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Gorgeous
views of the San Simeon hills from the castle. Although
the Hearst family has donated the castle to the state
government, they still retain part of their land which is
still thousands of acres. |
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Water
fountain at the front of the castle. The little boy is
standing on Goliath's head. |
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The
swimming pool is in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the
entire castle. Designed after Greek architectures, the
glimmering blue pool just refreshes one's body and soul.
However, the pool has only been reopened for swimming last
year and restricted to tour guides and the Hearst
family. So become a tour guide today!!! hehehehe |
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The
blue mountain peak used to mark the end of the Hearst
lands. They had a LOT of land back then. |
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The
interior of one of the guest houses. Mr. Hearst liked to
invite people to stay at his house. Every weekend, his
guests would be flown in on his private jets to the
castle. The castle contained over 100 guest rooms. |
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The bathrooms
of the guest house. |
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One
of the oldest artwork in the castle. These 4 sculptures
are from Egypt and dating over 2000 years old. |
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Casa Grande,
the main house. It contained two bell towers (the other
tower couldn't fit into the picture) containing 36 bells. |
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The front
entrance of Casa Grande. The two sculptures on the two
sides date 300 and 500 years, and the virgin Mary on the top
dates 700 years old. All of them were originally from
Spanish churches. |
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Christmas at
Hearst castle =] This is the living room where guests
gather before Mr. Hearst lead them into the dining room for
dinner. |
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A
2000 year old mosaic at the entrance of the house. The
reason we had to sneak around the back to get into the house
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The
gate of the house. |
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One
of the many tapestry in the house |
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These
are flags used for horse racings. Each flag represents a
different town. Mr. Hearst thought they were interesting
and decided to use them to decorate his dining room. |
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The
nice dining table. Originally from a Spanish church,
they were meant to put against the walls because monks are not
supposed to talk while they eat. However, Mr. Hearst
loved to converse with people and decided that this narrow
table would be great for sparking conversations. He
would always sit in the middle with the newest guest.
Consequently, as you stay longer, you move closer to the end
of the table, and people joked about that it means you are
overstaying your welcome when you are at the end of the
table. In fact, one of the guests joked about being in
the hot seat where he lost more calorie from the heat then he
took in at dinner because he was so close to the fireplace. |
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The
morning room where the guests enjoyed their morning coffee or
tea. The ladies also gather here after dinner to gossip
about men among other things, hehe. |
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Game
room where the guest played pool. |
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One
of Mr. Hearst's favorite tapestry. |
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This
is the piano that controls the bells outside. |
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The
interior swimming pool, just as magnificent as the other
pool. The pool is especially made so it always look the
deepest wherever you are standing. However, the pool is
actually 10 feet deep everywhere. The floors are painted
with stars while the ceilings are painted with fish to create
a reversed world. But with the water so clear, sometimes
it's hard to tell which way's up and which way's down =]
The pool also features a jump board. Interestingly, the
floor of the pool is paved with real gold! How luxurious! |
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A
view of the Hearst castle from the visitor center. You
can only get into the castle by taking one of their tours and
you are allowed to touch absolutely nothing.
bummers. But all in all, it's a really great place to
visit =] |
