This is the village of Warwick. It took about 2 hours to get to it by car from Bury St. Edmunds. And Warwick is on the Avon River about 20 minutes from Stratford-on-Avon.
First glimpse of the castle. You can just see it through the trees. That tower is Guy's Tower.
Too bad they don't sell a smaller, toddler-size version of these. They would have come in handy some years ago. Ha ha ha! Just kidding, Kids! ;)
Throughout many of the pictures that follow you will see these figures. I am not sure what they are made of. Not wax, I should think, since many of them were in direct sunlight inside the castle. The first mannequins are those that represent the most recent inhabitants of the castle. It was lived in until...if I remember correctly, the beginning of the 20th century. Anyway, I think the mannequins looked very real and of course all the clothing and other articles like furniture and artwork are authentic, as far as I could tell with my inexpertise. Here's the link to the Warwick Castle website: http://www.warwick-castle.com/ But the site is more geared toward visitor info. I suppose they don't want to give too much on the site then what would be the point of visiting in person. So here is the Wikipedia link for it too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle I think it's a pretty good entry. And some of the pictures match those that I took below. It was an awesome experience to tour it and breathtaking to see it and the view of the surrounding area while standing at various points on top the perimeter of the castle.
This is a view from above of the Great Hall
Aww, isn't he cute. Just my size.
The "knight and damsel" of my heart!
Hey, Al!
I have the goofiest expression in this picture. I look like I am plastered or something.
The mannequins from this point on are more authentic to the time when Warwick was a fully working castle beginning in the early 11th century.
This is the medieval version of a bathroom stall. There were a few of them that we saw. Alex just couldn't hold it any longer...ha ha ha!
I think I prefer the tiny knight above. :)
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The peacocks ran free on on the castle grounds
The birds in the next few pictures are the birds they keep at the castle. We saw several of them in a show on the outer lawn of the castle with the castle's falconer. It was really cool. I have some video too, which I'll post eventually.
Deb told me that all the swans in the United Kingdom are owned by the queen. It is, naturally, a crime to hurt any of them.
Chantelle didn't want to go up on the rest of the castle perimeter wall, so she waited in the shade (smart woman, it was pretty hot that day but with a great breeze blowing) while we braved it. Some of the turret stairs were really scary. Not only were they spiral, but narrow and steep and with barely anything to hold on to on the way up or down.
After viewing the castle we hit the Victorian Rose Garde on the outer grounds. It's a shame not to have seen the roses in their prime. However, Karen and I will be going to see Deb toward the end of May 2009 and they out to be in their glory if we visit Warwick. If so, I look forward to getting some good pics of the roses. As it was they were still beautiful, as you can see.
Chantelle and Al never realized they posed the same way for this picture until afterward.
