Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon

Staying in the Knight’s Village at Warwick Castle was one of the parts of the trip that we were all really looking forward to. And wouldn’t you know it, silly me messed up the dates and nearly had us missing it. Luckily, Paul sprang into action and was able to get our dates switched. (And also, thank goodness that this was the only date screw-up of the holiday. Things could have been so much worse.)

We arrived at Warwick just after lunch, checked in, and walked over to the castle. On our way, we were thrilled to learn that the birds of prey show, The Falconer’s Quest, was just about to start. And what a show! There were massive condors, eagles, and vultures soaring inches above our heads. There was even a peregrine falcon racing through the sky and diving for food. But, the finale was really incredible. There were dozens of hawks and other majestic birds circling and flying around above us. Just breathtaking.

We spent the rest of the day exploring different parts of the castle, we took a history tour, walked through the Time Tower, and visited the Kingmaker exhibit where we learned the important role that Warwick Castle played in the War of the Roses. 

That night, we dined in the Knight’s Village dining room and then made our way down to the river for all sorts of medieval activities. We cheered on our favourite knights as they dueled it out, took archery and swordsmanship lessons, and practiced all sorts of jester tricks like plate spinning and Diablo-ing.

The next morning we filled our guts in the dining room and headed back to the castle for an even more jam-packed day of castle fun. We watched the archer’s amazing skills, learned all about the trebuchet and how miserable it would be to have the job of a wheel walker, took more history tours, explored the disappointing Horrible History maze, watched the Falconer’s Quest again (it was that good!), and walked the castle walls where the unfortunate wind incident occurred in one of the stone spiral staircases.

But for Elliot and I, the most memorable part of the day was visiting the terrifying Castle Dungeon Experience. I don’t know how Elliot talked me into going with him, but I do know that at one particularly frightening part of the experience, he said to me, “Mom, I don’t think you’re supposed to push your child in front of you when things get scary.” Ha! I didn’t even know I was doing it. Who knew that being so scared could be so much fun?! And also, I never want to do anything like it again.

For dinner that night, we ventured into town and had amazing pizza and then made our way back to the castle grounds for more jester, knight, and archer action. Ollie also got some falconer training and was so brave as he worked with a cheeky kestrel. What an amazingly fun and super educational experience Warwick Castle was, but alas, we couldn’t stay there forever.

The next morning we left our knightly accommodation and made a brief stop in Stratford-upon-Avon where we joined a walking tour. We learned all about Shakespeare and his family and got to see his childhood home and school and final resting place. It might not have been as fun as the castle, but I was literarily star-struck.

And then we were back on the road to our final stop, London. Paul dropped us at our beautiful apartment in a wooded, gated neighbourhood in Harrow on the Hill. While he returned the rental car at Heathrow, the boys and I wandered down the hill for rations for our last seven days of tubing around London and soaking up our last bits of history and culture of the trip.