Day 5 - Highclere Castle

Saturday, October 5th, we rode the train less than an hour to Newbury, the closest stop to Highclere Castle.

I made all of the arrangements for this day's outing - booked the train tickets and bought the event tickets.

When we arrived at the train station we found a taxi and rode a short way to the festival.

When the driver let us out, we requested that he come back to pick us up at 3:00 pm.

We walked around the grounds and visited the World War II exhibits first.

Didn't get too close to the camel.

I love the trees. Not a type we see at home.

The people were dressed in authentic period clothing.

Those trees...

We walked around the side of the castle.

It was time for a tea break.

Next we walked down to a secret garden.

October flowers

I love these white blooms.

Mixed plantings

Door to the secret garden

I don't know the names of all the flowers but I love the look of the plantings.

We walked back up the hill to the castle.

Martin liked the vintage vehicles.

We toured the castle and the Egyptian exhibit on the ground floor.

I didn't know the Earl of Carnathon was part of the group that discovered King Tut.

We couldn't take photos inside but it was just like we saw on Downton Abby.

Our taxi came on time to take us back to the train station.

We had an uneventful ride back to London.

More to come.

 

Warwick Castle, Shakespeare's Birthplace, Oxford, & Cotswolds 2024

On Friday, October 4, we joined a tour led by Pablo on a bus driven by Parth.

First stop was Warwick Castle.

The castle had exhibits showing what life was like in medieval times.

This river flowed by the castle, very convenient to the original inhabitants.

I enjoyed sitting and people watching while Martin climbed to walk on the wall.

Next stop - Stratford on Avon.

I had to visit this shop because my maiden name is Thornton.

The owner has written several children's books.

I bought one to share with the grands.

Statue across the square.

Shakespeare's birthplace was still standing.

The gardens were almost finished blooming.

Exterior of the house.

More blooms.

The kitchen.

We drove through the Cotswold countryside on our way to Oxford.

Beautiful rolling hills.

One of the colleges of Oxford.

Courtyard of the Bodlean Library.

Old tree with parasites growing from cracks in the bark.

Still green leaves in October.

We returned to London and found our way back to our hotel.