Day 5 - Day off for Jans birthday

To celebrate having a day off from travelling, oh, and Jans birthday, we had a bit of a lie in and didn't go down for breakfast until 09:00hrs - this is the latest we've been all week. Another Full English and another good breakfast. This prompted me to do a review of all the B&B's we've been to so far. Every one has been an absolute gem. They've all been spotlessly clean with freshly decorated rooms, good, crisp linen, free wifi and really good, modern en-suite bathrooms. The food at each one has been perfect -in fact we've slept and dined like lords!
Sunday night we stayed at Alandale in St.David's, Monday night at Maes-y-Derw Guest House in Newcastle Emlyn, Tuesday night at The Fron near Llangammarch Wells, Wednesday night at The Royal Oak at Burford, Tenbury Wells and Thursday night at The White Lion Inn in Hampton-in-Arden.

Anyway, back to today. We decided to go sightseeing in Warwick which is only a few miles from where we are staying. In the end we just visited the castle, but really enjoyed it.


The castle featured in the first ever series of Blackadder - it was the backdrop to the opening credits.


Anyway, Jan was giving me a bit of trouble so I found a way to keep her quiet whilst I enjoyed a tour of the castle:


The castle is owned and run by the same people that run Madame Tussauds and the London Eye and was quite enjoyable with themed rooms and displays but I must confess I missed the more explanatory style that the National Trust have in their houses and castles.

The castle is impressively sited on a rock outcrop beside the River Avon and, I learnt, managed to avoid getting destroyed in the Civil War by sitting on the fence until the last moment and then choosing the winning side! I visited the gaol in the base of one of the tower and imagined how crushingly bleak it would have been to be imprisoned there - basically one would have had no expectation of ever getting out!


This mound would have been where the original keep was built in 1068 - just two years after the Norman invasion. How many bl**dy Normans were there? in just a couple of years they seem to have been all over the country!


The castle features various actors playing the part of historic figures associated with the castle. as usual I find this hard to cope with - I know they're only acting and can't seem to get into the role I'm supposed to play!


I think the bear must be a motif for Warwick as it's all over the place. jan and I liked this fellow:


Outside in the gardens there are some model siege engines - here's one:


Here's a view of Warwick Cathedral(?) from the castle walls:


The courtyard has a number of tents hawking various attractions/products/foods and I think helps lend a medieval atmosphere to the place:

Finally I collected Jan:

and we went for stroll around the rose garden (it is her birthday after all!)


Jan doesn't know, but we've got some surprise guests joining us for dinner tonight! I've nearly blown the secret on a couple of occasions, but I think she's still oblivious - I'll know for sure in a couple of hours time. Photos to follow - I'd better recharge the camera.