Day Three

Day 3 of this exciting adventure and I am loving every minute of it!! Although it was quite chilly today, it was a day well-spent. Our first stop was Kinelworth Castle, a place with a vast history and a sad demise. Having been destroyed to prevent its use in war this castle now stands as a fraction of its former glory. And yet, it is still a remarkable place.

Our second stop of the day, Coventry Cathedral, proved to be a beautiful site even though the original cathedral was bombed and almost completely destroyed during WWII. The remains of the cathedral will still remarkable. There was even a window with glass shards that survived the war. The rebuilt cathedral was equally stunning with the hand-carved windows and the tapestry of Jesus and the four beasts of Revelation. It was clear in the details surrounding the cathedral that the people loved it. Even the Holy Trinity Church, built by the monks for the people, was awe-inspiring with its intricate paintings and tall ceilings.

Although visiting Kenilworth Castle and Coventry Cathedral were interesting and informative Warwick Castle was the highlight of today's tour for me. I could spend days at that castle and still not find every secret that it holds. I would love to live at the castle and be freely able to go room to room and tower to tower. Walking up the spiral stairs was a dizzying experience and I could not imagine doing it daily while trying to hold on to a candle for light. Looking at the castle from afar it amazes me that it has survived almost a thousand years of wars and hard times and is still strong enough today for visitors to climb the ramparts and look across Warwickshire.

One final site we drove by that caught my attention was an old hospital that had evidence of shrapnel damage from WWII. Seeing this hospital turned my thoughts to Florence Nightingale and the good that she did for nursing and I am excited to visit Embley tomorrow and see the grave of such an influential woman.