Warwick Castle

During my father's visit to England, we got a chance to go out and see a real-life castle (we've seen many castles, especially in World of Warcraft, but this was our first REAL castle).  We headed east and visited Warwick Castle (pronounced war-ick).  The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068, and after a long military history, converted to a country house and gardens in 1604.  After nearly four centuries of improvements and restorations, the Tussauds (of wax museum fame) bought it and turned it into a theme park.  Despite the obvious tourist trap, we went and thought since it was a week day, there would be less crowds and hardly any kids... dead wrong.  It was the local schools' spring break and the grounds were loaded with families off work and school.  That was all right, though.  That meant there were more volunteers to "fight the dragon" and "attend Merlin's wizard school."  It was a mini theme park, with costumed workers that basically lived a Renaissance Festival everyday. 

As we toured around, we got to climb the highest tower and look down onto the modern city that naturally formed around the castle.  At first I was thinking, "Man, why don't they just have these castles out in the country-sides?"  Then I realized, that the evolution of the city started within the castle walls and worked its way outward.  So, in the middle of downtown, there was a castle, similar to our city halls.  I just needed to remember that this didn't start out as a tourist attraction.

As we entered the main hall, we got to view all sorts of weapons and armor (armour) of the time.  Knights who say, " ... " because they were just displays, hehe! 

Past the hall were the living quarters.  There was even a royal suite, reserved for distinguished visitors to the castle.  The touring trail lead to all parts of the castle, including the servants quarters, armories, and various storage rooms.  The River Avon that ran along-side the castle was also used by a mill for a natural power source. 

Back outside, we wandered around the court and looked at all the booths.  We walked to some of the outer walls and saw how difficult it must have been to attack/defend the castle during times of war.  They had on display a ballista and a trebuchet, however, they we were not allowed to "try them out" on some of the castle walls.

 We had a blast, and can't wait to go visit some more castles during our European travels.

~Blake