Confessions of a Castleholic

A guest post by Sophie.  In the South of England, in the county of Sussex, lies Arundel. In the village you find Arundel Castle. And that castle was the main reason of my road trip (aside from the Diana exhibition). My parents used to travel frequently to the UK before I was born, with family, friends or just the two of them. And Arundel Castle was a thing they always got back to, because they found it so beautiful. As a royal history buff and Castleholic I got only more intrigued. So now in 2017, after 35 years my mother last visited it, it was definitely time to cross the Channel and visit. Would it hold up, after all the stories of my parents? Would I enjoy it? Time to find out! But first a little history (I know, but hang on!). It is one of England's oldest castles, being established by William the Conquerors nephew Robert de Montgomery in 1068. William awarded his nephew for protecting his property in Normandy while he was busy conquering England and Wales. Robert ...

A guest post by Saad. All photos: Wikimedia Commons North America is not famous for its castles, and castles with links to Royalty are almost unheard of. However, Hatley Castle is just that, with links to multiple generations of the British Royal Family, the castle and its grounds have played a significant role in politics of the Canadian Province of British Columbia, and has been featured in many famous movies. Built in 1908 for British Columbia’s Lieutenant Governor James Dunsmuir by renowned Canadian architect Samuel Maclure just outside of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Hatley Castle is a 40-room mansion built in the Scottish Baronial style, situated on a 229 hectare estate on the edge of Esquimalt Lagoon. The stunning park was designed by American designers and features Japanese, Rose and Italian gardens. After being bought to the Canadian Government, some of the land was sold, and in June 1939, 927 lots of the Castle’s contents were sold at public auction....

A guest post by Brittani. Hearst Castle is located in San Simeon, California, and is a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark. It has recently been in the news here in the United States due to its forced closure for a time at the end of August due to a raging wildfire in the area. Hearst Castle sits on more than 250,000 acres in San Luis Obispo County, roughly half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1865, George Hearst - more on the Hearst family later - purchased 40,000 acres of land. By 1919, William Randolph Hearst had inherited the land from his father. Over the years, the 40,000 acres purchased by his father had grown to over 250,000 acres. William wanted to create a retreat called La Cuesta Encantada (Enchanted Hill in English). Its location is off of Cabrillo Highway, which is also sometimes famously called Pacific Coast Highway. From many spots on the property, you can look out and see the Pacific Ocean. Hearst got in contact with ...

A guest post by Kim-Lisa Last week I had the chance to visit London during my summer holidays. Not only that I think that the capital of the UK is always worth visiting but to visit Buckhingham Palace makes it even more worth to go.  I booked my ticket almost four months ago, so I was quite excited when I finally entered the security area. The security staff was really friendly and helpful and entering the palace after a security check wasn't as difficult as expected. Unfortunatly taking pictures during the audio-guided tour is prohibited, but luckily you can buy an exhibition catalogue by curator Anna Reynolds.  This years exhibition motto is "A Royal Welcome - Making magnificence at Buckingham Palace" and presents the work behind state visits, receptions, Investitures, private audiences and garden parties. As a result of all these events, 62,000 guests are welcomed at Buckingham Palace. For the first time the visitors of the ann...

A guest post by Kim-Lisa. The original Schloss Stolzenfels was erected between 1244 and 1259 as a fortification by the Prince-Bishop of Trier. Its only use was to protect the toll stations on the left bank of the Rhine river. In addition, the original castle was also built to save the power of the Prince-Bishop of Trier because the Prince-Bishop of Mainz had built another castle on the right bank of the Rhine, Burg Lahneck . In 1689, Schloss Stolzenfels was totally destroyed in the so called Nine Years' War (or Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg in German). The ruined castle became property of the city of Koblenz in 1802. The ruin was given as a present to the then Crown Prince of Prussia, Friedrich-Wilhelm, in 1823. He had already travelled along the Rhine in 1815 and had been fascinated by the beauty and history of the region. Friedrich-Wilhelm rebuilt the castle in the spirit of Romanticism as a Gothic Revival palace. To do so, he hired the famous garden and landscape a...