Warwick Time!

We were very lucky that Grandma Lorraine got to visit us in England this summer. She is a teacher, so the time when she can travel is based on when her kids have a summer break. We planned it so that even our boys were out of school as well. Their last day of school was on July 23rd (a very short summer holiday, if you ask me).

We decided to introduce Grandma to England right away. So the day after she arrived we drove to Warwickshire (it’s pronounced a lot easier than it looks) to visit Warwick Castle. Warwick Castle is one of the best castles in England! It was built by the Normans right around William the Conqueror’s time.  During the War of the Roses in the 15th century, King Edward IV was imprisoned here. In 1604, the castle was given to the Greville family (well, to Sir Duke Greville at the time) by King James I. It was in their possession till 1978, at which time it was sold and opened to the public. It’s amazing but the castle has had 35 different owners since it was upgraded to stone by Henry II (in the early 12th century).

Another amazing thing is that Grandma felt like she belonged here right away.

This castle is known for the amount of fun stuff there is to do on its grounds. The day we went, lots of families with children ventured out here as well, as it was the first Saturday of summer holidays for them. It was a bit crowded, but at least it was not rainy, the weather was superb.

Here is Mark playing one of the traditional games—one player throws a dead rat into the pipe, and another player has to hit it as it falls out. Fun and gross….even though the rats are not real, obviously (I HATE rats and mice).

We watched a couple of shows outside. One was about Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone. That was funny.

Next we watched this cool demonstration how this giant trebuchet (catapult) works. The music was dramatic and the narration was intense. Then finally we saw a fiery ball catapulted into the air. It was quite amazing, actually.

Here we are waiting for the show to start.

And that’s the trebuchet.

We visited the Victorian era as well. But all we found was this chimney boy…

The highlight of our visit was the jousting show. Really, it was entertaining to watch, it was well organized and practiced.

This is the king/MC.

The House of York competing against the House of Lancaster.

Kids enjoyed it, and so did Grandma.

Oh yeah, and that’s the castle in the background. It’s huge!

We almost lost Grandma…

There was a lot to see inside the castle, but there was also so much to explore outside. Kids did try to follow a kids’ tour, but it was a little too slow for their liking. We did buy them wooden swords as souvenirs though and they loved it.

At the very end of our afternoon, we also got to watch a very cool bird show. It was comparable to the one in Alnwick Castle (from last August). Awesome owl with lots of stories. I am usually not a bird show fan, actually, but this one was indeed interesting and entertaining.

If you are ever in England and want to see a FUN castle, Warwick is the one. It also helps to use 2 for 1 entry coupons found on many cereal boxes in the UK. The price of entry for a family of 5 at the gate could cost you almost $140. Yeah…castles in England are just expensive.

Well, our adventures with Grandma were just beginning. I just need to get my pictures organized to write about all of them.

Cheers,

Lyana.