Bodiam Castle

The next day, after we visited Rye, we went to Bodiam Castle. This resulted in another long bus ride. But the country side was so beautiful who could have complained? (In actuality, none of us complained.) The bus dropped us off near a little pub with a sign pointing to Bodiam Castle. We ate at there tea room, which was more of a cafeteria that served cream tea. Anyways, we then headed up a little hill to the castle. Bodiam Castle is one of the only surviving castles with a moat, so from the outside, the castle looks exactly like the castles we imagine today. But, when you enter, the whole thing is in ruins except for the four towers and the walls. you could see stumps of stones where the walls used to be, dividing the kitchen from the great dining hall. You could see the steps leading to what used to be the lord and lady's private chambers. The first thing we did was to climb the towers, only two were open which was quite a disappointment. (As you might have noticed, we have quite a thing with towers. If you recall, it all started with climbing the dome of St. Pauls. Oh, and our own house too.) The view of the country side was astounding. There was really nothing for miles away. We saw an old steam locomotive puffing its way through the trees, a few cottages, and hills. But it was a lovely day and that made it very enjoyable. In the towers, as you went up were rooms, such as guest bedrooms. They had tiny little windows, and high ceilings. When we reached the top of the tower, we saw the strangest thing. The towers have spiral staircases as is the norm with mideaval buildings. But once this spiral staircase reached the top of the tower, it simply stopped. As in you could peer over the edge at other people coming up. Or as in if you took a tiny step towards the edge, you could fall back down the steep, winding staircase you just climbed. I thought there would be a wall or something. Anyways, another surprise was how big the gaps, or crenels, in the wall were.

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I could have fallen over so easily. Even with the little safety bars they put around the crenels. As we moved on from the towers, we saw the kitchen with it's two giant fireplaces. I mean these things were huge they took up the entire kitchen wall. Right off from the kitchen was the well, which actually still had water. We also saw the chapel which only has a lovely little window to identify it as a chapel anymore. The castle seemed small to us, but there would have been second stories, which of course, have been destroyed. After seeing the castle for a little while, we headed outside to have a hand at falconry. I put on this giant leather glove, held out my hand, and all the sudden there was this giant vulture swooping towards me! It was a little scary. The vulture was ugly, but it was kind of cute as it hopped after the trainer like a little dog. We also got to fly an owl which was a lot better than a vulture. It was so graceful and swift, and it barely weighed anything. We got to pet the owl because they don't bite, unlike vultures. It was the softest thing I have ever felt. Owls must have a lot of feathers because all you could feel was this soft plushness. Dad enjoyed the falconry the most I have to say. Afterwards, we headed back to the pub for some hot chocolate while we waited for the bus. It was actually a really good hot chocolate.



As you will notice, I am trying out my last option for the pictures. Please vote or comment as to which one you like best.
          1. Post all the pictures with the blog post
          2. Post the pictures in one big album on the picture page
          3. Post the picture in individual albums with corresponding blog post titles on the picture page