Warwick Castle: November, 2005

"He went to fight wars

For his country and his king

Of his honor and his glory

The people would sing

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was."

---from "Lucky Man" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

As we drove from Stratford-Upon-Avon toward Warwick Castle, we encountered British fog.

Though not as thick as that found in the hotel room when Maxwell Smart visited London in an episode of "Get Smart," it nonetheless significantly hindered viewing the bucolic countryside.

While Windsor Castle still houses the queen on weekend escapes, Warwick Castle is strictly a tourist draw featuring exhibitions for different eras of history.

We took some of the included guided tours and also wandered on our own.

As we entered the "Kingmaker" exhibit, we heard shouts of "Henry" from the automated soldiers in support of the new king-to-be endorsed by the Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville, in 1471.

The kids and I soon joined the cheers, and much to Julie's dismay, continued to rally for Henry throughout the rest of the trip.

Being a soldier back then didn't seem like a great career path.

Winning battles kept them fed on the "spoils of war," but of course many died along the way.

 
IF they returned, they earned enough money to buy a couple of pints of beer and a chicken, which I assume means they re-enlisted the next morning after their return.

In another part of the castle, the "Royal Weekend Party" took us back to the turn of the last century, when Winston Churchill was a young aristocrat invited to the wonderful parties at Warwick Castle along with other fascinating attendees.

The hostess, Daisy, the Countess of Warwick, remained the pre-eminent star of the parties filled with luminaries, partly by spending all of her ample inheritance (an inheritance that bought her the husband who gave her the title) to throw these marvelous shindigs and partly because of her beauty and charm.


Rumor has it that many of the guests knew her intimately, which might also account for her popularity.

There's far more to see, including the torture chamber, the parapets and towers, making this another great stop, but soon we were off racing through the Cotswalds on our way to see Stonehenge.

Fortunately, the fog broke, and we enjoyed beautiful views of the English countryside.


Before I came to Europe the first time,

I had the impression that people left for America because they ran out of room, yet even today, there is far more country than city in England.