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| Wimpy burgers |
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| Its raining, a welcome relief after the heat |
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| Entry to art deco house |
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| Selfie with another lemur (repeat of Singapore trip) |
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| We love a good dress-up |
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| Love this bathroom |
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| More art deco, swoon |
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| Walking in the footsteps of Henry VIII he played here as a child |
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| Bess and butterflies into overdrive |
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| Original moat |
After the punishing heat of yesterday its good to have a slower start to the day. Hard-hitting stories on the BBC this morning, like what to do when everyone is wearing the same dress as you. All of London has their summer dresses out, have seen some gorgeous ones.
Our chosen destination is Eltham Palace, originally a bishops retreat complete with a moat that evolved into a royal palace where Henry VIII and his sisters spent their childhood. Then finally rescued from ruin by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld who restored the great hall and added their own art deco house.
We have to travel only 4km from Ladywell Lodge, this is a much easier journey and I get to check out the home turf of Lisa R and her cat Thackery, Eltham. We are now following the signs to the palace and have made it to the main street, Jane is surprised and screeching in a very high pitched voice, there is a WIMPY, we must go there for lunch. Ok, lets go there, its a throwback to a 60’s style American diner of her childhood. Hamburgers and chips anyone? Actually, that was quite good and the service was exceptional. Much better than the time she took me to pie and mash.
On we go to the palace. Crossing the bridge and I finally experience another London quirk, the parakeets. They make a hell of a racket. We start with the brilliant introductory video with actors inviting us to a party.
From the first steps in the ‘house’ is something to swoon over, the reception room is circular with a space ship in the roof, this house is amazing. I would have liked to have been invited here to a party in the 1930s. Virginia Courtauld was rich, flamboyant and eccentric but what I like best is her pets, a great dane called Ceaser and a cheeky lemur, called Mah-jongg (brought at Harrods). The lemur had its own quarters and lived for 15 years. One of my favourite experiences at Singapore Zoo was with the lemur so Virginia is my kind of lady.
In we go to Virginia’s bedrooms, there is dress-ups - don’t mind if I do. I love this hat, let's add some pearls. Snap. Snap. Now everyone wants to dress up, we always start a trend. The house is just stunning with all types of rooms and lots of history, out the back here is the medieval hall. Well, that is a pretty unique back room.
Time for a cup of tea and lemon drizzle cake to get back some energy and onto the garden we go. There is movement in the moat, big movement, it is fish. They look like they way 10 kilos and are big. We should have brought some cake for them, they keep coming to the surface and opening their mouths at us. Henry VIII and his sisters grew up in this palace and I am now thinking he must have played here, it's hard to comprehend. The bees and butterflies are working overtime in the flowers and the scents are wonderful. Yipee its time to exit through the gift shop, I definitely want a postcard of Mah-Jongg in his deck chair.
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