Another Single Post Today

as again there are lots of photographs,

glad rags on,

and we were on our way,

over Rochester bridge, the Russian submarine in the River Medway,

welcome to historic Rochester,

we made our way past the Huguenot Museum,

to the city walls,

and into the High Street, as it happens we have been to the High Street more than a few times before, this is one of them,

when lost, look for a sign,

and there it was, we were going to the Restoration House,

the road leading to it,

the main gateway closed due to social distancing,

the legend outside, the house is a example of an Elizabethan mansion. It is so named after the visit of King Charles II on the eve of his restoration, Charles had landed in Dover on 25 May 1660 and by the evening of the 28th arrived in Rochester and stayed at the house,

all set to go inside, we had pre-bought tickets, then a slight hic-cup, all bags, telephones and cameras are taken off of visitors, strictly no photographs inside the building are allowed, however the price of admission does include a nicely printed 42 page booklet, the reason given for no photographs is in fact that the house is lived in fulltime by the present owners, and people taking photographs would disrupt the passage of visitors, as it happens that latter is so true, the artefacts inside are so numerus and in many cases unique, you could spend half a day taking photographs in just one room! 

the good news was that photographs of the two and a half acre garden was allowed, Diana could not believe that these were real pears, but they were!

the lawns were immaculate,

as were the water features,

this one static, but there were others that we saw later,

the gardens are divided up into different sections,

each one in its own way different,

also dotted around the gardens there are tables and chairs, you can buy cakes, tea and coffee and sit in the gardens whilst drinking and eating,

the robin waiting for a few crumbs,

a look across one of the gardens,

and a pose from Diana,

in this section there were two, large fountains,

and along the wall several smaller ones,

on the left another table and chairs to sit and admire this part of the garden,

at the top some more chairs to sit and relax on,

we continued our walk,

downstairs,

a panorama of the fountain garden,

unusual for the UK,

outdoor lemons,

one of the small ponds with water lilies in them,

we walked to the far end,

looking back across the lawn,

and then up to a dividing wall,

on the other side of which there were some glass houses with vegetables,

and flowers being grown,

as I mentioned,

the lawns were immaculate,

next a slightly wild section,

in the distance a summer house and a vintage greenhouse,

we will visit later,

looking back to the main house,

we made our way towards it,

well I just had to have a pose,

or two!

I am not sure what these are, but they looked so nice,

Diana strikes the pose,

and has to smell the aroma of these flowers,

another table and chairs,

under an apple tree,

in the centre of one lawn a sundial,

with 4 sides, a dial on each, no excuses for being late in this house!

in one of the flower beds,

a sunflower makes an appearance,

we are now by the summer house, it is a bit dark inside,

looking inside a lovely display of plants,

into the vintage greenhouse next door,

with a nice display of cacti and succulents,

and a few other exotics,

also this really nice hanging geranium,

on our way back to the house, this doorway,

with a plate attached to it,

I have no idea what it means,

now that is what you call a rainwater butt! what a wonderful garden, and so nicely maintained,

we made our way back to the High Street,

and popped into Holland and Barrett and bought a few vitamin pills, (I need all the help I can get!),

there are so many different shops in the High Street,

as well as cafes, pubs and restaurants,

we stopped off to look at this florists,

with a nice display on offer,

including these blue heathers,

a touch of Thai anyone?

and Diana just had to touch the wisteria,

we were blessed with a glorious day, blue skies, what could be nicer?

well this café as it happens,

we ordered our breakfast/lunch,

any minute now,

and here it is,

a cheese and ham panni for Diana,

a salt beef sandwich for myself with a latte coffee each,

the café called Tony Lorenzo, the bill came to £18.00,

we decided to visit the castle,

on the way stopping to look at the outside of this building,

Eastgate House, which is still closed to the public because of Covid,

the house is famous for its association with author Charles Dickens, featuring as Westgate in The Pickwick Papers and as the Nun's House in The Mystery of Edwin Drood,

it almost looks like a Sunday, the street so quite,

onward to the castle,

we both liked the flowers on the lampposts,

on both sides of the street,

another florist,

and another shop I could spend hours in, it sells all manner of geological specimens,

nearly there, turn left past the archway,

a last look at the High Street,

and we were walking up to the castle,

a quick pose,

the road was closed and the car park full of vans and lorries, our luck had struck again, not only was the road closed, so was the castle!

looking back to the cathedral we decide to walk to the River Medway,

we found out why the castle was closed, there is going to be a huge pop concert taking place, and it is too dangerous to let members of the public in whilst the stage is being set up,

so down to the river,

and a walk back to the station,

low tide in the Medway,

in the distance the Russian submarine,

a quick pose,

and we were going past the road bridge,

the cities coat of arms on the bridge,

the beginning of the High Street, but we were heading for the station,

and soon thundering towards Bromley South,

a change of train to Beckenham Junction, and into the park,

past the lodge, 

and home, where there was a nice surprise waiting for me,

the beer and coffee mugs from the Britannia Coconut Dancers had arrived, crickey that was quick! tea towels to follow, I shall be enjoying a few of those when Steve calls round, it was feet up for couple of quiz shows before it was time for our evening meal,

out again, and on to a number 54 bus,

for our journey to the Kathmandu Masala, in Croydon Road, Beckenham,

 a sherry to accompany the poppadum's,

Diana chose a chicken tikka chat for her starter,

for myself a prawn puri,

'Cheers!',

and another!

for our main course,

lamb dansak for Diana, chicken aiswarya for myself with aloo gobi mushroom and peas pulao rice and a butter nan bread,

on to desserts,

a Jamaican coffee for myself, a kulfi, an Indian ice cream dish for Diana, the bill came to £82.00, next back on the 54 bus where it was feet up for a spiced rum and a New Tricks, before we were off to bed.