Another Castle

We have enjoyed touring the old towns of England, and Warwick was no exception. We checked into our room at The Tudor House, an old building from the 15th century, complete with short doors, and wonky floors. They have a nice cozy Pub, with a decent meal (the traditional Sunday Roast). Since we had already walked through the old town with our suitcases, we stayed there our first evening for a meal. We met some nice guys at the Pub who entertained us with their humor, and also bought us another pint of ale.

The next day we toured the famous castle that is right in the town. It was owned by the original family until 1978, so it never fell into ruin. But evidently, the upkeep was more than the family could handle, and they sold it for 1.5 million pounds in 1978. Madame Tussaud bought it and turned it into a major attraction, but of course, had to dump about ten million pounds into it. Our hosts at the Inn gave us a two-for-one coupon, so that made it affordable.

We spent the whole day there, and it was very impressive. They had some shows, that were really amazing. One was the falconer, with birds of prey. He showed off an eagle, and some vultures, flying up to the castle towers.

The next show was the archer. He definitely caught my fancy, but he was also good archer, and explained how the english had made the Longbow so famous, by using it in the Hundred Years' War. He also explained that the peasants were the archers, since they were plentiful, and had a high likelihood of dying in battle.

The views were fantastic from the towers. There was an amazing armor collection, and the scenes of the "party days" of the 1920's were fascinating.

View from the tower

The Great Hall

The last show was the trebuchet. This was a machine used to throw fireballs into a castle that they were attacking.The pictures do not do it justice.

Trebouchet at rest

Trebouchet is ready to fire, arm is completely pulled back

Dog on the train

Fireball is in the sky!

Warwick was a lovely old town, full of old buildings and cozy pubs. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The next morning we bought bread, cheese, and fruit, and walked though the town to the train station. Then we caught another train to Exeter. The trains are lovely, and they even allow dogs!