The most beautiful castle in the world-Day 4-29 May 09

I've only been to one castle in my life and that's Kellie's castle in Ipoh, Malaysia and so I don't really have the right to say that Leeds Castle (it's in Kent, UK by the way) is indeed the most beautiful castle in the world but it sure is the most beautiful I've seen close up.

Hubby did some research the day before and decided to take the Southeastern train in the morning which runs frequent services to and from Bearsted and a coach shuttle service run by Spot Hire is available from the station.

We weren't the only ones to plan this as we had 2 pigeons join us half way through the journey to the dismay of the train attendant. When purchasing tickets, ask them if they have the Group Save offer on- this enables 4 people to travel for the price of two! For train schedules go to: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ .

We reached the Bearsted station at about 11am and were looking for the Spot Hire shuttle service. As there was no clear sign, we simply waited outside with a bunch of other tourists who looked as equally lost as us. A few minutes later, a driver came up to us and herded us into a van after paying him GBP5 each for return tickets. There was no conversation or cordial chatter in the 15-min ride to Leeds Castle.


We were dropped off at the entrance and were told that the last pick-up time was at 5.00pm sharp and were assured that they will keep track of the number of people expected to return but even if we were missed out, they would come searching for us.






We then happily joined the long queue to buy the tickets to enter the castle grounds. The tickets can be used all year round for an unlimited number of visits explaining the number of people picnic-king on the gardens. The queue moved fairly quickly and we soon made friends with an Italian bloke who works in a restaurant outside of London city.

The castle grounds were truly spectacular! Well maintained lawns and beautiful surroundings. Here's a little history about the castle :http://www.leeds-castle.com/goto.php?sess=u2665883p139n160c1333934s0g1d0&pg=A_Short_History

We decided to take a tour inside the castle and were impressed with the grandeur of it all.


A white peahen/ peacock welcomes us






Beer barrels for those wild parties held sometimes

How the whole area looks like from a distance

Hubby and our Italian friend figuring the intricate technology of the sun dial

The reading culture is very much part and parcel of the European culture

Lady Baillie's room http://www.leeds-castle.com/goto.php?sess=u2665883p138n158c1333934s0g1d0&pg=Lady_Baillie

Oriental furniture in their drawing room

Imagine taking a bath here!

As we walked through the castle, we soon came to a spiral stairway which was carved out of a single piece of oak tree

The top of the stairs where a laughing crusader and a lion stand guard. The staircase from France and installed by Lady Baillie

In 1797, tax was imposed on time pieces resulting in people carrying them less.

fter the tour, we strolled outside to a public area where jousting was to take place. It was so crowded that we could only sit on the nice grass a distance away while trying to keep warm.

The "knights" on horseback were tasked to a few challenges in front of "King Henry VIII" to the amusement of the crowd.

After the jousting, we watched a catapult being set up and put into action

Flowers blooming everywhere

At 15 minutes to 5pm we quickly made our way to the pick-up point. Our Italian friend had stayed back to sketch the castle while hubby and I walked through the gardens so he was no where to be found but we recognized a few people who were on the van earlier. We waited and waited and waited some more but there was simply no sign of the van! As everyone left the grounds with their own transport, a bunch of us (about 12) were left waiting. Finally, someone working there asked us if we were ok and he helped call Spot Hire.

When the same driver came about 2 hours later than he was supposed to, he said that he had left at 5pm as stated and now we had to pay him for his extra trip. Hubby and I knew he was lying as we had reached there 5min before 5pm and how could have so many people missed one van? After much quarelling (with hubby and I trying to be as invisible as possible as we were the only Asians there), the driver relented and took us back to the train station where to our surprise our Italian friend was waiting. He confirmed our story saying that a coach (not van) left before 5pm. And the worst part was, there was no apology whatsoever from the driver.






Our Italian friend and his sketch of the castle.

We ended the day by meeting A for dinner and walking around the heart of London

Show business is good business for the UK

The most expensive electronic billboard in the world!

Which celebrity does this limo belong to?

We walked on Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus (where we saw the most expensive advertising board) to Covent Garden and back to Oxford Street where our feet fell like falling off and no cabs came to the rescue until a lot later. We shared a cab which dropped us off at the hotel before dropping A off at Gloucester Road. The ride cost us GBP12!!

Meeting with the celebrities!

Who would be silly enough to not want to pose with celebrities when you come face to face with them? Certainly not hubby or myself! After waking later than hubby was happy about (it's a holiday for goodness sakes! We're there to relax WHILE playing typical tourists), we took the tube to the Baker Street station. As it was already close to 1pm, there were many queues forming outside Madame Toussaud's and being curious, we found out that it was cheaper to book tickets online (Please remember this whenever you plan a trip to Europe) so we decided to go to a cybercafe to do research on Madame Toussaud's tickets AND other places to visit.

I had mentioned to him that I was interested in visiting the Stonehenge and because there were so many packages to choose from, he wanted to choose one that encompassed places that were close to the Stonehenge to make it more worth it.

My argument was, I would be more than happy just to see the Stonehenge with my own eyes (and I was being honest!) but it somehow translated to I-want-to-see-all-the-beautiful-things-in-the-UK-while-I'm-here-so-let's-book-the-tickets-now-to-save-cost.

As you have to book trips at least 24 hours before the departure date, we decided to go to Leed's Castle the next day and the rest (Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath) the following Monday or Tues. We spent 2+ hours being frustrated with each other because we didn't know WHAT exactly we wanted and spending close to GBP3 and left the cybercafe without any real enlightenment (PS/ do your homework before making trips and try to plan trips a month before leaving).

Despite being called stubborn and difficult (which translates to being the worst partner in the world) we enjoyed grinning like fools when we finally entered the Madame Toussaud's premises. http://www.madametussauds.com/London/Default.aspx

It really was like you were at some premiere night with people taking photos everywhere!

It was so fascinating to ride through time (a tram ride within the premises itself !). Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures there. You just hop into a black cab and take a journey back in time. These mini versions of London's world famous taxis have room for two and will drive you through the historic and cultural events that have shaped London into the great city it is today.

Before that though, you're treated to a 5 minute scary time called SCREAM. Here you will find a maximum security prison has been taken over by its unhinged inmates. Live and on the loose, they want nothing less than to give you nightmares. But be warned should you decide to enter SCREAM, actors hide in the shadows waiting to pounce on you. (Warning to the faint-hearted, don't be the first or last person in the group!!)

To clear our thoughts, we walked from Baker Street to Earls Court's Road after that, going through Gloucester Place and Park Lane passing the beautiful architectured buildings and blooming flowers. Earls Court houses many Arab, Iranian, and Lebanese restaurants. We met A there and he recommended we dine at an Indian restaurant and was it worth it!

To burn all the calories away, we did MORE walking and did we walk! Fully satisfied with the scrumptious dinner followed by Arab ice cream, we walked from Earls Court to Marble Arch to Oxford Street passing Selfridges and ending the night with us taking a cab to the hotel which cost us GBP12!!

Scrumptious Indian food courtesy of A

Yummy Arab ice cream

You'll be amazed with Selfridges shop windows as award-winning window team of today has recreated displays from the

past. As Harry Gordon Selfridge used to say ‘Develop imagination throw away routine’.

http://www.selfridges.co.uk/index.cfm?page=1316&articleID=14119&artname=Centenary%20Exhibition

The London tours begin!

The last time I went for a tour in London was in 1997, just after school exams. My mum was quite high up on the corporate ladder and managed to get me to go with her for her meetings with a French water treatment company in exhange for a downgrade of her flight tickets.

While she attended her meetings, I went for a half day tour to the Tower of London, change of Guards at St James Palace and a stop at Fish & Chips shop.

The last time I came to London was for the weekend of March 2007 when I took the Eurostar from Paris (I was there for the CHANEL fashion show and meetings). I visited my just married Malaysian cousin who lives at Camden Town. She and her hubby brought me around its well-known markets. Since the 1960s, The Roundhouse theatre and music venue has been a centre of alternative culture, and later associated with punk and Goth subcultures.

As hubby hasd't been to London, we decided to be typical tourists visiting tourist sites while keeping in mind his boss's list of MUST VISIT places in mind. His boss spent a few years in London and so knows the local haunts.

With a bunch of brochures gathered from the hotel lobby in hand, we decided to do some walking first thing in the morning. Mind you it wasn't the sunniest of mornings. It seemed more like a early winter day! Cold winds were blowing through my knit coat right into my bones and there was a light drizzle. Lucky for hubby he was smart enough to bring a leather jacket with him. But before our walk, he had to send out an urgent e-mail to his office and the hotel charges GBP1 for an hour but they didn't have a a USB port to attach the file from the thumbdrive so just before breakfast (the hotel serves toast, cereal and yoghurt everyday) I made my way to the closest cybercafe while he got ready. Found one that charges 70p for a single use.

Sent out the e-mail then realized that I forgot to download a file from his boss that hubby couldn't open from his Blackberry. So after breakfast, I made my way there again and the shopkeeper was nice enough to let me use the laptop for 50p.

Once done, we bought two 7 -day Oyster card at GBP27 each (after some confusion nevertheless!), took the tube and stopped at London Bridge. Got out of the station and found ourselves facing a new attraction, the London Dungeon. Actors were handing out brochures in their bloodied faces and clothes. Enough to make me run for my life! But for those who enjoy that kind of stuff, it's recommended that you purchase other attraction tickets together with it to get a better price at GBP60 for 4 attractions.

(http://www.thedungeons.com/en/london-dungeon/index.html)

Once we got our bearings right, we walked under the drizzle across London Bridge to the Monument where we sought cover. The Monument stands at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill in the City of London. It was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City.
(http://www.themonument.info/history/introduction.asp)

We walked along the river bank and caught sight of the famous Tower Bridge which, of course, we had to have in the background of our photo.

There on River Thames we saw the HMS Belfast(http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/) and City Hall(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_City_Hall) with its unique architecture across from us.

As the sun started shining again, we realized that we had reached the Tower of London. We bought two tickets at GBP17 each. (http://www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/)

We joined one of the famous Yeoman Warder tours and heard exciting tales from the Tower’s past at the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula. The historic Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in Chains) is the oldest chapel royal in England. In this little chapel most of those who died on Tower Hill and six of the seven executed on Tower Green, were laid to rest under flagstones without ceremony. Between the Chapel and Tower Green is a small paved area. A scaffold was erected here for the beheading of those whose public execution on Tower Hill might have incited the people to riot. The names of the six tragic figures who died on this fateful spot are inscribed on the board. They include three queens of England: Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey. Elizabeth Ist supposed suitor, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex was also executed here.

We then joined the long queue to have a closer look at the Crown Jewels, one of the unmissable highlights of a visit to the Tower of London. ( http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/crown_jewels.htm)

Next was a visit to the White Tower built by William the Conqueror. Displayed over 3 floors of the historic White Tower, we spent hours admiring the stunning new exhibition called Henry VIII Dressed to Kill that celebrates the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII becoming King of England.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerofLondon/stories/palacehighlights/HenryVIIIDressedtoKill.aspx

Seen here are the grounds on the way up the White Tower. Wasn't aware about the story of the ravens but perhaps they're kept here. Ravens have always inhabited the Tower of London, and a centuries old legend says that if the ravens leave, the Tower and kingdom will fall. Being a superstitious person, Charles II decreed that there should always be at least six ravens in residence at the Tower of London. Seven ravens currently live on the grounds of the Tower of London and can usually be seen on the Tower Green. One of the Yeoman Warders is a Ravenmaster and cares for the ravens, feeding them meat and bird biscuits. Although the ravens's wings are clipped, this does not harm them in any way. It just keeps them from escaping the Tower. The ravens are well cared for and can live a long time. The oldest raven died at age 44. One of the ravens at the Tower of London today is in his 20's.

On the left is one of many archways leading up to a panoromic view of the grounds of the Tower of London.

After an exhausting day walking about, we set off to meet A at 5.30pm to watch a football game at his place due to start at 7.30pm. But first, we needed to fill our hungry stomachs. I craved for Fish & Chips and found Halal Restaurant, a restaurant serving briyani rice, Lebanese delicacies, Fish & Chips and burgers near the Gloucester tube station. Once I noticed that they had yummy looking burgers, I changed my mind and ordered that while hubby had a huge portion of Fish and Fries. Yummy! It cost us about GBP6 each.