Of castles and princesses

This last weekend, Rob was doing a couples shoot for a friend of mine and her fella (the one of the lovely potato salad) and they chose Warwick Castle as their location. Her brother works there so we got free tickets and me and the small person got to go off and enjoy ourselves whilst they were getting snap happy in the grounds. Saturday unfortunately didn't turn out too well weather wise and we all got soaked.

They have a new attraction called the Princess tower. (It used to be the ghost tower, but it was too similar to the dungeons, so got and overhaul) We (including Rob and our 2 friends) stood queuing in the pouring rain so that Alex could have her turn in the throne. Rob was the least well prepared and yet with just an umbrella, he was the least wet. The rest of us in waterproofs were soaked through! Have you ever seen a princess with rat tail hair and muddy knees?

It wasn't the best of pictures (in fact, considering the lighting rig and equipment they had, this is apalling), but it's that mummy thing again where you feel compelled to buy pictures. She now has grand ideas for princess dresses and swords and shields. She intends to be a modern princess who can rescue herself and fight her own battles :D

So, awful weather Saturday, much better Sunday, as we spent our second (and far more successful) day at Warwick Castle. They got some lovely shots, whilst me and Alexandra went to see the peacocks (who Alex swears were shouting help), spoke to the birds of prey, ran around the rose garden, walked around the water mill and along the river, had a close look at the trebuchet before seeing it fired and met Jingles the jolly jester, who it turns out I know! She is a friend of a friend and lives in our village. She is also Dave Willett's (Phantom of the Opera) eldest daughter, and I have to say, she was a fantastic jester, and Alex's favourite part of the day. I can now see a jester costume in my future too! I love running into unexpected people whilst we're out and about. We were very busy for just a few hours.

We met up with the others just in time to watch Jingles perform her magic show. Alex spoke to a carrot (long story!) and then we had a yummy roast dinner in the undercroft followed by ice cream in the grounds. A very lovely way to spend a weekend. So thank you Heather and Andy, and thank you Heather's brother for the free entry.