Harry Potter's Castle!!

I never understood the Harry Potter craze until a few years ago.  In the summer of 2009, I finally picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and from then on I have been obsessed. I read all seven books in a matter of weeks and have now seen all the films.  I can't wait for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II" out in July.  So you can imagine my excitement when I was told that the castle used to film parts of Hogwarts was in my own backyard!!  I convinced Josh that we could not miss out on this opportunity to visit Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Plus, our friend Allison is also a Harry Potter fanatic and she said that she and her boyfriend Ryan and son Austin would love to join.  So we took the train from Central Station for the first time to the town of Alnwick to see Alnwick Castle.  It's only about a thirty minute trainride from Newcastle.

Here's some pictures of the castle as you walk up.  Pretty massive huh?



Once we got inside, we saw that there was a bow and arrow station where you could shoot arrows at a target.  Josh decided to try and he didn't do to bad. It's harder than it looks.



Then we took a guided tour of the castle, full of Harry Potter information, and maybe a little history too.



A view from the inside



The Barbican

The wall where Harry had his first flying lesson!

Everything is so green here, and the castle feels like it is in the middle of nowhere.

Austin did some playing in the leaves.



While Josh and I just took pictures in them.

Overall, it was a very fun day and definitely a sight worth seeing, especially if you are a HP fan.