WARWICK IN THE SNOW

Two small cars were much cheaper than one minivan big enough for all nine of us. So off we go - caravaning through the snow. The countryside IS beautiful and the roads aren't horrible, yet. Tom led - he had some idea where we were going, AND he had a GPS. I had a white hanky tied to his rear window wiper arm to follow.




Except for a traffic jam, due to locals trying to get up a slippery grade of about 2%, the drive was completed without incident. We dropped everyone off at the front, drove through the rest of town, parked the cars, walked back to the castle and FOUND OUR GROUP. How DID we ever live without cell phones?








The "Gypsies" were in the courtyard, complete with strongman, fortuneteller, perriot dancer, and "Brenda the Bearded Lady."

Inside, there was a roaring fire in the banquet hall - set for dinner with 100 or so of your best friends.




In the lower level, the residents were getting ready for what would become the Battle of Barnet. Lots of cooking, sewing, fixing of armor and weapons.

With wax figures





and the occasional reenactor.



This lady was sewing banners for the battle.And was willing to come out of character to answer some questions about the battle and the outcome. Seems the Duke of Warwick's force were winning handily until some of his troops got confused by the similarity in their banners and those of the opposing forces. They attacked their own troops and they lost the battle. The Duke lost his head.

The upstairs was set up as a later, slightly more gentile period around the turn of the last century with a young Winston Churchill and his contemporaries.


All we could say after our visit this summer to Biltmore was, "Mr. Vanderbilt, 'Eat your heart out.'"
This is the REAL STUFF. Well, much of it, anyway. Another of the reenactors stayed completely in character to Tom, but when he asked if there was anything he could do, I said, "Yes. Please tell me when the snow will stop." In a perfect stiff English accent he replied, "So sorry, m'Lord. I can't help you with that. Do you Google?"

There were other visitors as well, from a slightly earlier time.






The weather had taken a turn for the worse. But it certainly turned the castle into a fairyland.





So we said, "Good by" to Warwick Castle and its inhabitants. We did pause for Tom to say a special farewell to Brenda.




Life really is good.

LONDON - DAY 2 & 3

Of course Ben was the CUTEST child in the program.



After a yummy dinner and a couple of pints at "a pub with a Thai kitchen" we all watched Casey shine. Sorry, no pictures. But, "trust me" she was wonderful.

Friday morning we were up bright and early to take the tubes to see the Tower of London.

In the middle of a snowstorm. Hey, at least it wasn't still raining.

No pictures allowed of the Crown Jewels but here are a couple as we entered. Snow pellets do really strange things on a digital camera.





The Beefeater cut the outdoor tour short because of the snow. We found a delightful female Warden to take us on a tour of the inside. From King Henry VIII's armor to "modern day indoor conveniences".




And the truly amazing Norman chapel.



Lots of armor, weapons and I don't know what









OF COURSE, after we'd spent most of the day indoors, when we came out the SUN WAS SHINING. (I'm writing this a week later and that's the ONLY sunshine we've seen.Maybe tomorrow). The walls and towers were still closed because of the snow,
so Emily got a picture of the guards, we hit another great pub and headed back to High Barnet. I met Tom along the way and he and I went to get two rental cars for tomorrow's adventure to Warwick.

In what is forecast to be the "Blizzard of the Century". We don't know if that means the 21st Century or the last hundred years. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.