As some of you dear readers know, we are currently in the UK. My husband's family live in one of the villages near the city of Norwich in Norfolk, England. Norwich is a lovely city always buzzling with shoppers and passers-by. I love that it blends both the modern and the medieval in one place.
A quick exploration will show you cobbled streets lined with Tudor houses, medieval castle and cathedral all within striking distance of trendy malls and restaurants. For this trip, we decided to visit the Norwich Castle. Photo above shows William and Sophie near the entrance to the castle.
Here is an artist representation of what Norwich Castle and its surrounds may have looked like during its heyday.
Once inside the castle, you will see a replica of its full structure giving the viewer an idea of what it looked like hundreds of years ago.
Looks like they were having a great party here! :)
The King addressing his subjects.
It is a great place to visit especially for the kids as they can get into costumes and pretend they were royalty or perhaps a knight. Sophie and William totally enjoyed dressing up.
The castle windows provided quite a nice view of the city. I just wished the glass were kept a little cleaner for a clearer view. :)
Another view overlooking the city.
This is what you see inside. I was surprised it was totally open. I thought there would be several rooms to see but it's just one big space with exhibitions all over though you can go up to the balcony for a better view.
If you are familiar with the story of St. George, then you will know about the dragon he slaughtered according to legend. Anyway, this is perhaps a depiction of the dragon that St. George slew. Interestingly, my little boy William actually played the role of St. George last year in their school play. I am sure he was fascinated to see the dragon.
Right in the middle of the castle is this really deep well. Perhaps this was their source of water then. Fascinating, indeed!
Here's another photo of the castle from the inside.
William and Sophie at the balcony level. They kindly posed for their Mom here but wanted me to finish the photo session quickly because they were excited to show me something they found in the second floor. I wonder what that is!!!
This was it!!! The loo or what is otherwise known as toilet! Haha. That made me chuckle. No sense of privacy, eh? I don't think I will enjoy living in the medieval times even if it was in the castle!! :)
Since the castle was a royal fort after all, there were knights (or representations of them anyway) guarding the place usually in the look-out area.
Here's another one.
And my personal knight - Sir William!
What was even more fascinating was seeing the sword of Lord Nelson on display. Lord Nelson (above) is actually a distant relative of my husband on his father's side. We visited his museum when we came to England in 2015.
Here's the sword (please pardon my reflection) donated by Lord Nelson to the city.
More medieval weaponry on display.
Since Norwich Castle wasn't a massive building at all, one can easily take the tour in one hour and it is definitely an hour well spent. Certainly, it's a great place to visit when you have kids, too. I am glad that we finally decided to take a peek after many years of visiting Norwich but never attempting to enter in.
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