Hever Castle

Well mummy and Alex arrived in London not in the best shape I must say, apparently migraine sprays do nothing at high altitudes. Has any one else experienced this and if so did they manage to find a fix it? I fear poor mumsie is already dreading the return 22 hour flight back to Melbourne. Thankfully once grounded the spray did it's thing and we were ready to pick up our hire car and get touring.

On arrival at the Avis car rental desk the lovely gentleman behind the desk needed only a second to take in Alex skipping around our pile of luggage before saying "Madam are you aware that the car you've booked is a sports car with - some infathomable amount of - horsepower and start speed?"
Mum replied that all she had wanted was a Citroen because last time she toured Europe with daddy they had a Citroen and she was very happy with it, bless her. The gentleman made some minor adjustments to the booking and we left the depot in a zippy 4 door Ford Fiesta with the soothing voice of the GPS lady guiding us onto the M25.

There had been many plans for this first day but with mother feeling a bit delicate we decided to scrap them and achieve one visit; Hever Castle the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. The journey to Kent from Heathrow was surprisingly quick even though mummy refuses to do anything but 10 miles under the speed limit. We arrived at the castle and decided that elevenses were the first item on the agenda. The middle of the cafe had more cakes than you could poke a fork at resting on it. Including a delightful homemade Victoria Sponge cut into even more delightfully unequal pieces. Off course we hand picked the biggest slices onto our plates and Alex decided to have her first scone of the holiday. I think the greatest appeal for Alex is that the jam comes in mini-pots (must keep in mind that this fascination with the minute could be disastrous if she discovers the mini-bar at the next hotel we stay in). After 3 cups of tea each we felt ready for anything.





Hever Castle was picture book perfect. The castle is not massive but the rooms are decorated to perfection and the carved wood paneling is something special. Apparently we have William Waldorf Astor, to thank for this and the wonderful gardens. The gardens have some great features for keeping children entertained, the adventure playground was so good that I couldn't resist running around with Alex. I resisted the pull of the water maze for the sake of my attire while Alex felt no qualms with walking into a shower.





In the afternoon we drove down tiny little tree lined streets and through umpteen little villages with funny names. To sum up our delight in England I will use mother's quote of the day "I just want to hug everything!"