This Christmas was our first trip back to the UK since we left in 2016. We were really excited to be going back to visit some of our favourite places, as well as some new destinations and of course catch up with family and friends! Our first stop was an early Christmas with Dan’s dad on Christmas Eve. He lives in beautiful Kent, literally just around the corner from Leeds Castle! If you’ve been following along for a while, then you’ll know that Leeds Castle is one of our favourite castles in England. We had a lovely Christmas lunch with Dan’s dad and a wonderful few hours exploring the castle grounds on foot.
I was surprised to learn that you can simply just walk into the castle grounds and that there are many public footpaths in the area! We headed out with Rosa, a rescue dog that Dan’s dad adopted a few earlier. We wandered through the village and past the stunning local church!
A couple of farmer’s fields later, we would see Leeds Castle in the distance!
Being an Aussie, I always seek out the nearest water! The lake at the castle was simply stunning and we loved watching the beautiful swans, ducks and geese.
The sun was shining and I’d left my sunglasses at home – thinking I would definitely not need them in dreary old England! How wrong I was! The sun was shining all day and the weather was so incredibly mild.
History is one of my favourite things and I just love how old and extensive the buildings are throughout Europe. Having grown up in such a young country, the wonders of the ancient and medieval worlds never cease to amaze me!
It was the most perfect day for an adventure and days like this honestly do make me miss our lives in England. Whilst we would never trade our Australian lifestyle, there certainly is something special about England (especially when it isn’t raining)!
We’d worked up a serious appetite on our walk and it was lucky we had because Dan’s dad has whipped up an amazing Christmas lunch! He’d seriously outdone himself and Dan was so happy to be tucking into a hot Christmas dinner for the first time in a few years.
We had such a lovely day spending time with Dan’s dad and exploring the grounds of Leeds Castle. I can’t even imagine living just a short walk away from such a beautiful place! I would definitely visit everyday and pretend I was royalty as I strolled the grounds!
Have you been to beautiful Leeds Castle? x
