Day #24 – Alnwick Castle and Heathrow

Getting ready to leave – sorta

Wow, Day #24.  Not sure any of us were going to make it this far, but the trip has been fun and different at every turn.  We are ready to go home, though, I think.

One last jump

This morning was a combination of finishing packing, getting dressed, and tidying up.  Breakfast was as simple as it gets, cereal, toast, coffee, juice.  We had hoped to be gone by 10, but we were actually gone by 10:40.  Oh well, we tried!  The caretaker showed up and we turned over the keys. She wished us well and we were on our way.

Our castle is on the left of this photo – Bye castle!

It was a 3 hour drive from Darsie down to Alnwick (pronounced Annick).  I must take a moment to mention that two days ago, the plan had been to say goodbye in the morning, turn in the car at the Edinburgh airport, fly to Manchester, hire a car to take us to Heathrow and spend the night in Heathrow.  Two days ago I realized that the Jagi were going to Alnwick Castle, which is a place I had tried to work into our trip 6 months ago, but dropped it as it was too far south and east from where we ultimately were headed. 

Our view for about 3 hours - the back of the Jagi-mobile!

I realized that if we gave up our flight from Edinburgh to Manchester and just drove to heathrow (keeping our car for one more day) we could make Alnwick work for us!  I just only wished I had this thought 6 months ago as it would have saved us loads of money in that stupid flybe flight (no refunds, no returns).  The extra day on the car is pennies compared to what I lost on that flight.

Harry Potter?  No, Andy!

Oh well, we were excited to fit Alnwick in as it is the castle that Hogwarts is based on.  This has been quite the Harry Potter themed vacation this year!   After a quick stop at Morrisons to pick up some sandwiches, we made it to Alnwick around 2pm.  This place is much bigger and more of an operation than any other castle we’ve been to on this trip.  Choices for tickets were Castle, Garden or Castle and Garden.  Since we were on limited time we chose just the castle option.

Flying lessons

Had we had time, however, the gardens looked like a child’s playground.  There was a splash pad, a huge cascading waterfall, and a treehouse to end all treehouses!  If we ever find ourselves back in this part of the world, it will be worth it to explore the gardens.

Heading to the inner courtyard

The castle was impressive, however information on getting around was horrible.  First we wandered into the courtyard and found a guide giving “broom flying” lessons to a group of kids close to where the first broom flying lesson was filmed in Harry Potter #1.  We watched for a bit, and then headed further into the center of the castle where the actual living quarters and state rooms are located.  They did have something fun for the kids as we walked through the state rooms.  They told kids as they entered that there was a hidden owl (actually a tiny Hedwig stuffed animal) located in every room.

That’s who owns it now!

So, while we toured the castle, the kids had a good time looking for the owl in each room.  What was amazing with touring the state rooms is that this castle is still owned by the same family that has owned it since the 1200’s (the Percy family)!  Ralph, the 12^th Duke of Northumberland now owns Alnwick, and his family actually lives in this castle, amongst all that amazing regal décor, from fall to spring.  The family leaves in the summer, and Alnwick becomes open to the public.  However, when we were there the Dutchess was actually there, as we saw her car in the courtyard.  I just can’t imagine that being my home!

Pointing out the forbidden forest

Hagrid's Hut! (really a shed)

Anyway, after we walked out of the castle, a Harry Potter tour of the grounds was just beginning, so we joined up.  He pointed out how the forbidden forest was filmed, how they made Robbie Coltrane look like a giant and where different scenes were filmed and how.   It was really fun and informative (and the guide was really silly so he held the kid’s attention)

See that metal in the arrow slit window? They put that there to put torches while creating Hogwarts, and now they can’t get them out!

Our last group photo snif!

After a quick trip to the gift shop, we said our tearful goodbyes to our friends, the Jagi.  They were staying on to do a few more things, and we needed to get going.  It was already 5 and we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us!

We managed well on our own on the highway, however we did miss one turn which added about 30 minutes to our drive.  Around 6:30 the kids started talking about being hungry, and Steve said he really wanted one more proper pub dinner.  We got off the highway at Scotch Corners, and passed the Burger King truck stop and headed into the tiny town about ¼ mile in.  <80024>We stumbled upon a gastro pub called the The Shoulder of Mutton and boy was it good!  It was a really great last meal in England, but it added 2 hours to our trip.

Bed at LAST!

We finally made it to the hotel at 1:30am.  We went around in circles a bit around Heathrow, and I was glad the roads were pretty empty then.  But we did finally make it and were happy to fall into our beds and be asleep by 2.  But I decided technically it was 7pm at home, so I chalked it up to getting on Chicago time.

Tomorrow we have a leisurely morning, we’ll return the car (as we got in too late to return it tonight) and be on our way home.  It’s been fun.  It’s been wonderful.  It’s been expensive!  But most of all, it’s created memories we’ll never forget.  And if you’ve read all of this trip’s blog, then thank you for making the trip of a lifetime with us.