Castle vs. Roadhouse

Thursday and Friday I worked from 4-10pm. So nothing exciting there. However, Saturday was the longest day ever. I was up by 8:30 am to be ready to leave by 10 am for Leeds Castle in Kent. It took an hour just to get out of London and another 45 minutes to get to Kent. It was a miserable bus ride, weaving in and out, up and down the streets of London. I fell asleep before we even got out of town.
We were allowed 4 hours at Leeds Castle, which was one too many. Ashley and I stuck together all day. First to the hedge maze, which took only 5 minutes! (The one at Hampton Court Palace took Aubrey and I 10 minutes!) Then we headed down into the grotto and then to lunch. I got fish cakes, chips and peas off of the kids menu. In American, that means fish cakes, fries and baked beans. Different, I know. But it was good and super filling for a kids meal! We all know how much I eat...
We played with the hundreds of geese, ducks and black swans, yes black swans. They were very pretty. There were about 5 pond/lakes on the property and a moat still filled with water. It was very picturesque...so much so in fact, Ashley wants to get married there! Part of the actual castle was closed because it is still used for conferences by important delegates and whatnot. The castle itself was mildly impressive, but not my favorite.
Leeds castle was builit in 1119 by the Normands. It was renovated time and time again, and for quite some time was a royal castle, housing Henry VIII, I believe. Lady Baillie was the last to own it until her death in 1974. Her youngest daughter, however, lived in the Maiden's Tower until her death in 2001! It is now owned by the Leeds Castle Foundation that Lady Baillie founded. Today, the castle is undergoing restoration which ruined the natural beauty of it all.
After all this, we still had an hour to kill. So we made videos in honour of Steve Irwin, getting up close and personal with nature and the swans.
We arrived home at 6 pm. I grabbed a shower and a bite to eat and headed out with Ashley, Whitney, Sahara, Erin, Allie and Jules. We went to a club in Covent Gardens called Roadhouse. It cost 5 GBP to get in and there wasn't one drink for less than 3.10 GBP. Needless to say, I didn't drink last night! We stayed and danced for awhile. A live band, the Bears, played some well-known songs. But we all lost interest fast and decided to head home. Not to mention, 5 of us had heels on and our feet were killing us. Mind you, that was only the 4th time I've worn heels in London!
I was tucked in bed by 11:30...what a good girl I am. However, it was still a looong day.
Side note: There are no skyscrapers in London. OK, maybe a few. But for the most part, not really. The Marriott and Holiday Inn are the two tallest buildings within a few miles of my flat! Once you get in downtown London by Parliament and Scotland Yard (the police department) there are taller buildings...many made of glass. This fact makes London seem smaller than it really is. Good thing or bad, you decide.