A Tale of Two Palaces - Part One

The mister and I are trying to factor in some leisure time this Summer. At least the last five Summers have been mainly about finishing the house, you know getting jobs done, jobs that are sadly much easier to do when the weather is good. We're working on the garden now as you know, but planning some fun stuff as well.

Last weekend we had a very nice thrifty day out when we went to Eltham Palace, we combined the day with popping in to see my in-laws who live about 10 minutes away in Bromley.

Because our Free three month Art Fund Pass is valid until the end of July we were able to get in completely free of charge. I did spend in the shop though as it had some lovely things and I think it always 'does' to support places if you expect them to be there when you next want to visit.

The palace is a remarkable place not just because it's architecture straddles several centuries, but the way it manages to do so in such a seamless fashion. I do love the great hall but I adore the Art Deco parts of the house.

I am also very taken with a special resident who shared the house with Stephen and Virginia Courtauld, his name was Mah-Jong and was by all accounts quite the character.

The building is surrounded by a dreamy moat and has large gardens where you can take a picnic and laze under the mature trees as we did.

Our picnic was small but delicious, egg biryani, fresh strawberries, caramel waffle biscuits and lashings of Earl Grey and vanilla tea. 

No booze at all as it was a fair drive away, but we didn't miss it honestly.