Hampton Court

Spring has finally sprung, and J and I decided to spend our first sunny Saturday away from the hubbub of the city.

I had heard fantastic things about Hampton Court, so we hopped on a National Rail train to check out King Henry VIII's palace. It was only a thirty five minute train ride until we arrived, and the initial view of the castle and the river running alongside it was lovely. We decided to buy membership to the castles, which means we have free entry to Hampton Court, Kew Palace, Kensington Palace, Tower of London and the Banqueting House for the next year. We also get 10% off restaurants and the retail shops. It definitely pays for itself at the end of the day.

Our first stop was the castle itself, where J was very anxious to check out the kitchens that fed Henry and his court. Basically, they ate mostly meat and drank lots of wine. So not a big surprise that Henry weighed more than 400 lbs when he died.

The castle was quite impressive, but I fell in love with the grounds. It's a wonderful mix of manicured lawns and knot gardens with a little wilderness and a maze thrown in for good measure.

Long avenues radiated out from the rear exit of the castle, and they were lined with Alice in Wonderland type trees that were shaped and pruned to within an inch of their lives.

We moved on a bit further and saw a long expanse of water extending out as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, it was gated off so we couldn't walk the length of the pool, but we did enjoy the bit that wasn't fenced off such as the weeping willow and the birds that were busy building their nests.

We were pretty hungry so J and I took a quick lunch break at the Tiltyard Cafe before exploring the grounds further. The food there was excellent, and I splurged a giant sausage roll. Yum!

We tried walking off our very full bellies by exploring the garden by the cafe. We saw acres and acres of daffodils and the occasional blossoming tree, and it all felt wonderfully idyllic and peaceful.

We eventually made our way to the maze, and J decided to lead the way. He very firmly pronounced that always turning left would see our way out. And then he led us straight into a dead end.

After meandering about for ten minutes our so, we managed to break free and headed to check out the rest of the more cultivated gardens. Who knew flowers could be so obedient?!

After we explored to our hearts' content, we did what everyone else was doing, specifically, buying an ice cream cone and laying out on the grass for a bit before heading back to the train station.

All in all, it was the ideal way to while away a picture-perfect spring day.