Falkland Palace

Yesterday and today we spent time in the village of Falkland which is about an hour north of Edinburgh. The village is known for Falkland Palace, and also where some of the drama series ‘Outlander’ was filmed.
Falkland Palace was a hunting lodge, a recreational retreat where Kings and Queens (including Mary Queen of Scots) stayed and did riding, hunting and playing tennis. It is also where James V, Mary’s father, died.
The Palace has many layers because some of it was restored in the 1800’s and also a family has lived in the Palace from the 1940s onwards. It is still used as a residence during winter time. So the Palace contains a mixture of time periods, and this is evident primarily in the furniture - it contains original 16th century furniture, restored and reconstructed 19th century furniture and also 1950s.
In 1650 a fire dessomated part of the Palace, namely the Great Hall, kitchen and servants quarters. Part of the stone walls of the Great Hall still exist.
Because it was used as a recreational lodge, the Palace has a large garden including a tennis court built in 1539 which we were shown.
We got given a task which was to experience 3 tours of the Palace (the short 40 minute tour, a self guided tour, and the long 1 hour tour). Then we had to compare each tour, state our preference and give provide feedback on how they could improve the tours and ultimately the visitor experience.
There was a wedding on in the village church today which proved to be a bit of a distraction whilst trying to give feedback to the Curator - there was a bagpipe player and a bus of guests arrived, and we watched the bridal party arrive aswell in some cool vintage cars.
Also last night was nice because the Director of the Open Palace Programme invited those who had done the program before (OPP Alumni) out for dinner and drinks. She ordered haggis for the table so I tried some - I just tried not to think about what I was actually eating.