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Arrival and first Impressions of Chillingham Castle

 Today was really all about getting to Chillingham Castle ....and finding a spot for breakfast.

After a few failed attempts we finally got to a place called SUTRA and I can safely say we were the youngest there BUT it was lovely and the food was delicious.

So pumped with coffee and good food it was on to Chillingham and of course we arrived much sooner that admission time so we thought we would soak in as much of the Castle as possible we unfortunately tomorrow we must get up early to head to the airport and leave for Ireland.

So we arrived and parked the car in the public car parking space and took the walk to the Castle through a small woodland walk.

Upon arrival we were met with another gobsmakingly awesome edifice.

The magnificent wonder of it all and that we were staying the night was a bit much and we learnt later on as we walked around that the LADY GREY APARTMENT is the most popular of all of the rooms (I now know why) and is now solidly booked out for two years!!! Or so the man said.

We stopped in the gift shop first as we knew we would miss it being opened tomorrow and then we went for a coffee and cake in the tea room which we found out later was the original dining room of the Castle.

Then we went to the Dungeon of course and were very happy to find out that it would be open later on tonight.

We wandered the rooms that were available to us and although there is some semblance of order in these spaces things are EVERYWHERE!

A side note - this place has LOTS OF STAIRS.

I know - it is a Castle.

What was I to expect.

When it came to being shown our accommodation for the night and  the amount of stairs and the decreasing size of the stairs we would have to traverse we decided to only take what was going to be needed for the evening.

There is no way of God's Earth you can take big luggage bags up the stairs so be warned.

Also we were hoping to repack out bags to take JUST what we needed to Ireland cause Ryan Air charges terribly for anything that is overweight.

So instead of this being done in our room we decided to do it in the car park.

We still managed to do it - and all extras will be going home with our travel companion Gayle until our return to England.

Stuff was everywhere and then we found ourselves too close to the weight limit so we unpacked and packed again.

I now sit in the Lady Grey Room writing this to you.

This apartment is huge and I know why it is so costly.

There are tow bedrooms - one with a double bed and personal bath and another room with twin beds and another shower.

There is a small kitchen and a big dining table and lounges and fireplace.

There are windows onto the garden and onto the courtyard.

Even before we had settled in one of the cupboards in Anne's room ( she took the big double bed for herself) had a door open on her - she had asked Lady Grey to do that.

Ohhh!!! 

Let the night begin!



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