World Cities Tour 2014 Summer Edition - Day 10

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Day 10 - The Royal Road

Today we have another long trip planned. It would normally take us about 3 hours to get from Wychnor to Salisbury. On the way, we planned to spend a couple of hours at Warwick Castle and maybe stop at a few other locations. Just before Warwick we stopped at a ruined castle complex called Kenilworth Castle. The original buildings were built in the 1100s and addtions were made until the 1600s. After the English Civil War the castle wall was torn down so that it couldn't be used as a stonghold again. Many of the buildings had areas that were still accessible. Michelle enjoyed climbing through the halls and finding small dark nooks to explore. The Castle was one of the English Heritage sites. We bought a pass that lets us get into all of them for free. We also signed up for a add on that gets us into many other sites, like Warwick castle, at a discount. The pass paid for itself today. After Kenilworth we headed to Warwick castle. Tony remembered going there as a kid and wanted to share the expirence with Michelle. His favorite part was exploring the dungeons of the castle. Warwick castle has been around since the 900s and is celebrating thier 1100th birthday this year. The castle is one of the most developed castles in England. There are extensive tours and shows, along with some attractions. We spent our time wandering around the castle (including the 530 steep, narrow steps to the top of the castle wall) and the grounds. Michelle spent some time at the playground riding the zipline, we watched the Birds of Prey show, toured the Peacock Gardens, and finished off the day watching the replica trebuchet fire a flaming sphere at the invading forces. We spent over 4 hours at the castle and still didn't see everything. We left the castle a little later than planned and needed to get to Salisbury before 8PM. The 3 hour trip through the counrtyside was beautiful and fun to drive (according to Tony). We finally reached Salisbury and checked into our B&B. After dinner and a chat with our hosts we headed to bed to be ready for our early visit to Stonehenge tomorrow morning.

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Photos

Morning Rush Hour
The only in and out of our resort was a very skinny road with no pullouts. Visibility was so bad there was a traffic light. The morning we left was the only time we ever saw more than one car waiting at the light. There were 5!!!

I saw the Light
If you look very carefully off to the left you can see the traffic light.

One Lane
When they say one lane, they really mean one lane.

Castle Ruins
Tony and Michelle talking about the layout of the old castle.

<Insert Zelda accomplishment sound here>
The remains of one of the basement pillars that held up the Great Hall. It looked like something from Zelda that you would turn to solve a puzzle.

Oh look! A dark narrow space!
Michelle and Tony finding places to crawl into again.

Happy Happy!
Michelle is very happy that we found a ruined castle to climb around in.

Warwick castle
Just about the polar opposite in castles to the ruined one. Everything was pretty themed.

Thief!
Michelle spent a little time in the stocks.

Oh boy, a Dungeon!
The part Michelle was looking forward to the most. We saw all the places prisoners were kept, including the oubliette.

Where she belongs
I don't think the restraints were made for someone Michelle's size.

No Peeking!
We found the loos!

Heavy Metal
A real imitation 1600s helmet.

530 Steep Steps
This was only part way up, before the really steep staircase.

Top of the tower
The tall tower was REALLY tall. The stair was very narrow and winding. We are glad they had an up staircase and a down staircase.

Where's Hamster?
He really wanted to check out the giant trebuchet.

Prepare to Fire
Firing (literally). They launched a flaming cannonball at least 150 feet into the air, and 500 feet down range.

For the Birds
Eagles, Hawks, and a very young Condor who didn't stick with the program and went to take selfies with the tourists on the various castle towers.

You hit it with a Steeeck.
Michelle didn't quite understand the allure of croquet.

I always knew he was poufter.
Tony takes every opportunity to do the unexpected.. which makes it expected... paradox?

Do you have food?
Roaming peacocks begging for food. Anne said if you stepped on it, it would be mushy peas.

Mating or Raging?
It was... Mating... 5 cocks were vying for the attention of one hen who couldn't care less. This one kept displaying long after the hen was gone.. I guess he got over-excited.

Awesomer Zipline
The castle playground had a really great zip-line... quite long and fast. Michelle found some boys to play with.

It's the back-side of a castle (with some water)
Michelle and Anne taking an opportunity to inspect the less-often-seen spots of Castle Warwick.