Trip to MALVERN ~ #3 Hampton Court Castle

Sunday saw a beautiful blue sky greet my streaming sneezy eyes. The cold had most diffinatley turned into a Flu on the Saturday and I was a mess today, sad now that the weather had finally decided to co-operate. Breakfast with Ella and the other guests was a subdued affair, I couldn't eat much of the lovely organic food due to my sore thoart and we all felt a little sad that it was home time for all of us.

Our flight wasn't until 8pm so the trip to Hampton Court Castle Gardens I had been hoping for was fulfilled and indeed turned out better than I wished. The difference a visit to a garden in the sunshine to one's spirits is amazing. Yes I was still coughing and sneezing, I should have been in bed somewhere taking meds but boy, my soul was singing.

You walk into the walled gardens through an arched gate and *bang* you are hit with the most fabulous kitchen garden complete with ingenious plant supports and ohh, more tulips! A kitchen garden about the size of 2 allotments and oh so stylish with a small wild meadow section too. Oh just look at the photos - you'll wish you had been there too.

lavender hedges around the herbs - so much more orginial and fragant than box

Then we were into more formal gardens and check out the wonderful pavillions surrounded by moving water, moats around the 2 pavilions, rills and a thicker shallow canal. These areas also had many trees and more permanent structures for things to grow up and around.

An amazing (haha) Maze with a tower in the centre which you can climb to the top of and watch other people struggle and giggle below you trying to get where you are (evil grin). But when you walk down those stairs again there is another set of steps going down...ohh....you end up underneath the maze and come out at a sunken garden complete with waterfall! Oh my goodness - is this Heaven???!!

Well to me it was and after walking up through the ferns on the step stones up the stream we walked out into a parkland area with a superb borrowed landscape of tree covered hills. AND a cafe serving mainly home (castle) cooked cakes. Yippeee.

We could have visited inside the Castle as well but #1 we hadn't the change and #2 we wanted to go all around the gardens again :) And there were more to be found, including the Dutch Garden - MORE tulips and a long pond with carp in it.

Check out the website. I took 94 photos and could merrily share them all but your computer would explode I fear. xx

Anyway, that's the end of the Malvern trip though we did visit some other towns etc but really I want to get back my lottie blogging. For instance, we had an asparagus spear each with our dinner last night - HOORAH!