Leeds Castle

After Boxing Day, we drove a couple hours south to spend a couple of days being tourists. We spent our first day touring Leeds Castle. Both the grounds and the castle were beautiful and really neat to see. The day itself was pretty cold and I look forward to seeing it again when the weather is warmer.

At the beginning of the tour, you can learn about the age of the castle and the many changes it went through as it passed through different owners and ages. It started as a manor in the 9th century and changed to a castle in the 12th (yr. 1119). It passed through many royals and eventually was given to the nation in the 1970's. It sits on 500 acres of beautiful land.

We took a walk on the grounds to get up to the castle. Chasing the birds seems to be an exciting activity and with the amount of time our kids like to spend doing it on our trips, I sometimes wonder if they have more fun chasing birds or seeing new sights.

Macie looks tiny.

 I loved seeing the castle through the trees during our walk there.

"THE LIGHT!"

 "IT'S TOO BRIGHT!"

 Take a look at all that was needed for Henry VIII menus:

I do love ornate and decorated ceilings:

In the chapel of the castle. 

We went up a stair case that spiraled around a tree trunk that was carved with detail and ended with this carving at the top. The talent and craftsmanship people have, especially of those without today's modern technology, amazes and impresses me.

The library made me think of Beauty and the Beast's, Belle.

 This dining room is beautiful and bright. I'd love to have a big family dinner in this room.

 Isn't that door cool?

We got to go through a hedge maze a couple of times. The goal was to reach the top of the stairs in the center.

 Hadley's standing on top of a pedestal in the center:

We exited the maze through a grotto full of shell sculptures around the walls and this scary face.

Hadley was putting a show on for me while we took a break.

 We got to watch a falconry show, which was interesting. The different birds caught food mid-air for us and swooped very closely to our heads.

This was definitely a good castle to visit and we plan on returning again.