Claremont Fan Court

It has been a busy day, as it is always is before one goes away on holiday. Packing, a visit to the hairdresser, taking Murdoch to kennels....the day seems to have flown by and so far I have only packed for myself and I still need to pack for the boys . Of course they can pack for themselves but I need to check they have included the correct things. Going on a cruise involves a certain amount of formal wear in addition to casual clothes so I must ensure they have the correct clothing. 

I pass this house so often as it is not far from where I live, but I have never photographed it until today - it is now part of Claremont Fan Court School, and it is an 18th century Palladian style mansion. A house was first built on these grounds in 1708 by John Vanbrugh (of Blenheim fame) and it has had some very notable residents in it's past including Queen Victoria, who frequently stayed there when it was owned by her uncle Prince Leopold, and in 1882 she bought the house for her youngest son, the Duke of Albany, when he got married. This was taken from the side of the road - I like the sweeping view up to the house but it is a pity there is some ground under repair near the house.

I am looking forward to our holiday - I am not sure about wifi on the boat so I hope I am able to upload a daily blip. I doubt I will have much time to spend commenting on journals but I will certainly continue to look and sprinkle stars and hearts. I am sure it is the same for everyone when you go away, blip journals have to take a bit of a back seat.

An early night tonight as we will be up at 4am tomorrow to get our flight to Copenhagen, where we have two days to explore the city before boarding the ship on Saturday. First stop...Tallinn, I am looking forward to seeing that little city.