Our adventure at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum @RobertBurnsNTS

There is nothing worse than being on holiday when you hear those dreaded words coming from your children...

"Please Mum, not another castle..."

They will appreciate it one day I am sure!

Thankfully, they didn't moan ~ because I had cunningly prepared them and made the whole idea sound like an adventure. I had pretty much covered the Scottish War of Independence with them before we went, so they knew who everyone was and why we were going to these places. I did a little bit about the Jacobite rising as well, so that I had as many bases covered as I could. I also quickly added a dash of Robert Burns into the equation. We listened to a collection of his great works, including "Address to the Haggis."

My youngest watched this YouTube video with great interest. Afterwards, he said..."I couldn't understand a word he said, but if that is what they eat in Scotland then I am not going!"

 Address tae the haggis

Needless to say, I assured him that there would be no haggis on the menu, unless he wanted to try it, and I "translated" the poem, to which he shook his head and said... "Why? Why would you write a poem about a haggis? He must have been really, really, hungry, because I would have to be really, really, hungry to eat that!"

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we found ourselves in Burns Country and my children were looking forward to it. I guess I may get a little bit over-excited about such things, and it must rub off on the younger ones, but my teen was, despite a little bit of eye rolling, looking forward to it as well!

 Robert Burns by Alexanfer Nasmuth

Firstly, we stopped off at The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum ~ talk about child-friendly. There was so much for them to do, my boys had a wonderful time, and even my teen found it interesting. Burn's life was set out in a fascinatingly refreshing way, and I learnt a lot myself ~ what a character he was! I had no idea.

We then went on to the house in which he was born ~ it is a few minutes walk away from the museum. This tiny three-bedroom house was not only home to the family, but to their animals as well. My children didn't take to that idea to kindly, no one wanted to share their home with a cow ~ I can’t say I blame them on that one!!

The property is owned by TheNational Trust for Scotland, and as we are member's of The National Trust, it meant we got in for free...Bonus!

They have a lovely cafe at the Burn's Museum and beautiful gardens. It is well worth a visit, especially if you have children, they definitely will not be bored. I Highly Recommend you check it out sometime.