19 June 2011

Kenilworth Castle. . .

On Saturday, we went to explore one of the UK's ruins about 20 miles from our house--Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Gardens.  It is one of the largest ruined castles in the UK, and for most of its history, it was a royal  palace.  The great tower was built in the 1120s and remodeled in about 1570 by Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester.  The great hall was built in the 1370s and the gardens were created in 1575 for Queen Elizabeth 1.

Okay. . that was some of the history--and Keith and oddly Maggie really enjoyed listening to the audio tour-- but, honestly, it was just impressive!  When I had read that it was ruins, I assumed there wouldn't be much there.  It was unbelievable to walk up winding staircases and see the girls running around like they were the princesses living in the castle and the "ENEMY!" was attacking!  Just to see buildings, even in ruins, that have been there for so very long was quite an experience!