Ightham Mote Kent England
Sutton Hoo Suffolk England
The exhibition hall is great, there is lots to look at and learn about, obviously all of the 'real treasures' are elsewhere in the top museums, but they have some great stuff, the staff are brilliant with their knowledge and happy to share, and as always there is lots to do for the kids to help get them into the spirit of things!
Ossuccio Lake Como Italia!
The villages surrounding the lake are stunning, all of them have multiple centuries old bell towers that chime every half an hour, so there is a constant ring of church bells around the lake which makes it such a unique setting. On the lake speed boats whizz around all day, ferries slip between towns and sea planes land and take off, all adding to a sense of a James Bond film. In fact a scene in Casino Royale was filmed just around the corner from where we were staying at Villa Balbianello, a beautiful villa which we got to explore as it was left to the Italian National Trust by it's late owner. It was also the scene of the wedding between Padme and Anakin in 'Attack Of The Clones'....naturally the kids were very excited about that! The precise spot of the kiss is in the picture below, minus of course the extra islands, waterfalls and flying alien type birds that George Lucas superimposed.
Milan is a beautiful city, not overcrowded, no real traffic problems (that we saw), a really relaxed feel and some amazingly beautiful buildings, plus it's true, the people are extremely well dressed and fashionable!
The highlight was the Duomo Cathedral which took almost 600 years to build!!!!! A sign of the amazing intricacies and sheer size of the building, or egotistical maniac rulers and lazy builders?
Either way, it's truly phenomenal.
We were treated to some amazing views and got to eat lunch at a restaurant right at the top where they serve local farm cheese, cold cuts and home made polenta.
Discovering old castles has become a bit of a hobby, so we just had to explore the 'The Castello Del Vezio' that was built in the late 11th-early 12th century above the town of Varenna. It was late in the day and we had hiked up a very steep hill to reach the castle at the top, we were the only people in the grounds which was pretty eerie after being surrounded by tourists at the other attractions.
It was made doubly spooky by the presence of GHOSTS!
Check the travel tab to get the full updated itinerary and let us know if we are crossing paths any time soon!
Of course, there was always time for one last picnic on the terrace.......Arrivederci Italia