Kenilworth Castle

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