Crawling up the hill at a snail's pace, the castle rose into fuller view. Gazing not only over the mighty Pacific Ocean, this castle also stood in a strange medeval majesty over it's only entrance, a hill reaching more narrowly and steeper toward the clouds than any traversed even in nearby San Francisco. Finally cresting over the top on my galliant mustang, or, uh, rather in the Ford Mustang my dad was driving, my brother and I piled out and made good stride toward the fortress walls. Peering in through the strong iron gate our eyes met with cold stone statues, earthy stained glass windows and tiered courtyards. Having always wondered about this strange abode in the midst of seeming normalcy, I found out from a television program that the owner collected pieces from silver screen movie sets--in fact, one gigantic bedroom was essentially the recreation (using the real high four-poster bed) of King Henry's (or was it George?) stony chambers chambers from a old classic movie. Though slightly eery, finally seeing the bastion up close transported me in time to the 1500s. From the castle walls we could see what it must have been like to watch the majestic armada return from a valliant voyage, or to wonder what loomed just over the horizon. Thanks, dad for this interesting and amazingly unique experience!
(This same day we had a delightful time vacationing at our family beach in Half Moon Bay with good friends, food and a frisbee :). After noticing I like to close these type of days with a bang, my dad surprised me with a visit to the castle I had always passed, curiously wondered about and was itching to see all growing up. Thanks, dad! :D)
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