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For this blog:

This blog is the first in this new phase of our lives as nomads.  While we have an official permanent residence, it is at our daughter's home.  We are traveling so much that we are living out of suitcases with occasional stops back home to visit family and friends.

Our first trip as nomads is the subject of this blog.  We first took our grandson, Liam, to Vermont for a stay with his other grandparents.  Then it was off to Boston and our flight to England.  We are visiting the county of Kent, London and taking a wonderful canal trip.

Please do read through this blog for our narrative and the related photos.  

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Animals
Art and Architecture
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June 26/27 - Boston area and our flight to England

Today started out as something of a mess.  Overnight Jessica sent us copies of several pieces of mail that we had received (she is managing our mail etc. while we are on the road).  There was a problem with some insurance payments and Paul spent almost the entire morning dealing with the issues…multiple calls to the insurance company and the laboratory for which we had received a bill.  He finished up about 10 minutes before we had to be out of the hotel.

We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch and then went next door to a Starbucks to spend a couple more hours on the computer dealing with some of the other mail.  Once that was done we finally headed to the airport, turned in the car and checked in. 

We had a long wait but we were flying Norwegian Premium class so had access to their lounge.  Had dinner there (snacks) and were onboard our plane by about 8:45…take off at 9:20. 

June 27 - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England

Our flight was uneventful, if not much sleep, and we landed in Gatwick UK around 8:30.  

Pictures as we fly in to Gatwick.

We had our luggage and were through customs in less than an hour and then were off to get our car.  They didn’t have “our” car ready so gave us an upgrade to a much nicer car that had a navigation system…which will be very handy.

Driving on the left is a challenge.  Paul bounced off a curb more than once and Mary was riding white‑knuckled as we wandered the narrow country roads to Tunbridge Wells in Kent. 

We arrived way before check-in time so dumped our luggage, parked the car and headed into downtown Tunbridge Wells for lunch.  Not knowing anything about the place we randomly picked a nice looking restaurant (The Ivy) for lunch.  Turned out to be fancy and very expensive but with phenomenal food. 

Mary's Awesome Chicken Salad

We killed a little time wandering the streets until we could check in.  We did take a short walk through an area called The Pantiles.  It is a block long walking area with buildings dating back to the 1700’s.  Very picturesque with lots of pubs and eateries.  

We finally were able to check in and when we got to our room we collapsed, set the timers and took a short nap…no way were we going to make it to normal bedtime.

Tunbridge Wells Retreat Hotel - Our Home in Tunbridge Wells

After a short nap we went down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner.  It is veeeeeeerrryyyy basic with a few non-descript sandwiches and a few other items.  But it was ok as we didn’t have to walk anywhere and it filled the hunger hole.

Some more time on the computer and then we hit the beds hard.

June 28 - Tunbridge Well's, Kent, England

We were so tired that we ended up sleeping until almost 11:00am.  We decided to forego any serious sightseeing today and walked down to The Pantiles for lunch.  We took a path through a forested park where it was shady and cool.  The weather is a bit warm (but not like Vegas) so the shade was appreciated. 

We elected to eat at Chocolatl, where most of the items on the menu had some sort of chocolate angle, even some of the savory dishes.  It was very good. 

We then wandered the streets and shops where Mary got a new watch battery and Paul got his sunglasses fixed. 

Dinner tonight was back at the hotel.  We just weren’t up to trekking around to find a better restaurant.  At least the prices are low.

June 29 - Chartwell House and Hever Castle, Kent, England

First stop today is Chartwell House, home of Winston Churchill.  Much of the home has been preserved with memorabilia from the Churchill family and from Churchill’s public life.

Croquet Court

Much of the original furnishings remain...and even the formal rooms looked pretty cozy.

There were also many paintings on the wall the Churchill painted.  He seemed to be prolific and quite competent as a painter.

The grounds and gardens weren’t extensive but what there was was very pretty.

Plus some of the garden seemed to grow right into the building.

After lunch at Chartwell we drove a short distance to Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII.   They actually allowed us to take pictures inside, which was quite a welcome surprise.  Some of the furnishings were from periods of use well after Anne's time.

Prayer Book belonging to Anne Boleyn

Tapestry

The castle still retains its moat.

After touring the castle we wandered through the lovely gardens

and out to the Italian Gardens

that ended with step down to a lake.

We didn’t go through the yew maze but did spend some time at the water maze where you walk on the large stone walkways.  Some of the stones are not stone and they give, resulting in water sprays.  One can get quite wet working your way through the maze.

Before heading out again we stopped for a quick view of the little church directly across the road from the castle.

Paul did much better today driving on the left.  Only bounced off of a curb once and Mary didn’t have nearly as many coronaries. 

Parking is hard as the hotel has only two slots for a couple dozen or more rooms.  But we eventually found a very long (triple car length?) spot on the street so Paul was able to park easily. 

For dinner it was back to The Pantiles.  However, it looks like they don’t have nearly as much open in the evenings, although we think we were just too early.  We suspect things open up later in the evening around 8:00.  We tried an Italian restaurant that was just OK, then back to the hotel and to bed.  We are both still a bit jet-lagged.

Comments on the roads in England:

The English put a line down the middle of a lane and a half, for two way traffic.  On the roads that are even narrower, not wide enough for a line down the middle, it is still two-way traffic.  Then on nice stretches that are wide enough for two-way traffic, cars are parked on one or both sides, making it two-way traffic on a one lane road!  And then there are the highway like divided roads, two lanes in each direction.  Good speed limit, except there are round-a-bouts every couple of miles to interrupt the drive – probably better than signals, though.

June 30 - Penshurst Place and Chiddingstone Castle

First stop today is Penshurst Place one of the oldest family-owned estates in the UK. We got there just when the gardens opened and they were incredible.  Much of the garden designs date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.  The garden has one head gardener, one deputy gardener, five gardeners and one apprentice gardener.  Mary assumed at least 20 or more would be required to maintain the gardens as they are massive.

The 11 acres of gardens were laid out in rooms that were divided by walls of yew hedges.  According to the research there are over a mile of yew hedges with one of the yews being over 450 years old.  There were views of the Place from all over the gardens.

Garden rooms that we toured were:

The Union Jack Garden with beds laid out like the British Union Jack in red, white, and blue flowers.

Diana’s Bath

The Paved Garden

The Italian Garden

The Heraldic Garden

The Blue and Yellow Border

The Rose Garden (and roses tucked into many other gardens and along walls),

And the Long Border.

Topiary and statues were scattered around the grounds in various gardens and alley ways.

Other gardens that we didn’t photograph as the flowers were entirely spent or the areas we didn’t find particularly interesting included the peony garden (100 meters long but not flowers, we must have missed it by only a couple of weeks, too bad), the orchard, the magnolia garden, the Nut and Tree Garden, and the Stage garden (stage and amphitheater carved into the ground).

There were other really beautiful areas that weren't described as rooms but they were just as beautiful.

Mary had a grand time wandering the gardens and taking pictures.  Paul followed her around.  We were early enough in the season that many of the flowers were at the peak of their blooming season.

The house opened later so we headed there as soon as it opened.  Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside.  However, if you watch the “The Other Boleyn Girl” or the BBC show “The Wolf” you will see parts of Penshurst was used for some of the filming for both.

The oldest section, the Baron’s Hall, dates to 1341 and the home has been in the same family for 450 years.  It was massive with the original 60 foot high chestnut beamed ceiling.  We couldn’t find anything giving the dimensions of the room but the room contains two medieval banquet tables dating to the 1400’s that are each almost 20 feet long.  And they barely take up much space…so that tells you how big the hall must be.

Unfortunately it was difficult to get photos of the front of the house as the front lawns and approaches were closed to the public.  But we did get sort of a side view as we were heading to the exit.

After our tour we had lunch at the Garden Restaurant and then headed for our next sight, Chiddingstone Castle, only a few miles away.  Unfortunately they were closed for some event.  However, Mary was content to photograph the hydrangeas and hollyhocks growing in profusion around the castle.

We then went back to town, found a parking spot and Paul crashed for a nap.