Ten on the Tenth: Warwick Weekend

I was hoping that another weekend away would get me a few more things crossed off my list for Rinda's Scavenger Hunt and Warwick did not disappoint!

First off there was Warwick Castle itself.

 #6 - Historical Landmark

The beautiful Peacock Gardens within the grounds had something else I was looking for:

 #9 - A Fountain

While we tried to take decent photos of the very tame peacocks strutting about the garden we noticed that two photographers were taking lots and lots and lots of photos of a romantic couple ... "A real life bride!!!" I thought, even though she was dressed in a rather un-typical turquoise evening dress ...

... but it turned out that she was actually a Bride-to-be and they were doing a pre-shoot in advance of November's wedding {Yes, I did ask!!}  We kept seeing them around the grounds in several different ensembles and poses and eventually spotted them twirling for the cameras:

 #15 - Someone Dancing

That photo was taken from high above the happy couple because we'd climbed up and up and up the mound where the original castle was constructed using several of these:

#19 - Outdoor Staircase

We also climbed the tallest tower of the castle to enjoy the views and we spotted something unusual in the distance ...

Could it be?  Once we returned home I studied Google maps and did my research  to confirm that this was indeed Gurdwara Sahib which is a Royal Leamington Spa's enormous Sikh temple.

# 17 - A Temple {and that's a Church spire on the left!}

Warwick is pretty compact and I counted six churches on our wanderings - it seemed like there was one on every corner - so I did have a backup if the white pavilion had turned out to be the spa at Leamington or a themed amusement park!

Inside the castle there were several interesting exhibitions with a great cast of wax, animatronic and real live figures.  We learned how to rip people's tongues out with red-hot implements, admired the destructive powers of various arrow heads, gasped at the cost of a military horse (think Porsche in today's prices), and learned all about the Duchess of Devonshire's famous entertaining, some of which took place here:

#8 - A Library

There were lots of activities laid on for families as it was the last weekend of the school summer holidays.  This gave me a chance to snap another one for the hunt - unfortunately the crowds were too big, the queues were too long and our feet were too tired for the juggler to be either me or mine!

#14 - Someone Playing With A Ball

We had a super time in Warwick; I wish we'd made it there when the children were smaller, they'd have had a lot of fun too. Child No. 3 also thought it was great but gave the biggest thumbs up, not to the demonstrations of the enormous trebuchet (my original hope for #14), but to the splendid jousting show which featured ... several more horses!

An extra go at #9 - More horses

Mel managed her entire Scavenger Hunt within a week.  I'm pretty chuffed that I managed to get a third of my items (and it could have been several more) within a weekend. The astute amongst you will notice that there are ten photos here too ... so that'll be why I've hooked up with Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth as well!