We passed the Hearst Castle a couple times (going to and from the elephant seals) before I concluded I would take the Grand Room Tour. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of William Randolph Hearst was “yellow journalism” which Wikipedia defines as “newspapers that present little or no legitimate well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales.” They never mentioned this during the tour probably because this type of journalism has gone extinct. <sarcasm mode over>
The Castle is a state park now and everything was extremely well done. The tour guide was very knowledgeable.
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- Castle on the hill.
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- The view from the castle’s terrace.
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- One of the guest cottages.
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- Millions of dollars worth of art is here like this 3500-year-old Egyptian head.
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- The main house.
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- The front door. (The tour group used a back entrance.)
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- The famous Neptune pool.
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- Closeup of the pool’s Neptune.
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- Hearst had a 95-species zoo on the property. He gave away most of them but the Barbary sheep (aoudads) remain as does a herd of 146 zebra.
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- The aoudads were hanging out on the way up (previoous picture) and the way back (this picture).
