Moonlight over Corfe Castle

This past weekend we went to Poole in Dorset to spend Saturday at the beach. On the way back we drove by Corfe Casle. The sun was about to go down - what a view!

Fish festival in beautiful Weymouth

We ended up in Weymouth by mistake. The other weekend, when Maria's and my mom were visiting London at the same time we wanted to go to Bournemouth but there were no hotels so we ended up in Weymouth. A really nice place! The weekend after they had a fish festival so we decided to go back. It was a beautiful day!

Scallops

Mmmm, lobster...

MMM, LOBSTER!! 

Octopus

I wouldn't mind being sponsored by Chablis

Weymouth taxi

Yay, another horse to our collection: Osmington.

Corfe Castle

Canterbury tales

When waking up on Saturday morning Maria suggested a road trip. We haven't been in a while and she thought we could go to Bath. We discussed a bit and decided to go east. We started with Charles Darwin's house outside of London and then continued east to Kent and Canterbury. Despite its size (43,000 people live there), Canterbury is one of the most visited places in England.

As in many places in England it is very green and nice in the area

We ran into some cows

Once in Canterbury, which really is a lovely little town (we had dinner at Trapiste, a Belgian restaurant that we really recommend) we started out with the cathedral.

Very beautiful...

...and peaceful

Once done we took a short stroll in the town. We ran into a somewhat crooked house... Over the door was a quote from Charles Dickens...

After Canterbury we drove on in search of other sights. We found a cross and a viking ship...

Finally we had dinner in lovely little Margate. We drove by a sign advertising for a Soviet restaurant in and decided to check it out. Lovely food and very good service. Overall, the service in this part of the country really surprised us and we really enjoyed the people - so friendly!

Beautiful English gardens that were used in Harry Potter. Recognise?

Two birds in one stone. Or 'two flies in one clap' as we say in Sweden. That characterised this weekend. My friend is taking a course outside of London this week and she decided to arrive early and spend the weekend. Very nice! I then drove her to the place where she is having her course - Ashridge. I had the pleasure of visiting their garden. Such a pleasure!! Apparently Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was recorded here (parts of it). I knew I had seen it before! In any case - enjoy! And you should visit! Very pretty it is!

Mysterious Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the world and is at a very convenient distance London. It's fascinating to walk around the monument while letting the audio guide telling you about the history (nobody has any idea of why it was built though). Archeologists believe it was built 2200-2400 BC but there are indications that the first stones were raised as early as 3000 BC. In either case, it must have been quite a job to get the top stones on top of the standing ones. Wonder how they did it.  

Pappa

Weather can change fast...

Looks like someone is looking down from above... 

Bodiam Castle - the best preserved castle I've been to

We like to make road trips. Even more so when we have visitors! The other weekend Maria's dad was here and we all went to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. It was very special for many reasons. First we had to take a train to get there (or we didn't have to - you can drive, but it was an extra treat). Second it's a very well preserved castle and thirdly, you can really get breathtaking pictures of the castle. We got some nice shots of the castle reflecting in the water but it wasn't completely still... Think we should go back in the golden hour - that is just before the sun sets. If it's not windy the pictures should be even more amazing!

We did not go with this train...

Some start early...

Maria resting in the sun

We met some friends outside the castle who had a picnic. Maria and her dad below... 

After the picnic the day was over - time to take the train back. 

On the way back we travelled the old way - steam engine!

Little peek of the Peak District

On the way back from Yorkshire Dales the other weekend we drove by Peak District. Wanted to check out whether it was worthwhile spending a weekend to go back for real. Judge yourself but I'm quite sure I will be back!