Pinch me. I'm at Downton Abbey.

Of course it's really Highclere Castle but if you're a fan of the fabulous Downton Abbey TV series, there's only one name for this place.
And only one word to describe me: gobsmacked.

How we ended up here: The Mister surprised me by getting us tickets to an event held there today, Tuesday. (The castle doesn't open for the regular tourist season until next week.) Man, does he know how to thrill me!

After parking the car and walking up the lane, seeing Highclere getting bigger and bigger while the show's theme song played through my mind, we only stopped to take 43 photos -- or so.

 

The event was a lecture-tour-luncheon event, for about 100 people. At the appointed time, the doors opened and we were taken into the grand hall (below), which was set up with chairs and a small stage for the speaker. We were allowed to take NO PHOTOS inside the castle. Did you hear me stifle a scream all the way back in the States?!?

But I will show stock photos from the internet so you can see what we saw. Here's the grand hall where we sat for the lecture ... you just keep looking UP.

I'm such a ditzy fan, I was in awe just being able to be in this magnificent room. Like all the rooms in the castle, the TV show doesn't do it justice.

I told Earl I didn't care if the lecture was on hummingbirds or whatever. Just to be able to sit there! I was surprised and pleased when Lady Fiona Carnarvon herself came in and welcomed us to her home. She's quite lovely - and personable.

 

She's the 8th Countess of Carnarvon and I had seen her in a documentary about how having people tour the castle allows the family to maintain it.

Then we were introduced to an author. What?!? I who thought the lecture would be something boring is going to be treated to an author talk! I want my Book Club here.

 

Author Shrabani Basu told us the fascinating story of Victoria and a man who started as an Indian servant and became her confidant. Ms. Basu's book is now a "major motion picture," as the saying goes. She was a gifted speaker and we learned much about not only about this couple but also the Victorian Age.

Next -- hooray!  The tour of the home. We were divided into small groups and walked around the entire first and second floors of the castle, being in the actual rooms where our wonderful series was shot.
BEST OF ALL!  When the series was shot, the furniture and furnishings already in the castle were used. And everything remains today. It was easy to remember the story lines as we walked through places where the scenes were shot.

The library (below) ... with the secret passage (third photo) that we got to walk through ...

 

The dining room (below) ... 

The drawing room (below) which was converted to a hospital room as the series dealt with returning injured soldiers ...

We saw lots of bedrooms ...

But not Lady Mary's!  Our guide said that so many scenes were filmed in her small bedroom that they worried about damage to the furnishings so they recreated it at a studio.

I loved being in the upstairs corridors (below) ...

 

and then looking through the upstairs arches(below), down to the great hall.

And, of course, what fun to be able to go down the grand staircase!

We saw many other castle rooms which were not used on Downton Abbey. I liked learning how a beautiful little sitting room for Lady Fiona was used by Maggie Smith (the Dowager Countess) when she needed to rest.

Lunch was nice ... and afterward we strolled around to our heart's content. Were we the last to leave?!?

If you're not a fan of the show, you won't understand the goosebumps I had today. I would have LOVED to take my own photos ... but then it would have been a different experience, y'know?

I ended yesterday's blog post with a salute to the Beatles' line, "There are places I'll remember, all of my life ..."

Today I am reminded of Bill Medley's song from Dirty Dancing: "Now I had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you ..."