Arundel Castle

I'm still adjusting to time change, but feel pretty good. Other quirking things I'm learning that are different: light switches go down instead of up to turn on, sometimes you need the room key in a key slot to power on the room, and many places offer no AC.

We left the London area with giggly, excited girls as they ran up the stairs to the top of a double decker bus. We were on our way into the countryside away from the hustle and bustle. First, we walked. Then we rode the double decker and last we took the train the rest of the way. As we rode the train out of town, I couldn't help but sing Mary Poppins songs in my head. We passed many homes with tiny, round chimneys. I imagined the scene from the movie with everyone dancing on the rooftops with the chimney sweeps.

Then we entered the countryside and I believe this is the most beautiful place I have seen in Earth this far in my life. A patchwork of green laid across rolling hills with newly sheered sheep, lambs too many to count (my favorite - the smut-faced ones), historic cottages and the Arundel Castle in the distance. The gray clouds that have covered our days in England just intensify the shades of green.

We had a delicious dinner after a long day of travel at BeefEater and are so far impressed with English food. And of course lamb chops were one of our dishes. After a good night's rest, we had a full English breakfast, which included black pudding - Google it if you dare, I won't dare - before walking to Arundel Castle.

Arundel Castle was stunning! This is one of the best preserved castles from the middle ages.
We climbed hundreds of stairs exploring the castle, peeked in the bedrooms, and then had our breath taken away by the gardens surrounding the castle grounds. I want to LIVE in that garden. You need to go for yourself!

During the festival, we watched falcons show off their intelligence and speed, knights dual, archers defeating knights, and our kids took the battlefield. On our walk home we grabbed a bite of English chocolate. It tastes like chocolate. Yummy as always, but nothing defining or distinct. I will keep you posted on chocolate from each country.

One of my goals is to taste chocolate in every country. One of Demi's goals is to climb atree in every country. Check and check!

Such a lovely, slow paced day...... Oh ya, since many things the "commoners" use were closed for the celebration, we washed laundry in our bathtub. Be jealous! Seth had an assembly line going and make it fun. Teamwork!Read more