak holy hell on this place?
And check out this drama minefield. Fans and dancing cards on display. DANCING CARDS. I’ve heard of these things but never really thought of them as anything but ideas. People actually signed up to dance with each other at balls. Really. Could you imagine if high school dances operated that way today? I could see the gossip and tears already!
The irony of all my comments regarding Craigdarroch is that I insisted no one squash my vision of seeing a real castle because it would be full of magic and wonderment. Yet, in a few short paragraphs I’ve managed to talk about monstrously behaved children and dramatized teenagers. I guess that in the end, I should’ve been more concerned about myself snuffing the enchantment out of the faux castle. Don’t get me wrong, Craigdarroch was gorgeous and a sight to see, but it was still a place. A place that was a home, a hospital, a college, an office, a conservatory, and finally a museum. A place where both the exciting, and the mundane happened, no magic required.
Aw that was kind of rude of the waitress to be that way. It looks like a dang castle to me! The interior is just gorgeous & I bet children were not even allowed in the best rooms. At least, I wouldn’t have let them in lol. Thanks for sharing the beauty with us but, I do get what you mean about it just simply “being a place,” I feel that way often when I see or visit places that are meant to be spectacular.
I know, I was like, “Why are you trying to ruin my fun?” when they kept saying it wasn’t a castle.
It was definitely fancy enough to qualify for me!
It was hard for me to imagine a family actually living there it was so opulent. I imagine the children wouldn’t have much to do there.
Sometimes I kick myself for taking the magic out of places. But hey, sometimes I’m human.