Castles, Ruins and Dungeons

What an eventful few weeks it has been! In addition to a ridiculous amount of homework and my first round of essays being due, I was still able to make some time for adventure!

Laura and I took a day trip to Kenilworth Castle. Outside of Coventry and stuck right in the middle of a cute country town are the ruins of this once massive castle. This castle's construction started in the 1100's and continued throughout the 1600's with new additions and refurbishments. Kenilworth was given to Robert Dudley by Queen Elizabeth as a show of her affection and Dudley’s loyalty to the crown. Dudley rebuilt the castle, adding new additions, that were specifically for his one true love, the Queen herself. He built her a stunning garden (much of which is still in great condition) and he built her private rooms with access to an upper level so she could look it at the lake that used to be there. It’s also possible that he made the rooms with secret access so that he could visit her without people knowing (even though everyone knew they were together anyways... eyeroll). Oh, drama!

(Looking up at Kenilworth Castle)

Queen Elizabeth made many summer visits, and on her last visit to Kenilworth in 1575, Robert Dudley hosted a giant party in her honor. He had plays, dances, music, special events, and banquets, all to show his love for the Queen. He hoped that she might concede in marrying him after long last, and this event was his last ditch effort to win her over. Alas, he failed and Elizabeth returned to London with no promise of marriage. After that Dudley gave up, fathering a bastard and marrying a widow. Queen Elizabeth remained unmarried her whole life, married only to her country. What a tragic story...

(Panorama view of the ruins)

Despite the castle passing from family to family, finally falling into disrepair, it’s history still remains. The English Heritage group has added stairs and exhibitions without changing the structure and has kept the castle in the best possible condition. It really is a stunning building! The land it’s on is beautiful and walking up to the main castle, one can only image how grand it really was! Strolling under the half-destroyed arches, you can still see the amazing detail that went into them, same with the windows and the architecture of the Great Hall. In the main building, there are fireplaces stuck out every 10 feet or so, and you can see the wood remnants of a floor in the stone.

(So that's a fireplace floating halfway up the wall!)

Stepping back in history was really fun and I would 100% recommend Kenilworth Castle to anyone in the area! It's worth taking a day to explore the castle and surrounding town and parks, where you can find great food and stunning countryside!

Next on the list was Warwick Castle! When my boyfriend Elijah came to visit, we had a hard time deciding what to do. Most of the English Heritage sites are only open on the weekends starting in November, and sadly he was only here for the week. So trying to find a cool castle for him to see became a problem, until we found Warwick! This castle is owned and operated by the Merlin Entertainment Group (once known as the Tussaud’s Group) and has turned into a huge tourist attraction. Not just for foreign tourists, but English ones too! And I can see why! This castle was exciting to see in comparison to Kenilworth because it has stood the test of time and has been refurbished and used all the way through the 1900’s.

(The walk up to Warwick proved that this castle was just as impressive as I was hoping!)

Warwick was first established as a protective fort in the 900's until Wiliam the Conquer built the moat and a larger fort in the 1060's. The castle is then attacked, rebuilt, attacked, fortified, attacked, built larger until finally, it is finished. Some fun historical events that took place at Warwick include; Joan of Arc being imprisoned and standing trial at the castle in 1431, the Earls of Warwick are killed for treason for generations (crazy family I guess, no one learns...), the castle is said to be haunted by various nobles who died within the walls of the castle, every royal ever has visited, and finally, after a thousand years of history, it has become a hotspot for tourists!

 (Can you tell I love Panoramas?! The grounds of Warick Castle are amazing in themselves!)

Warwick is very lavish and has been refurbished, thus making it stunning visually. Sometimes it's hard to imagine what it was actually like and the wax figures placed on display kind-of throw off the historical tune of the place. It's a bit gaudy overall, but it really is very interesting to see! I loved this castle because I still felt like I learned a lot, and I loved getting to see all the stunning rooms and displays. You can also walk along the ramparts and up towers to get amazing views, and climbing up to the mound (which overlooks the castle) you also see the river Avon, a trebuchet, a mill and beautiful countryside. It really is worth a visit if you're around or thinking about visiting.

 (Looking up at the Mound- thought to be the oldest part of the main castle due to it's fortifiable location.)

Oh and there's a dungeon. I was freaked out the whole time walking through it and I will NOT be going back there! Yes, I'm a baby with scary stuff. And hey, who can blame me for wanting to avoid the dark, haunted remains of a dungeon?!


Anyways, I loved both Kenilworth and Warwick and I can't wait to explore more of the castles this amazing country has to offer! Here's to many more adventures and castles!

All the Shenanigans

Ahhh October. The trees start to change, the air gets a little colder, and pumpkins take their place on every doorstep. It's also my best friends birthday month! And as always, Laura and I celebrated her birthday in some very exciting ways!

 (Westminster Abbey and my AMAZING pasta!)

We started out by taking a trip to London! Laura had miraculously booked tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child after waiting a year striking out in online queues and finding nothing but sold out shows. Did we go to London with the sole purpose of seeing this show? Why yes, yes we did. Was it worth it? Good lord it was MAGICAL!

So if you’re me, and a huge Harry Potter fan, I’m sure you’ve read the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? Well yeah, so I wasn’t too thrilled with it. I feel like it read kinda like bad fan fiction. JK Rowling had no part in the writing of the screenplay so of course it’s not going to be quite what you would expect, but unlike a book or a movie, or a play for that matter, a screenplay just has no life. There’s no feeling and it’s hard to get those mental pictures. But the actual play? OH. MY. GOSH. Literally, there’s no better word than magical! The cast was amazing and fit the characters very well, the special effects and “magic” were fantastic, and it brought to life the Wizarding World in a whole new way! I would 100% recommend to any Harry Potter fan!

(Outside the Entrance!)

After the two part, 5 hour play, we went to The Ivy, a high class, fancy restaurant Laura found to get some celebratory birthday drinks. Everything was so fancy, I felt so out of place! And I said the name of my order wrong and got a chuckle/weird look from the waiter. What can I say, I’m from Wyoming?! But after a good glass of wine and some fried zucchini (classy right?) we went back to our hotel to get some sleep before our next full day!

(Westminster and Big Ben)

Laura and I have both been to London, so it was fun to explore all the areas we loved. We went to Camden Market and had some awesome cheesy pasta, shopped around, considered getting tattoos, and took lots of fun pictures! We also navigated all the bridges and walkways along the Thames, exploring Westminster, the London Eye, and we swung by the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. London is such a fun and vibrant city and it was so fun to get back and visit, if just for a few days!

The next weekend, and for Laura’s actual birthday, we headed off to Bristol. So continuing with the Harry Potter theme, we went to Bristol to get these Harry Potter “Freak Shakes”. So these are crazy shakes that have all sorts of other goodies on them! It was a butterbeer milkshake with a donut, chocolate frog, Gringotts chocolate coins, a chocolate wand, whipped cream, caramel, and a pair of Harry Potter glasses! Oh yes it was a ton of sugar but it was totally worth it! YUM!

(The only way to do milkshakes!)

After our shakes we walked all over the town to get rid of our sugar highs! Bristol is also the home of the street artist Banksy, so we took ourselves on a Banksy walking tour to find his work in Bristol. It was pretty cool to learn more about how he got his start and everything he’s done since! Such a mysterious and talented artist! We also went to a really cool museum called the M Shed that detailed the growth of Bristol, saw a stunning cathedral, and ate so much good food! Bristol is a lovely port city with a lot of interesting history! It is worth a stop if you’re in the area and have a day or two to kill!

(Banksy's first work of street art, vandalising the hull of a ship!)

Overall, it was a wonderful October full of fun and exciting experiences! November has started out pretty darn well too and hopefully the next month goes well as I’m half way through my first semester of Grad school! Here’s to countless more adventures!