There are a lot of castles in England. In Japan, if you go to Kyoto or Nara, you'll find many old buildings too. However, in England, you can visit spaces which people in the past lived in even if you go just a little out of London. There, You'll forget the crowds in the city. Don't you think that it is wonderful? I don't know why so many old buildings still remain near London compared with Japan. Is it because English people love old things? Or were Japanese old wooden buildings destroyed by earthquakes or fires? I don't know!
Anyway, on this page, I'll show you three charming castles which you can visit in only two hours or so from London.

Arundel Castle

It takes about one and half hours by train from London, Victoria to Arundel. When you get off the train, you'll see Arundel Castle in the distance.
They say that Arundel used to be a castle town. The town has kept the atmosphere of the past. I think you can feel relaxed in this town. The castle wasn't wonderful enough to impress me, however I liked the relaxing atmosphere which Arundel has.
After seeing the castle, we visited some shops. At a small shop, I found an angel doll, which was made of cloth. It looked like my friend, Taki, who I had travelled with the year before. When I looked at the doll carefully, more and more I thought, "Yeah, it resembles her very much." I decided to buy it for her. I was satisfied thinking that she must say, "It resembles me".

left : You can see Arundel Castle, when you go a little from the station ; right : the town from Arundel Castle

Windsor Castle

It takes about one hour by bus from London, Victoria to Windsor Castle. You can go there even after sightseeing in London until noon ; Windsor Catle is very near to London. Actuallly, in the morning, we went shopping to Piccadilly Circus and then visited Winsor holding a lot of shopping bags.
At the moment, you can see inside Buckingham Palace during summer. That was because the Queen needs repair costs for Windsor Castle after the fire.
The castle is guarded by many royal guards probably because the Queen often visits there.
On the day we visited, we saw the flag which showed us some member of the royal family was in, so unfortunately, we couldn't see some parts of the castle.
On our way to Eaton College, we saw a very handsome schoolboy. We asked if we could take his picture. However, he was very shy and refused although we asked him a few times. We were sorry about that!


Leeds Castle

I went to Leeds Castle on a half-day bus tour which I sometimes use when I travel alone. That was because it is a little troublesome to go there although it only takes about two hours from London ; if you go there by train, you also have to use a buse, or even if you use buses at the beginning, there aren't so many buses between London and Leeds Castle, so you can't go back to London whenever you like.
Another reason which I used the bus tour was that I thought I could make friends and talk with someone else who was travelling alone like me. However, unfortunately, on the way to the castle, the person next to me was a difficult old woman who was probably in her sixties, so I couldn't talk to her about anything.
Then, we arrived at the castle. When I saw some pictures of this castle in Japan, I was enchanted by the extreme beauty of the castle and so wanted to visit. However, on the day I visited, it was drizzling, the castle was dimly visible. Nevertheless, the vast grounds of Leeds Castle, which included a lake, were really beautiful.
After I had tea, which was included in the tour cost, at the tearoom in the castle, I went back to the bus at the meeting time.
On my return trip, the person next to me was a young woman. She was probably the old woman's daughter or daughter's in law. "Where do you come from?", "Who are you with?", "How many hours does it take from Japan to England?", and so on , we asked each other. Seeing the pamphlet whcih she had bought at the castle, we said, "This place was very beautiful!"
After I went back to London, I wanted to buy that pamphlet. I went to the tourist information shop which used to be at Victoria Station, but they said that the pamphlet of Leeds Castle wasn't available there. I was very disappointed. At that time, I learned the lesson that I ought to buy when I wonder if I should buy or not. Because I had come to England all the way from Japan!

(2002.5.19)

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Trip to England

I really love London!