Alnwick Castle

When we found out that our trip to Italy was canceled, we decided that we should take an over-night trip up North to see Alnwick Castle and Hadrian's Wall.

Alnwick Castle (pronounced "An-nik") played the role of Hogwarts School in the early Harry Potter films, so it has been on my list of places to see for a while now. Historically however, this castle has been inhabited by the Percy Family: the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland, since 1309. In fact, the current Duke of Northumberland and his family live in the castle even today.

The first view of the castle was amazing! We enjoyed the huge field of daffodils that greeted us, as well as the soldiers on top of the turrets.After a quick glance around the grounds and inner courtyard, we were able to go inside to see the castle's State Rooms. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but these are a few shots that I found on-line, which include views of the red drawing room, the library, and the dining room.Back behind the castle, they had a section designed for the children called "Knightquest." The kids could dress up as knights or princesses and do some training exercises to become a knight. Tim and Maddie had a great time having a go at archery and making a dragon charm. Collin loved bowling, of course (balls are his favorite toy nowadays).I thought the "Knightsquest" was such a great idea! What a clever way to get the kids more involved and have a more meaningful experience.

We finished up our time at the castle by strolling the grounds and watching the kids have fun rolling down the little hills. By the way, here's a shot from the first Harry Potter film and my picture of where it was taken.We then headed next-door to the lovely Alnwick Gardens. The gardens were gorgeous! We were greeted by a huge, cascading fountain. And if that weren't enough... at the base of the fountain was a bunch of ride-on John Deere tractors that the kids could play with. The kids LOVED it! They could fill the front scoops of the tractors with water from the fountains, and go and dump it anywhere they pleased. Tim's expression was pure delight, and didn't change the whole time he was riding on the tractor.When we were finally able to drag the kids away from the tractors, we took a nice stroll through the gardens. We started off in the bamboo maze, and then made our way to the walled gardens. The kids were fascinated by all of the fountains, and I was delighted to find some resident white doves.It was such a wonderful day... nice, warm weather, beautiful castle, and lovely gardens.