Spring Break Day 7--Alnwick Castle and Gardens

Day Seven found us packing up the van (yikes!) and leaving Scotland for good.  We knew there was so much we hadn't seen, but we were looking forward to heading in the general direction of home. 

As we drove along the coast, we stopped for some photos of the amazing views of the North Sea.

Then we headed to Alnwick to check out the Castle and the Gardens.

Josh is a little excited about this one, because it is where the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed.  He's just a bit Potter-cized.  He polished off the sixth book in the car on this trip, and then started the seventh.  Yeah, that's my boy!  Not bad for eight years old.  It was fun to stand in the same courtyard where they taught broomstick-flying lessons; poor Neville!

Alnwick Castle is interesting, because it is still home to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.  It has been the home to the Percy family for over 700 years, and it was very interesting to visit the state rooms and see the blend of old and new.  Like the foosball table in the library, surrounded by walls of ancient Renaissance books and coffered ceilings.

After an abbreviated tour (the little ones were getting restless) we headed to the Knight's Quest, where costumes are available for adventurous young knights and ladies to wear while they train.

Practicing some swordsmanship...

...trying their hands at puppetry (tee hee)...

...and designing family crests for their shields.

Dallin checks out the resident dragon, Izzy.

I think the favorite game was the "rat toss".  It makes me wonder if that indeed was a pastime long ago.  Ew.  I hope not.

After we had seen our fill of the castle, we headed over the grounds to the gardens.

The photos above weren't even the Garden; they were just the grounds and the path to the Garden.  Gorgeous.  I wish the pictures did the views justice.

The fountains were so pretty, and kids had fun running beneath the jetting water.

This was Logan's favorite little hidden-away section of the garden.  There were many nooks and crannies tucked away.

We stayed until the Garden closed, and then we headed back to the car for the drive to our campsite nearby.  Tomorrow, York and then home at long last!