Leeds Castle

I knew it was just going to be one of those days today. You know the days that you accidentally wash your hair twice, because you just can't remember whether you've just been standing there in the shower, or if you've already washed your hair? That was me - this morning. Nonetheless, the day actually went reasonably well. But, backing up to the list...

After the arrival of my brother and sister-in-law on Saturday, we set out for Leeds Castle on Sunday. Leeds Castle is probably about an hour away by car, or about two and a half hours by train. We went by train. The countryside on the way to Leeds was some of the prettier countryside I've seen while I've been here.

Leeds Castle is, according to the guide book, "often considered to be the most beautiful castle in England." And the castle and grounds are very pretty. The gardens are full of small lakes and willow trees, and Mich showed her normal propensity for photography by taking several good pictures of the castle. In addition, there's an aviary, and on Sunday, there were also jousting and falconry displays. The falconry displays were quite similar to the ones at Warwick Castle, and the jousting bit was fun. One of the more interesting bits, however, was the "Dog Collar Museum." I think the entry said that it had the largest collection of dog collars in the world...not that I think that would be particularly challenging to do, but since this was probably our one and only chance to go to a dog collar museum, we went in. Although the museum was very small (one room, basically), it was a bit more interesting than I had originally thought, and so I provide you with a picture below.

We ended up eating dinner in a small pub in Bearsted - the village closest to the castle. I had "bangers and mash" for the first time ever, and have to admit that it was actually very good. Then we took the trains back home in the most roundabout way that we could think of (okay, it wasn't really that bad, only an extra half an hour, but getting home at half ten on Sunday night was probably not the best thing for the kids - or me, for that matter.)