Can't Leave the Castle without Seeing the Peacocks!

Of course, nowadays, you can't go to any major attraction in England without taking a look at the gardens and their resident peacocks, it seems.   It was a rather crowded day, as it happened to be a teacher's workday or some other school holiday (can't remember which at the mo.); and so we were ready for the quiet of the gardens by this point in our visit to Warwick Castle.

Emily and I liked the Monkey Puzzle tree here.

Trust me, there are even more peacocks here.  They like to lie down behind the hedges.

An awesome tree

Raptors at Warwick Castle

We had a really, really full day at Warwick Castle. Three posts and I'm still not done!

Anyway, aother neat thing to see there was the Master Falconer' demonstration, during which we got to see their many birds in flight. Both events (I made sure to see 'em both!) were packed with a lot of interesting information about large birds of prey. I came away with a deeper appreciation of just how much energy it takes for the larger birds to fly, (The winds were rather still that day and we were short on thermals.) which explains why birds of this size tend to sit still a lot, looking for prey.

Look at those orange eyes on the European Eagle Owl!

Golden Eagle (I think) having a cool-down in the tub

 Steller's Sea Eagle  

Palm Nut Vulture (not a raptor)

Warwick Castle . . . The Castle

It really is quite amazing to walk around a real medieval castle.  The castle at Warwick was constructed during the Eleventh Century . . . just stop for a minute and think about this:  the Eleventh Century!!!  Talk about "if these walls could talk"!

Anyway, Warwick Castle is well worth visiting, if you are ever in the area.  I think those who run it as a park do a pretty good job of bringing alive some of the history for visitors (with the aforementioned Trebuchet demo, the rat tossing, and other popular pastimes of the age).  And considering how weak so many of us tourists' knowledge of history is, that's a pretty tough job for an historical attraction.  So you have to forgive them some of the more . . . Disneyfied portrayals.  Actually, now that I think back on the rat tossing and the trebuchet demo . . . perhaps that's not the term.  (But I digress . . . )

Cousin Sam tried some archery - and did very well too - very near the bulls eye each time.

Know what these were for?  Not just decoration or expressions of Christian devoutness.

Emily and Grandpa, a little tuckered out after the long climb up to the top of a turret.

The Cousins attempting to win the throne.

View along the castle out towards the weir.

The Trebuchet at Warwick Castle

Since Alex's family are in the area, on May 30th (I think it was.  Hard to keep track of dates when you're in vacation mode.) we went to visit Warwick Castle with the kids.  One very cool thing was their Trebuchet demonstration.

18 metres tall . . . that's about 59 feet!

They used men in these "hamster wheels" to wind it  up taut.   Very, very dangerous job!!  Watch a real hamster on his wheel, and take a guess why.  (clue: Hamsters are better at landing on their feet.)

As you may have guessed, Cousin Sam was a bit more interested in the demonstration than was Cousin Emily.