Our first castle of 2013:
Kenilworth Castle
starting it's life as a Norman Keep in the 1120s
the property grew in size and importance
preparing for it's greatest period of fame:
during the reign of "the virgin queen" Queen Elizabeth I
she gave the castle to her childhood friend and lifetime love
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
the day after her coronation in 1563
he spent the rest of his life making a castle "fit for a queen"
and added another building with a dancing chamber on the top floor,
an exquisite Elizabethan garden,
and even an aviary
Queen Elizabeth I visited 4 times
the castle gradually went to ruin after the civil war
Sir Walter Scott brought the castle back into public thought with his romantic novel
aptly titled Kenilworth in 1821
but enough history...here are some pictures...
someone is very excited to be out of the car after a 2.5 hour drive
exploring the guard towers in the wall
blue skies!
and I love the image of the airplane flying over these castle ruins
our friends!
(two very special old friends and one precious little new one)
benji's look of bewilderment at waking up in joel's arms is hilarious
we get to meet aurea
we kind of want to keep her
but her parents said "no"
oh right, the castle was cool too
actually, this was the restored guard house and it was pretty neat to walk through
the stables have found new life as the cafe and exhibition hall
one of the best part of babies is having to stop to feed them...
and enjoying tea and cake for ourselves of course!
this castle was obviously quite the place in it's heyday -
these windows would have been beautiful with the glass inside
