This is Cole and Cindy’s blog of our travels, which take us to Edinburgh, Scotland, and then to Portugal (and hopefully Spain) for the last week. We’ll visit various other sites along the way and tell you about it. Since the kids’ classes might be interested in this too, we’ve included maps about where we are and information about the places we’re visiting.
After arriving in Coventry, I began to get a little nervous about driving around without Cole in the car. He did such a good job at navigating us to our flat that I was worried that with 3 kids in the car (some screaming) that I might not be able to keep a clear head and find my way to cool sites and back. I even started to think that we might just have picnics for 3 days just outside out cute flat! The girls were having a blast exploring the grassy "backyard." They ran around playing and rolling down hills. A few times, Dani would run back in claiming to have possibly seen a fox and acting terrified. Claire, of course, had to follow suit and run back in yammering on about something. She'd then run back out to play in the grass.
I asked the girls if they wanted to walk Daddy to work and they said that they'd rather play in the yard! This was a bit shocking to me. We realized that they were in full-on investigation mode. Cole went on-line and was able to write up some good directions to two castles nearby: Kenilworth Castle and Warwick Castle. So, after realizing that 3 whole days in the flat would drive me crazy, I asked Katie if she wanted to go to a castle. She immediately answered, "Yes!" So, off we went! Thanks to Cole's directions, and our rented GPS, the girls and I drove straight there.
Kenilworth Castle and Kenilworth Abbey was founded by Geoffrey de Clinton in the 1120s. He relied heavily on King Henry I for personal advancement. It, like many other castles, has passed through many families and undergone many additions and improvements. As an odd little side note, according to local legend, Elizabeth I tasted the first potato brought into the country here at Kenilworth Castle. However, she ate it raw, hated it, and threw it out the window! There, it grew in an area now knows as Little Virginia.
The castle was beautiful and much larger than I expected! I chose this castle because it was closest, and I really didn't know what to expect. There were multiple buildings in various states. Some were totally ruined with little areas where you were allowed to walk up and around. Some buildings were still well maintained and even had furniture inside. The girls mostly loved running around outside. Claire kept insisting on trying to push the stroller and even succeeded in pushing the empty stroller down a few hills so that it crashed into the ruins of a short section of walls. I tried chasing after it, but was too slow. And, I didn't want to alarm the on-lookers by chasing too frantically. It was empty, after all! Afterwards, Katie told me that was funny, but changed her mind once she saw the look on my face! When asked if she would like to ride in the stroller down the hill, she told me that she would but that she wouldn't like crashing into the wall.
Other than the run-away stroller, it was a really lovely trip. Katie bought a pop-gun and Claire bought a noise maker. (Dani didn't see anything in the store that she wanted, so she didn't get anything!) The girls all enjoyed running around outside and making as much noise as possible. And, they enjoyed going inside the ruins and going up and down stairs. After returning to our flat, we were all a bit sun-tanned and worn out! We ALL took a nap! About the time we all woke up, Cole returned. So, we were able to hang out with Daddy and then go out to a lovely Indian restaurant for dinner. Our first real day of our English adventure was a real success!
The castle was beautiful and much larger than I expected! I chose this castle because it was closest, and I really didn't know what to expect. There were multiple buildings in various states. Some were totally ruined with little areas where you were allowed to walk up and around. Some buildings were still well maintained and even had furniture inside. The girls mostly loved running around outside. Claire kept insisting on trying to push the stroller and even succeeded in pushing the empty stroller down a few hills so that it crashed into the ruins of a short section of walls. I tried chasing after it, but was too slow. And, I didn't want to alarm the on-lookers by chasing too frantically. It was empty, after all! Afterwards, Katie told me that was funny, but changed her mind once she saw the look on my face! When asked if she would like to ride in the stroller down the hill, she told me that she would but that she wouldn't like crashing into the wall.
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