Travel Log: Leeds Castle
Mar. 19th, 2010 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gnineLast Friday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cienna and I took a day trip to Leeds Castle, about an hour and a half (by bus) Southeast of London. The weather was not the most cooperative (gloomy and drizzling most of the day) but we had a great time, despite it! ^_^
Arising early (not as early as for Paris, thank GOD, but still, quarter to eight, which is plenty painful in my book...well, yes, okay, any time before noon is painful for me, but still, before 10 is just BLEH!! :-p) to head down to Victoria Coach Station, we caught the 9 am bus to the castle.
After the longer-than-advertised bus ride (traffic was not our friend), we arrived at the castle just about the same time as the rain...or rather drizzle. Never got to a full downpour, and came and went as the day wore on. Really, after half a year in London, I've sort of come to expect it ^_-.
The entrance path wove it's way through the beautiful (and extensive grounds), offering glimpses of castle as we drew near:
The route also took us by quite a bit of wild life, in the form of birds. Many varieties of birds:
Including a white peacock (neechan, is that another species or a specially bread albino?):
The castle itself was a conglomeration of structures built in different time periods:
The inside was fascinating, the different rooms decorated in the styles from all the numerous era's it was inhabited, right up until the 1980s, when the castle finally left private hands:
And then, like in Versailles, I had more fun with mirrors:
Back outside, we made our way to the hedge maze. The average time to solve it was 20 minutes. We did it in 7! Go us ^_-
Us victorious as the center of the maze:
As we made our way back to the bus stop, there was this black swan making his very determined way across the field, at full speed (ie a remarkably fast waddle). Not sure where he thought he was going, as he was headed directly away from water, but where ever he was headed, he was *going* to get there, short stubby legs be damned!
Popping into the gift store while we waited for our return bus, we were amused by the equally shopping-oriented peacocks. (Those birds were seriously TAME!)
We were also amused (or perhaps horrified is better) by the...interesting gender-oriented books for sale:
Yes, because all girls really need to think about is boys, beauty and shopping. Activities, experiments, explosions! What girl would ever wanna think about *those*? :-p And what boy would want to think about girls? Or looks, god forbid. Blarg, they're just stupid books, but even so...they made me kinda wanna thwack my head against something hard. Repeatedly!
Finally, we grabbed some tea and hot chocolate, hopped aboard the bus and headed home (to a night of old Highlander eps featuring Methos (MMmmmmm, Methos!), whichcienna and takadainmate had never seen).
Oh, and as usual, there are a few more pics in my picasa album if you click on any of the photos.
cienna and I took a day trip to Leeds Castle, about an hour and a half (by bus) Southeast of London. The weather was not the most cooperative (gloomy and drizzling most of the day) but we had a great time, despite it! ^_^Arising early (not as early as for Paris, thank GOD, but still, quarter to eight, which is plenty painful in my book...well, yes, okay, any time before noon is painful for me, but still, before 10 is just BLEH!! :-p) to head down to Victoria Coach Station, we caught the 9 am bus to the castle.
After the longer-than-advertised bus ride (traffic was not our friend), we arrived at the castle just about the same time as the rain...or rather drizzle. Never got to a full downpour, and came and went as the day wore on. Really, after half a year in London, I've sort of come to expect it ^_-.
The entrance path wove it's way through the beautiful (and extensive grounds), offering glimpses of castle as we drew near:
The route also took us by quite a bit of wild life, in the form of birds. Many varieties of birds:
Including a white peacock (neechan, is that another species or a specially bread albino?):
The castle itself was a conglomeration of structures built in different time periods:
The inside was fascinating, the different rooms decorated in the styles from all the numerous era's it was inhabited, right up until the 1980s, when the castle finally left private hands:
And then, like in Versailles, I had more fun with mirrors:
Back outside, we made our way to the hedge maze. The average time to solve it was 20 minutes. We did it in 7! Go us ^_-
Us victorious as the center of the maze:
As we made our way back to the bus stop, there was this black swan making his very determined way across the field, at full speed (ie a remarkably fast waddle). Not sure where he thought he was going, as he was headed directly away from water, but where ever he was headed, he was *going* to get there, short stubby legs be damned!
Popping into the gift store while we waited for our return bus, we were amused by the equally shopping-oriented peacocks. (Those birds were seriously TAME!)
We were also amused (or perhaps horrified is better) by the...interesting gender-oriented books for sale:
Yes, because all girls really need to think about is boys, beauty and shopping. Activities, experiments, explosions! What girl would ever wanna think about *those*? :-p And what boy would want to think about girls? Or looks, god forbid. Blarg, they're just stupid books, but even so...they made me kinda wanna thwack my head against something hard. Repeatedly!
Finally, we grabbed some tea and hot chocolate, hopped aboard the bus and headed home (to a night of old Highlander eps featuring Methos (MMmmmmm, Methos!), which
cienna and takadainmate had never seen). Oh, and as usual, there are a few more pics in my picasa album if you click on any of the photos.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 01:24 am (UTC)The peacocks would've been specially bred albinos, like lab rats - there's no species of white peacocks.
And those books, oh man...love that "boys" is the *first* category in the Girls book. Because really, what is more important than men?! >.>
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 06:43 am (UTC)Y'see, if the books were written obviously tongue-in-cheek and humorously, I'd get a giggle out of them. Because while gender stereotypes are rediculous and I "grrr" whenever I see someone taking them to be ironclad truth, poking fun at them is always a go with me.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:54 pm (UTC)Yeah, see, the bit I flipped through the books, they were taking it fairly serious, and just...ouch! :-p
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 11:39 am (UTC)Ack. >_< Yeah, that'd get me grumping, too. I mean geez, what if you like shopping (to an extent), fun stuff to do, riddles, and explosions (in the form of fireworks only, please)? Where on the spectrum do you fall, then?
no subject
Date: 2010-03-21 10:00 am (UTC)Leeds Castle looks pretty. Don't think I've ever been to that one - and peacocks! Always cute.
One evening I'll have to show you guys some Oxford sites if you're around. Or there's the ghost walk which is £5 a person and apparently a good way to see the city.
According to the book, I make a seriously bad girl and apparently quite a good boy. *g*
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:55 pm (UTC)And I very much want to see Oxford at some point. It's been on my list of places to visit and just haven't made it out there yet.
...And yeah, I'd make a fairly bad girl as well, according to those books. C'mon, how can Beauty or Boys really compete with explosions or weapons?!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 05:03 pm (UTC)Cool, Oxford is a good place, though our castle is not quite as big a castle as advertised. Though a visit to Oxford means punting and G&Ds ice cream. Just so ya know in advance.
Exactly. Explosions are epic fun. And I bet there's nothing about surprise tentacle sex in there either!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 02:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:56 pm (UTC)