Today was the day we went to Alnwick Castle, also known as "Harry Potter Castle" as it was a filming location for certain scenes at Hogwart's in Harry Potter 1 & 2 (the one most of you will remember is the flying lesson scene from the 1st movie).
Before arriving at the castle, however, we stopped in a little town called Dunbar. It's on the East Coast of Scotland right before you cross the boarder to England. We got a beautiful view of the North Sea from this little sleepy town that could take your breath away.
After only a short hour or so in Dunbar, we headed to our destination. Alnwick Castle is situated in the town of Alnwick, in the English
county of Northumberland. It is one of the largest inhabited castles in Europe and the second largest castle in England, after Windsor. It is the home of the Duke of Northumberland's family, the Percy's, with over 700 years of drama, intrigue, tragedy, and romance. The castle is open to the public in the summer time and can receive over 800,000 visitors per year! However, in the wintertime it is the full-time home of the Percy's, so it's shut down to the public then. We spent our time walking around the beautiful castle grounds while also exploring the state rooms (sadly, no picture's were allowed), the on-site museum, a spooky, Halloween themed haunted cellar tour, and a giant treehouse nearby! The state rooms were full of antique furniture, pictures, books, and fine china. It's just like you'd imagine the inside of a legit castle to look like!
After several hours of exploring and ooh's and ahh's at all the beautiful scenery, we said farewell to Alnwick Castle and headed toward Bamburgh Village, "the Ancient Capital of Northumbria". The castle is the seat of the former "king of Northumbria" and at present it is owned by the Armstrong family. Archaeological history dates back to the 1st century BC, showing that the Celtic tribe was one of the first occupants of it's lands. We weren't able to go into Bamburgh castle, but we did get some spectacular pictures of the stone giant located on the top of the large hill. We hiked over the hill to Bamburgh beach, which was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen!
Shortly after we returned to the coach to head home. We even watched the first Harry Potter to pass the time! All in all, it was a great day.