Leeds Castle

We had one last day to do something British together, so we went to Leeds Castle, a gorgeous castle east of London we've never visited before. We're so glad we didn't leave without seeing it! We were without Gavin, which was fun and relaxing. 

The castle and surroundings were breathtaking, especially with autumn foliage all around.

We also enjoyed a fun hedge maze, which we even managed to solve. Ok, Jacob solved it. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing.

Leeds Castle was teeming with gorgeous black swans.

I took a few photos of the interiors. The below room was used for Camp David Accord meetings in the 70s.

And the library was really lovely.

We'll miss England so much. We leave on Wednesday... :(

Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey)

On our way home from Cornwall (and Plymouth) we needed a place to stop and stretch our legs and give Gavin a break from being in the car. So we stopped at Downton Abbey! Actually it's Highclere Castle, the residence of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and the filming location for Downton Abbey.

We didn't dare take Gavin inside, and Jacob has never seen an episode of the show, so they enjoyed the gardens while I toured the castle.

Photography isn't allowed inside, but the rooms were beautiful. They had informational signs in some of the bedrooms telling which Downton Abbey character's room we were in, which was cool.

I loved visiting Highclere, and I'm extra-excited for the new Downton Abbey season to start this month!

Cornwall

We spent the long Labor Day weekend on a road trip to Cornwall. It's such a beautiful region, and we're really glad we made the long drive there so we could experience it before we leave. The first day we visited St. Michael's Mount, the (lesser) counterpart of Mont-St-Michel in France.  

 We visited the breathtaking Kynance Cove with gorgeous coastal scenes.

 We visited Lizard Point, the most southerly point of mainland Great Britain, which was beautiful. It helped that the weather was incredible too.

Lizard Point

I thought Gavin would put his feet in with me at Lizard Point. He wasn't a fan so I got to hold him while we discussed birds and boats and such.

There won't be a separate post for food because, in the end, we ate English food. But Cornwall has a few food highlights, including Cornish clotted cream, Cornish ice cream and Cornish pasties.

Millionaire's shortbread sundae
with the most amazing ice cream ever (which we had multiple times),
plus gorgeous caramel sauce and a dollop of clotted cream. Oh, so good.

Cornish cream tea--scones with clotted cream and jam. One of my all-time favourite meals.

traditional Cornish pasty (steak, potato, onion and swede)

We also visited Tintagel Castle, clifftop castle ruins associated with the Arthurian legend (King Arthur was born here, according to legend). The castle ruins were fine, but the views of the coast were unbelievable!

Gavin climbed the staggering number of steps to the top, refusing all help, lugging a huge bag of cereal all the way.

oblivious to the beautiful scene behind him--he's allowed

beautiful Cornish countryside, from the top of Tintagel

Wherever we went, these two LOVED to throw rocks into the water together. 

cute harbour town Mevagissey at low tide

A big thanks to my friend Kirsty for telling us all the great places to visit in Cornwall--she's a Cornwall expert, and I'm glad she shared her wealth of knowledge!

Predjama, Slovenia

Is it weird to visit a place I learned about on Pinterest? I came across a list of the 10 Most Fascinating Castles (on Pinterest), and this one was there. So we went while we were in Slovenia. It was interesting that it's integrated into a system of caves.

The castle's legend involves a Knight, Erazem Lueger, who was besieged in the castle of a year but taunted his enemies by throwing cherries at them. They were baffled at his survival (and access to cherries); he was escaping through the caves to a nearby village for supplies.

The following photo is great. Gavin had just thrown his water down, and his body language perfectly reflects his attitude.

Overall an interesting castle, but there was a disappointing absence of information (no tours, no signs), so all we learned about the castle we learned from the internet.

Germany trip

We drove to Germany last weekend, and in order to get there Gavin took his first boat ride. Here's a photo of him (just after we drove off the ferry) with his first boat in the background.

While in Bavaria we visited a cute medieval town called Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which is completely surrounded by a wall, which you can walk. Here I am on the wall, and below that Jacob and Gavin are at the city gate. You might remember my disappointment at hiking to a certain alpine bridge with the expectation of unspoiled vistas, and seeing scaffolding instead. Well this time we got it right. Here we are with the long-dreamed-of views of Neuschwanstein. We had a hard time getting Gavin to look at the camera. Silly us--of course he wanted to be looking at the castle too.The same Bavarian king who built Neuschwanstein (Ludwig II) also built a small palace called Linderhof Palace. It's small but beautiful, and there are a few eccentricities that made it a really amazing place to visit. The palace was built for one since the king never married and was very reclusive. He was tall and had a huge (unbelievably beautiful) bed. Also, his dining room table was built on a set of pulleys so it could be lowered into the kitchens below and raised back up, preventing the king from having to interact even with his servants. Overall, Gavin traveled really well and was a champion during the long car rides. And his country count is now 5.

Windsor

My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Don are the family members who have most consistently promised to visit us in England, and we're super-excited they're here! They arrived this morning and haven't showed any signs of jet lag as we toured Windsor Castle today. I toured the castle before, but today was also Jacob's first visit to the Queen's other London residence. It's the largest inhabited castle in the world.

Isle of Man

We went for the family history, but what we didn't expect was that the island would be so beautiful! Our first 24 hours there it didn't rain at all, and it was supposed to rain the whole time, so we enjoyed the gorgeous scenery while the sun was out.

Here are some photos from Peel Castle, which we toured and enjoyed.

The Laxey Wheel is the largest working waterwheel in the world.

We also took some scenic drives that were breathtaking. The photos don't do it justice!