Hever Castle - Kent

Chi, Oanh and I decided to go out on a day trip to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, we would have gotten the earlier if I hadn't gotten us lost on the M25! thank goodness for SatNav's.

The Kent countryside is gorgeous B roads of tree tunnells and stunning houses and farmland.

Orignally we were going to walk the whole Eden Valley walk but once we got there we realised that we were taking on a mammoth task and decided to visit Hever instead (which formed part of the walk).





Hever Castle was really homely you could just imagine yourself curled up on a sofa and feel right at home. The Astor family (very wealthy British and American family) must have spend millions of pounds doing the castle and grounds up, apparently when they arrived the ground floor of the castle was being used for livestock!

We fought our way to the middle of the maze and survived and spent the rest of the time walking thru the gardens, truly magnificent.





Great place to visit, great company, fantastic day

Kew Gardens

I went out for dinner last night with my flatmates to a Vietnamese Restaurant and tried Intestines, they weren't bad slightly fishy flavour, the rest of the food made me think I was back in Vietnam but all that was missing was Mum! My flatties bless them have also been making me lots of Vietnamese salads which I absolutely adore.

Happy Mother's Day! I decided in honour of it being Mother's Day at home and the fact that Mum loves gardens I would go and visit Kew Gardens.




The were breathtaking, surprisingly few people and an awesome chance to chill out on some grass, read my book, and take it easy.

The plants they have are incredible, there was a large NZ area which I had to drag myself away from...could have been out tramping somewhere if it wasn't for the Victorian Glasshouse that was all around me!




I also discovered what it was like to be a Badger as a result of them have a Badger experience, very dark and gloomy, with scratching posts everywhere, don't think that I want to be reincarnated into a Badger..

Its 300 acres really close to London and well well worth the visit!

Picturesque Cambridge

It was Bank Holiday weekend in London and the first glimmer of summer, knowing from past experience that sometimes one week is all you get, I took advantage and went to Cambridge.

Cambridge is very beautiful, quaint alleyways, really old architecture, a beautiful river snaking thru the old town and of course full of Universities.


Just like Oxford they don't look like the Universities like at home, no drunken Vet Students rampaging thru Palmy (sorry Kathryn I know you never did that!)lots of courtyards and very authoritarian.

I went for a punt down the river Cam, and saw all the backs of the Colledges and the Bridge of Sighs. I mistakenly thought when I got here that "The Backs" was down by the river Cam but is actually a green trail about 100mts away so the only real way to see all the colleges is by Punt.

It was gorgeous specially the River Cam and it was very amusing watching couples and families arguing over the best way to punt! I'm sure that most arguments ceased once they reached the safety of a local.

London Calling

Well, even if I haven't been in London for very long I've still managed to cram a far amount in! Went to the London Marathon and saw the stage production of STOMP amazing what music they can make from ordinary household items, wandered around Covent Garden and braved the masses of Oxford Circus, I tried to keep my Visa Card very much in my pocket, well it did come out once, it was Selfridges and it would be rude not too (any excuse used to justify shopping, not like me at all!).



The weather today finally is feeling springlike! I've been suffering a little from the flu but with the help of some chinese medicine which involved coins being rubbed onto my neck and back and massaging lotion into my hair (was meant to go surfing in the English Channel but wisely decided flu and cold water don't mix, lol) I feel sooooo much better so I decided to do a bit more exploring today.





When I left last time I just missed out on the London Eye as the queues were massive as it had only just opened. So I gathered my wits (severly scared off falling) and enjoyed the whole ride it was fantastic and you could see for miles and miles. Next I went on a river cruise and saw a few more sights of London and learnt a few more facts that may or may not be useful for a pub quiz.

Walked around St James' Park and mingled with the masses taking photos of Buckingham Palace. Really enjoyed London today its amazing what feeling well and a little bit of sunshine can do!!