Colchester Castle

In the middle of winter it's very hard to find castles that are still open to the public, so we were very fortunate to be able to visit Colchester Castle two days before it closed for long-term redevelopment (of the exhibits I assume, not the castle). Some people had recommended it as an interesting one to visit, and it was about the only option! So we spent the day exploring the castle and a little bit of the town. We weren't enamoured by the town, but I really enjoyed the castle (and I think Michaela did too). Over here castles have had so many different purposes at different times and it's interesting to see that reflected in their exhibits. There also seems to be a trend of treating such buildings as shells for histories of other things though - there often isn't as much celebration of the actual structure as I like to see. The cellars and battlements tour was great, especially since it was just the two of us and we could ask as many questions as we liked.

We rounded off our time with lunch in the cafe just across from the castle, very tasty indeed, then wandered back to the train. Our evening's entertainment was a trip to a real live genuine average English pub (the one on my street corner).

Now Michaela's exploring London before she heads back to Australia. I think we all managed to give her a good variety of English experiences. Hope you enjoyed it!