Highclere Castle

As many of you know, I am a HUGE 'Downtown Abbey' fan. I am already anxiously awaiting Season 4 to begin in September. So you can imagine my delight to learn that Highclere Castle (where Downton Abbey is filmed) was a mere 2 hour drive from where we are staying in Somerset.

I ordered our tickets back in February and today was the day for our visit! We jumped in the car at 8:00am and drove through the pretty countryside to West Berkshire.




We were so excited!

Unfortunately, our excitement was dampened somewhat by the fact that photography was not allowed inside.

The rooms were amazing. We marvelled at the fact that people actually lived like this. We further marvelled that they still do.

We weren't able to go and see 'downstairs' which was another disappointment. We figured that part of the house should have been included for the £18 ticket price.

Afterwards, we wandered throughout the beautiful grounds and gardens.




















Unfortunately, someone left the vehicle lights on and our car battery was dead when we returned to the car park.




Joe and Kevin went in search of some help. All of a sudden a little black car zoomed up in a cloud of dust. Two men jumped out. One of them introduced himself as Luis. After they jump-started our car, Luis said, "We are the REAL butlers of Highclere Castle." And they drove away.




*I am really getting frustrated at how small the photos are appearing on my blog. That is the thing about blogging on an iPad. Nothing is easy. I have tried everything. Nothing is satisfactory. Please click on the photos to enlarge them for greater detail.