Hearst Castle

My cousin Joanne works at Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, California. She used to be a tour guide but is now a tour guide supervisor, responsible for making sure your tour of the castle is a memorable and enjoyable experience for you. Joanne is so into the history of the castle and is a walking book on the place.

Joanne took Leah, my cousin and her sister, on two private tours of the castle. The night I arrived we toured the inside which was all made up for Christmas. It was raining outside which created a really neat moody environment. The next day we went over to the castle a few hours before she started her shift and walked around the outside. It is the images I made outside that I've included here, didn't make any indoors.

I'm not going to try to give any info on the castle in this post. If you want more, and believe me there is a whole lot more, Google Hearst Castle and your bound to strike it rich.

The first image is the first sight Mr. Hearst's guests would see having just stepped out of their chauffeured vehicle.



One of the guest houses looking up from the terrace.



And the same guest house from the other direction. Not a bad view, eh. It is in this guest house that Hearst lived prior to his death.



Adam and Eve statue.



I was struck by some of the graphic elements I saw.











It's a beautiful place the Hearst Castle is. I couldn't imagine what it was like to spend time there and have the run of the place, except for the 3rd floor of the main house which was Hearst's private floor.



The view from the top of the hill is just stupendous as you can see. If you're ever along the central Calif coast it's worth a stop. (And say 'Hi' to my cousin Joanne (:-) )

Roger