Once upon a time, in a far away land, I went to a castle.

If you didn't figure it out by the title, I went to a castle. The Arundel Castle is just your run of the mill, old. English castle. Of course... that is anything but run of the mill to an American such as myself. This thing was MUCH cooler than Fort Hunter (I'm sure some of you don't even know what/ where that is... it's near Harrisburg.) I guess that really isn't a fair comparison. Anyway, we traveled from Bognor Regis to Arundel and back on the train for under 2 pounds (that's really cheap.) Then, we walked a little under a mile into town to the base of the hill where castle stands.

One of the guys in charge gave us a discounted rate to tour the castle, so we were able to see everything except some of the bedrooms. We couldn't take any photos of the interior for preservation and security reasons (the queen actually stays there sometimes!) So, I'll paint a picture with words- just remember, I've never been good at art!! There are large passageways connecting vast rooms for dining, worshiping, socializing, and entertaining. The queen's bedroom and other living areas are also quite stunning. Paintings of royalty from the past are abundant. In one, it looked as though the Duke was holding a cue stick (for billiards.) I thought that was a little odd but, in the next room, was very fancy (very old) pool table! As for the outside... my profile picture (to the right of this blog) is one of the photos I took... feel free to search for more photos of it on Google!

(Sorry for that very brief description... I could go on and on... talk to me in person when I'm home!)

We were able to go up in the keep, see down into the well (which is incredibly deep), and see many other areas of the castle the soldiers and knights frequented. The views from the castle's height were very impressive! English countryside, rolling hills, hedgerows, the small town of Arundel... pretty much exactly what you'd expect when reading about such a place in a fairy tale.

That was the main excitement of my week... yesterday, I went into town, then to the library for a bit. Last night, we gathered at the pub... for another Diet Pepsi... and socialized. Then, went to the beach. It was pretty ominous--the white of the waves against a dark, well, everything. We had fun though.

Today has been pretty relaxed. We met at Melissa's this afternoon to plan some trips, and tonight there's a welcome party for international students at the university... tomorrow, it's off to London for the weekend!

I reckon that's all for now- have a lovely day!