English Road Trippin': Warwick Castle

Here we are in front of our home away from home, for a night.

Then, it was on to the castle itself.

Cora went with Dean and Euan to a special dungeons tour, while Violet went off on her own. She took this photo on her solo exploration. Stace, Jenny, Olivia and I did a different tour, showing the castle set up during the 15th century period of the Kingmaker, the Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville.

Oh, teenagers.

Live shows took place throughout the day, with actors portraying Queen Elizabeth and members of her court.

This was in the "Kingmaker" tour, set in the medieval period.

Another section of the castle is set up as it was in the Victorian age.

Outside the castle, a river runs near.

I love this artsy photo Violet took.
 

We enjoyed the falconry show, which featured large birds of prey from all over the world.

I'm so pleased with this photo! I was using Violet's new phone, which has the best camera in our family (among phones). This was an eagle owl, which has a 6-foot wingspan.

After bird show, we spent a bit of time in the Horrible History maze, before heading to our cars. A long, full, and thoroughly enjoyable day! 

Dean and Jenny returned to Somerset, while Stace and the girls and I continued our trip.

English Road Trippin'

On Monday, we headed north, caravanning with Dean and Jenny and the kids, towards Warwick for a little adventure. 

Along the way, we stopped at the Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chipping Norton, the store made famous by Jeremy Clarkson in his recent show, Clarkson's Farm.
 

We all enjoyed the show, especially Euan, who wants to go into farming. So, even though the shop was closed on Mondays, we still had a good time nosing around.

We then made it to Warwick Castle, and got checked into our lovely lodge. Stace and I had booked a larger unit with a loft, that said it could sleep seven, in hopes that family would join us. 

With English school still in session, the off-season price was fantastic. So we had lots of room for Dean and the family, too. Even though Cora chose to sleep in the under-stair cupboard, a la Harry Potter.

Here, she's spending some time in a nearby tree.

After having a snack and a drink, we watched the knights' show, which was included in the cost for guests staying the night. When we went five years ago, they also had other opportunities, like archery and holding a baby owl! This year, just the knights, but still fun.

These two also put on fighting display for us, which we remembered from our 2017 trip. 

The man on the left, seen in 2017, was in the photo above, as well. Stace wanted Cora and Violet to get a picture with him again after our show, but they refused.

We then strolled through Warwick to find a pub for dinner, passing this ancient hospital!

We settled in at the local Wetherspoon's pub and ordered our meals at the bar. 

Not too long after this photo was taken, we were informed by the manager that because it was soon to be 9 p.m., we would have to leave, because of the children. Big error on their part, allowing us to order food so close to 9! They packed up our meals in to-go boxes. It was quite a strange experience! 

Please notice Stace's super cool Howards Home Improvement hoodie.