Warwick Castle

This weekend has brought us to Warwick Castle. The castle is only a 12 minute drive from our town, and it has been our first time there.

The city Warwick is akin to Stratford-upon-Avon; ancient, peaceful, cultural, beautiful and extremely serene. So serene, infact, that it made me think what a nice place it'd be for (my) retirement. Away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities, with expertly landscaped gardens and parks and historic architecture, Warwick seemed the ideal place for us to unwind, especially after my extremely busy oncall week.

Arriving at the castle, we were surprised by the carpark which seemed to be located in the middle of a small forest. The "forest" turned out to be the castle's surrounding garden, decorated with beautiful summery flowers of many colours and gigantic trees which seemed to be as old as the castle itself. From the carpark to the castle was a journey itself, a 10 minute trek through the garden. Some visitors were even eating pack lunches and holding picnics outside the castle gates.

At the castle gates, we were shocked. Not only because the tour guides and staff were dressed in medieval clothes (pictured below), but especially seeing the entrance prices. Entry for an adult costs £16 and children £10. That would make the total cost for our small party a hefty £52. We were close to entering the castle grounds, but my mother sent a text saying that my parents would like to visit the castle too when they come and visit in just around 10 days time. So our visit to Warwick Castle is postponed.

Our sense of adventure undeterred, we headed for the town centre for lunch. We discovered a Japanese Restaurant called Shihan and made our minds to eat there. Our lunch was sushi, salmon teriyaki, and MS ordered a yakisoba. Overall, we were happy with Shihan's spacious and well planned interiors. The sushi was also delicious. I particularly like sampling different kinds of fish, not just regular tuna and salmon. Among today's were salmon roe and seabass. The picture I used for the blog's new banner was taken in Shihan.

However, they're also a few things we'd like to criticise about the restaurant. I think the teriyaki and especially the yakisoba were not particularly special (especially for the price). The yakisoba in Wagamama tastes multiple times better and is cheaper. Infact, I would say the yakisoba is probably even less delicious (or, at most, equal) to Tenkaichi in Cardiff, and the yakisoba in Tenkaichi is extremely good value. I was definitely disappointed with the main course. The service was also slow.

Even so, we had a great time in Warwick, especially visiting Warwick castle. Can't wait to go into the Castle grounds next time with my parents!

Notes
1. The ideal place where I would reside for my retirement should:

• be quiet, peaceful and not a busy or industrial city.
• however, be quite near a city, say, within at most 1 hour (for shopping;).
• have a Japanese restaurant and shop
  
• ideally be near the beach
• have a HUGE library
• or bookstore, like Borders
• have a comfortable cafe, for me to spend evenings reading books
• have a nice park and/or garden

hmm anything else?

2. Warwick is such an ancient city that even I was made to think of my retirement!

3. If you guys are wondering how come we're always eating out, even I am starting to think the same. Mental note for next month: save money!

4. Picture of MS is for all the readers who were curious to see her and for her long lost friends, especially Sherin. However, I intentionally chose a picture taken from great distance (and the size of the picture is really small, hehehe;)

5. Goodness, this blog is fast becoming a blog about food and travel isn't it? Well, I'm sorry to any readers who'd like to read about anything different. I am myself confused on what to write about in my blog. In the end I've decided to write about anything that holds my interest at the time of writing.