Hever Castle

One of our first day trips in our new car was to Hever Castle in Leeds, about an hour and a half south east of London.  Hever Castle is the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII (that was until he had her beheaded at the Tower of London!).

We arrived with just enough time to stop at the cafe for lunch (a full roast chicken! - love the cafes in UK)  before heading down to the sports grounds to watch a jousting match.

Before the match started, all the kids were invited up to march around the course.  C was happy to partake but K stayed back.  The kids were handed all sorts of weapons to march with axes, swords, knives etc. and some were even given severed heads.  J & I both had another - "this would never happen in the US" - moment.

King Henry VIII and his wife Anne Boleyn presided over the festivities.  In addition to jousting, the riders participated in games of skill, grabbing rings of different sizes off suspended hooks and putting heads into baskets using the lance.  There was also some sword fighting.

After the jousting match we walked the grounds.  There was a beautiful Hydrangea and Dahlia garden as well as a hedge maze.  C was the first to find her way the center.  Luckily I was following her or I would have been lost for a good long while.



The day sort of got away from us so we didn't have time to tour the Castle itself and the kids were really bummed when we arrived at the archery area right after it had closed.  We did make it to the water maze but we didn't bring extra clothes so we decided to save that for another day.

On the way home, we stopped at a nearby village, Oxted, for dinner at a Yelp recommended Italian restaurant, Cucina Italiana.  The food and service was absolutely phenomenal - almost worth a trip in and of itself.

The Audi is a much bigger car than what we used to rent from city-car so it's definitely an adjustment for J, especially driving on the hedge lined single lane country roads.  Me flinching in the passenger seat doesn't help matters.  But the more he drives, the more comfortable he's getting.  We're looking forward to many more weekend excursions!