Leeds Castle

Friday night we hopped a British airways flight and flew into Heathrow. I can confirm that BA does not stand for best airways. Luckily we had been warned that the BA version of dinner (breakfast and lunch) is a sandwich (tuna mayonnaise - very soggy) and ate before we left Stockholm. We were met at the airport by my friend (from school days) Ali and her husband Paul (who I went to uni with). They quickly introduced us to the notorious English traffic on the motorways - both on the way back to their place and the next day when they drove us down to Leeds castle (which is nowhere near Leeds - it is south east of London in the Kent area).

We first visited a traditional English pub where I was introduced to a jug of pims and lemonade (we became firm friends immediately) and we had a standard lunch of fish & chips. We then entered the grounds of Leeds Castle.

It was a very warm day by English standards - at least 30 degrees - so inside the shady grounds and cool castle walls were a pretty good place to be. We looked through the castle which was home to many people during the ages (including Catherine of Aragon - Henry VIII's first wife) and admired the grounds which were full of bird life.

The castle was very well preserved as it has been in almost continuous occupation since it was built. It was situated beautifully, and was obviously built equally for looks and security. 

We would have liked to visit the aviary and hedge maze, but managed to get to them just as they shut (well, we did try to sneak into the maze from the exit end but were thrown out by the security guard). Next time!