I have not been writing much this summer as it has been quite a busy period at both work and home. A lot of migrations were delayed a few months with COVID-19, plus the normal summer push for Education, and we did our own migration (flat-to-flat) in London 😊.
In this post, I am taking an inspiration from my mother’s travel blog www.soaringtraveler.com. If you love to travel, she does an amazing job covering her travels as an over-60s person and with amazing details. We shall see how close I get to this high standard!
Like a lot of people, we have been trying to explore our local neighbourhoods and in a manner that is responsible with everything going on with COVID-19. MADNick and I have always wanted to explore the UK more after our move here, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Nick planned an amazing getaway that I highly recommend for those wanting to explore outside London.
I must share an ex-pat rant though . . . our US Driving Licenses are no longer valid here. After 1 year of living here, you must take a full driving test (like so many first-time drivers are right now). All exams were cancelled for about 6 months and there is a massive backlog for taking the driving test. To give some perspective, I was Number 141,086 in the queue the other day to book a test. Although trains are great here, this really limits things once you get to an area. Considering this, we decided to embark on an adventure with bikes.
Day 1
We started by leaving our flat and having to navigate taking our bikes on the train for the first time. We have never done this, so it took a bit of research and asking around. It is amazingly simple to do, particularly where off-peak trains here have very low utilization at the moment. We picked up our train at London Bridge on Southeastern to Tunbridge Wells. The journey was only 90 minutes. This was our first exploration of Kent and it is always amazing when you leave London by train to see how fast you change from city to the stunning English Countryside.
For Day 1 we had quite a busy day as we had to get to the hotel, drop off bags, and then cycle 25 miles to Leeds Castle by mid-afternoon. The cycle journey was a lot of rolling, and more not so rolling, hills. As we whizzed down more hills than up, we realized we were going to be in for quite a difficult journey home. The trip was mostly on farm roads with hedges on either side. After not leaving the M25 for 6 months, it was great to be out in nature again. Where we can’t drive in the UK, it was freeing to be able to move at a speed and not be a held back by traffic.
We got to Leeds Castle (no, it’s not in Leeds) with plenty of time for a well-deserved snack and break. The dedicated team at the Castle was working really hard to operate within the COVID-19 restrictions and it was a very pleasant visit.
We have both wanted to explore Leeds Castle for quite some time. I won’t dive into all the history here, as that is an entirely different post. However, we would not be giving it enough credit if we didn’t mention the amazing gardens leading up to the castle. These diverse and well-maintained grounds set the stage for the castle. They really reflect both the history of the site and the dedication of the community. More detail on this in a future post perhaps.
After our tour of the castle, it was already 5 pm and we determined that riding another 25 miles uphill was not going to be a vacation. Instead we found that we could cycle 5 miles south and get on a train at Paddock Hill Station. Two transfers later, we were back at Tunbridge Wells for a quiet evening of recovery.
Day 2
On Day 2 we set off for a guided tour at Hush Heath Estate, home of Balfour wines. (https://hushheath.com/ ). There was some overlap on the bike ride there, something I could not complain about!
I cannot say enough about the experience we had there. The tour, the staff, and the grounds are just amazing. We lucked out on this trip by having perfect weather. Roaming the vineyards, the orchards, and the protected oak woodlands, all while being guided through it was a great experience for us. We have not been able to explore the UK countryside a lot, and this was a great way to do it.
Our tour guide was Barry, and he did a terrific job. We really liked his style, and you could see his passion throughout. The tour was very educational, but dictated by the questions people had. Plainly put, we learned what we wanted to learn, with some bits of wisdom added in.
With the current pandemic, we had to follow certain rules, but the adjustments were minor, barely noticeable, and discussed in a forward, yet friendly manner. The great part of an outdoor vineyard tour is that it is easy to remain safe. Whilst we were unable to tour the actual winery, they produced an amazing 18-minute high-def video tour of their wine and process. As good as Barry was as our guide, I don’t think anyone could give such a comprehensive tour as that video on a massive high-def screen and high-quality sound. It was done with thought and care, and was quite enjoyable before diving into our wine tasting.
After a stop on the upper deck to look over the estate, we settled in for a great sharing platter. The team there noticed us trying to negotiate what two bottles we could carry on our bikes and happily shipped our 6-bottle selection back to our flat in London. Something we appreciated, and I’m sure they enjoyed having a larger sale. We will be bringing guests back here when normal travel returns. This was a top-notch experience.
What wasn’t a top-notch experience was biking back after a wine tour! But we managed to take it slow, walked one mountain, took some breaks in the amazing countryside, and made it back to our hotel in one piece.
Day 3
On our last day, we were quite sore and wanted to explore the town of Tunbridge Wells a bit. We checked out, left our bags and bikes, and walked around this lovely town. Nick and I both really enjoy Provincetown in Cape Code Massachusetts, USA as well as Cape May in New Jersey, USA. The town for us seemed to have elements of these US Beach communities, but in a very nice English town. As US ex-pats we always have an admiration for the architecture when we travel in Europe, and Tunbridge Wells was no different. Many of the buildings are older than in America.
The previous day we had found Juliets on High Street and decided to return for day 3. (https://julietsandmore.com/ ) This brought back memories of small shops that we saw in the seaside towns from the states. It was just lovely to bring back some great memories we have from these areas while taking in a new experience. Juliet’s serves a great cuppa (coffee of course), top-notch soft scrambled eggs, and truly amazing baked goods (with tons of vegan and gluten free options as well). We each took a piece of cake and coffee to go for our roam about the town.
I wish I could say we had a clear goal and focus, but we mainly just wandered after looking at a map, and it was a great free morning after two days of sticking to our google maps while cycling. We walked through the historic district, browsed along the Pantiles, wandered though some parks, and found ourselves on a bench at a cricket field enjoying our cake while dogs and their owners walked by.
After a lovely morning of roaming, our sore legs started to kick in and we made our way to the train station for our journey home. We discovered that instead of transferring at London Bridge to get home, we could switch trains in Orpington (Nick has a work site not far from there) and get off directly at the train station near our flat. I can assure you we will be exploring Kent a lot more! The train system is very easy and even when we get our driving licenses, we likely will still explore by bike where we can.
