Kingston Lacy is a lavish family home built to resemble an Italian Palace.
There’s plenty to see, from grand, beautifully detailed carvings, to intimate family souvenirs and even strange curiosities such as an ‘I owe you’ note from a king.
It is an art lover’s dream. You can take a look at rooms teeming with paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Brueghel. In the Egyptian Room you can discover the largest private collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts in the UK.
Outside, it has a terrace with urns and vases overlooking a vast lawn. There is also a Victorian fernery, a cedar walk, a lime avenue and a sunken garden which was made in 1906.
Once again today, the weather was on our side, so many of our group enjoyed one of the free garden tours. I took myself off on the woodland walk and found a little, 2ft high door in a tree trunk. Feeling like Alice in Wonderland, I opened it to find absolutely nothing. Just the tree trunk! I was disappointed!
Everyone really enjoyed this visit. A few people said how there is so much here that it can't all be done in a day. No matter what your interest, you will find something here to enjoy.
At 2:30 we left and traveled back to Wimborne Minster where we were booked in for a cream tea at the model village. I couldn't go in here because there is no parking for me, but everyone took great pleasure in letting me know what I had missed. The most gorgeous cream tea with scones fresh from the oven and lashings of jam and cream. The model village itself, they weren't too impressed with. The general opinion was that it was all a bit tired looking and in need of a lick of paint.
We arrived back at our hotel just before 5 and had a couple of hours to relax before dinner. Our meal this evening I think was the best of the week. I had mushrooms in blue cheese sauce topped with bacon for starter, followed by medallions of lamb in garlic and rosemary which was absolutely delicious. It's going to be a shock tomorrow night when I'm back at home and having cheese on toast!
There was a pianist performing in the lounge this evening, which was very pleasant, but not many of our group stayed to listen because we are leaving in the morning so they have all gone to pack. It was warm enough tonight to sit on the terrace for a short while before I retired for the night.
