Today was all about me. When we were planning this trip, I told Peter that out of the 8 weeks we were in the UK my must do list consisted of 3 things: (1) attend the Edinburgh Tattoo, (2) golf at one of the courses at St. Andrews and (3) visit Highclere Abbey. We’re doing my first 2 items in two weeks when we get to Scotland and we did the 3rd today.
If you’re not a Downton Abbey fan….why not??? Seriously, if you’re not a fan this post might not mean much to you and, as always, I’m not offended if you choose to skip it.
We got to Highclere Castle a little before opening time at 1000. It was only about 1:15 drive from Portsmouth and we made great time.
Here is a very short video of me walking in the footsteps of Carter. If you’re a fan of the show, you know what I mean.
They are very careful about how many people they allow into the Castle at the same time. Even though we started to queue at about 9:45, we didn’t actually get into the Castle until about 10:20 and there weren’t that many people in line before us. By the time we got in, the line was twice as long.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the Castle, but I found a short documentary on YouTube about the castle. This shows you many of the rooms used most often in the series as well as a small bit of the Egyptian exhibition. The video explains the link between Highclere Castle and Egypt. I couldn’t get the it to embed, so here’s the link that should get you there on YouTube. It’s about 6 minutes long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv5AQDntIcI&t=1s
One thing that struck me about the rooms is that they are much smaller than they look in the series. The bedroom that was used as Lord and Lady Grantham’s bedroom was a nice size but much smaller than it looks on TV. The guide said that by the time the actors, the 30 crew members and all the equipment were squeezed into the room, no one could even move. The one that surprised me the most was the grand staircase. It looks gigantic on the screen but it really isn’t all that big. It’s still beautiful though.
To help us understand how the house was used in the series, there were posters set up in the rooms that were used most frequently for the show, particularly the salon, the dining room and the drawing room. Since they used all the original furniture I could almost see the actors in the room. It was very cool.
After touring the Castle and the Egyptian Exhibit, we wandered the grounds for awhile. The Castle sits on 10,000 acres of beautiful rolling hills. Like most of England, the hills aren’t very green right now but it was still beautiful. There were plenty of benches in the shade where we hung out and relaxed.
The final treat for the day was Afternoon Tea in the Coach House. It was hotter than hell in there but we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. We had champagne, scones with cream (butter) and jam, 4 types of sandwiches (the 4th was smoked salmon; didn’t try that one) and 3 types of desserts: chocolate mousse, carrot cake and a Victoria sponge that was delicious.
We had a great time at the Castle. Even Peter, who’s never seen Downton Abbey, enjoyed it. He loved the history of the Castle and thought tea was amazing.
After tea (which was a pretty big lunch) we got back into the car for the drive to Bristol about 1:15 away. This trip was easy as we were on the motorway (highway) for almost 60 miles. After the narrow country roads, it was a real treat.
We’ve settled into the Doubletree and plan to take the train to Bath tomorrow. It’s going to be hot again so we’re going to take it slow.
Thank you for posting all those pictures of the food served at the afternoon tea for me. Oh, and the castle picture was good too!
Actually, you’re not the only one who enjoys the food picture. Other followers have also commented….who knew??
See……….I told you…………. the love of food is the one thing we ALL have in common! Keep those delicious photos coming.