Today I was able to spend my birthday at Highclere Castle. What a special, special, day. We were picked up at our hotel by our driver Roy who was very nice and made the day very delightful. The first stop, The Swan Pub where Lady Sybil and Tom went when they were going to elope. We were able to look at several buildings (Crawley House was one) used for filming in the village, however, most of them are private residences so therefore we couldn't go inside. We were able to go inside the famous church where so many scenes took place and walk the grounds. After a wonderful lunch at The Trout pub we set out for HIghclere Castle. We had another day of mostly gray skies but as we got closer to Highclere the skies turned to blue. We were able to walk through the open rooms of the castle. We walked through the front doors and on to the library. This was my favorite room; I felt like Robert should be at his desk and that I should be having tea with "the ladies". Another room which was so exciting was the room where they would meet before going to dinner or for drinks after dinner. I immediately could envision Sybil showing off her new outfit and Tom peeking through the window. I saw the bedrooms of Lady Sybil, Lady Edith, and Cora and Robert. Walking down the hallway with the beautiful white doors and red carpet I was sure I would see Thomas approach any minute. As I looked down over the balcony I could not believe how fabulous the room below was and I could again imagine Matthew and Mary dancing together or the time when they all listened to the radio address together. As we got to the end of the rooms guests were allowed to visit I was treated with a walk down the famous staircase. I did not want to leave so I walked through all over again!!!! No pictures could be taken inside but outside we could take as many as we liked. Food for the day: duck hash with a duck egg on top :) -- even better than Yorkshire pudding !!
