Sunday 19th october Leeds castle + friends
At least today we did not have to get up before dawn. But still we would not be sleeping late as we were meeting friends at Leeds castle at 11. Not a long drive so getting up by 9.30 was doable.
Leeds castle is close to Maidstone in Kent, and not Leeds in northern England. Don't ask me why. :) It is nicely situated with a park around it, we walked through it towards the castle entrance. Our friends were running a little late and of course we made jokes about that. There is a history of being late and getting lost there.
But it was great to see them again. Robert and Dru and Chris. Dru and Chris are brother and sister. I know them through Robert who has
been a friend for a few years now. In April of this year they came over to the Netherlands with another friend Sarah, and we had a great time then. With the seven of us we toured the castle. I was pleasantly surprised that we were allowed to take pictures inside, usually it is not allowed in houses like this. And there was plenty to see. One wing was kept more m
edieval and another more 19th century. I like the old style much more. At one time it was a royal castle, I think Henry VIII was the last royal owner. He seems to pop up everywhere at the moment, the tudors series and the movies about Elisabeth have really seemed to bring about renewed interrest in that time period.
After the tour we sat down for a picknick. In trough english style Robert had brought along [and carried] a pack of milk, a large cannister of hot water, tea bags and sugar. It was amusi
ng to see it all come out of his backpack. Sandwiches and crisps completed the meal. The wind was picking up making it a bit colder outside, but still lovely weather for the time of year and dry!!! We strolled the grounds some more looking at exotic birds and of course the giftshop!!!!
It was now late afternoon but too early to find some place to eat. We tried to find a traditional oast house. I had seen signs for one thinking it was a museum. But when we came there it turned out to be a kiddie theme park, grumble. Still through another gift shop window I did manage to make a sneak peak of the house. It was used in the production op hops for making beer. They make beer
all over the world but only in Kent can you find houses like this. Nowadays most of them have been converted into houses. So they are not in use anymore. a pity really, I love to look at them.
Finding a place to eat was very funny. First we toured the country side without any luck. Everything was closed. Then we decided to head for Maidstone, it is a fairly big town and we should be able to find something there. And yes coming in from an a road we spotted a harvesters pub there. But there was no off road so how to get there? It took us three turns and going round and round in circles before we reached the pub. Only to hear there was an hour waiting time. By now we were hungry and there was nothing to do around here so we decided not to wait. We drove on to the city centre.
More luck here! We spotted a chinese restaurant opposite a parking garage and immediatly decided to g
o there. The restaurant was empty but open and it turned out to be very good. We had so much fun there at dinner. I shall not repeat here what we talked about but we nearly wet ourselves laughing.
I think nobody wanted the evening to end but finally it was time to head back to the cottage and our friends had a longer drive back to their hometowns. It is certainly something we would like to do again sometime soon.
Leeds castle is close to Maidstone in Kent, and not Leeds in northern England. Don't ask me why. :) It is nicely situated with a park around it, we walked through it towards the castle entrance. Our friends were running a little late and of course we made jokes about that. There is a history of being late and getting lost there.
But it was great to see them again. Robert and Dru and Chris. Dru and Chris are brother and sister. I know them through Robert who has
been a friend for a few years now. In April of this year they came over to the Netherlands with another friend Sarah, and we had a great time then. With the seven of us we toured the castle. I was pleasantly surprised that we were allowed to take pictures inside, usually it is not allowed in houses like this. And there was plenty to see. One wing was kept more m
edieval and another more 19th century. I like the old style much more. At one time it was a royal castle, I think Henry VIII was the last royal owner. He seems to pop up everywhere at the moment, the tudors series and the movies about Elisabeth have really seemed to bring about renewed interrest in that time period.After the tour we sat down for a picknick. In trough english style Robert had brought along [and carried] a pack of milk, a large cannister of hot water, tea bags and sugar. It was amusi
ng to see it all come out of his backpack. Sandwiches and crisps completed the meal. The wind was picking up making it a bit colder outside, but still lovely weather for the time of year and dry!!! We strolled the grounds some more looking at exotic birds and of course the giftshop!!!!It was now late afternoon but too early to find some place to eat. We tried to find a traditional oast house. I had seen signs for one thinking it was a museum. But when we came there it turned out to be a kiddie theme park, grumble. Still through another gift shop window I did manage to make a sneak peak of the house. It was used in the production op hops for making beer. They make beer
all over the world but only in Kent can you find houses like this. Nowadays most of them have been converted into houses. So they are not in use anymore. a pity really, I love to look at them.Finding a place to eat was very funny. First we toured the country side without any luck. Everything was closed. Then we decided to head for Maidstone, it is a fairly big town and we should be able to find something there. And yes coming in from an a road we spotted a harvesters pub there. But there was no off road so how to get there? It took us three turns and going round and round in circles before we reached the pub. Only to hear there was an hour waiting time. By now we were hungry and there was nothing to do around here so we decided not to wait. We drove on to the city centre.
More luck here! We spotted a chinese restaurant opposite a parking garage and immediatly decided to g
o there. The restaurant was empty but open and it turned out to be very good. We had so much fun there at dinner. I shall not repeat here what we talked about but we nearly wet ourselves laughing.I think nobody wanted the evening to end but finally it was time to head back to the cottage and our friends had a longer drive back to their hometowns. It is certainly something we would like to do again sometime soon.
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Mieke