Monday (Swaffham to London via Burghley House)…

Another fantastic breakfast at the Strattons, and we hit the road. Wanting to squeeze in one final country estate before catching our train back to London, we headed straight for Burghley House.

Built originally in the 16th century by Lord Burghley, who served as chief counsellor of Elizabeth I, the house has been modified, cared for, and lived in ever since by his descendants. The care really shows, from the meticulous lawns and sculpted gardens outside to the vivid ceilings and lush tapestries inside. The house tour takes visitors in via a historic kitchen, complete with an enormous hearth with rotating spit for roasting meat. Learned that at one time, dogs on a treadmill powered the rotisserie! Up the ornate-carved stone Roman stairway to the main floor state rooms. The rooms are quite beautiful and varied. The billiard room was homey with a large green felt billiard table and oversized Turkish style divan…definitely 19th century additions. A cozy bedroom with large bed played host to Queen Victoria and Albert…apparently so well that they missed breakfast in the morning. A series of connected signature rooms (the George rooms) along one side of the house have colorful ceilings by Antonio Verrio who also painted similar ceilings at Windsor castle. The largest of the rooms is painted to impress and inspire: “Heaven” covers the ceiling and three walls with robed figures and mythological iconography. The room also holds an enormous solid silver wine cooler. Next door, in another grand staircase is “Hell,” complete with firery images of damnation surrounding you as you descend to the ground floor. The last room is a large Gothic hall with hammer-beam ceiling…famously used as the dining venue when Victoria and Albert stayed. Upon leaving the hall, a display showcased Lord Burghley’s Olympic Gold and Silver medals won in the 1930’s track events. The collection also includes a 2012 Olympic Torch from another legendary runner: Lord Coe.

Outside, we visited two gardens. One a traditional sculpture garden, albeit one with modern art scattered in clearings and alcoves in a wooded portion of the grounds. The second was the experiential Garden of Surprises, with hedge-separated rooms…each with a whimsical water feature. To finish our visit, we took a semi-loop around the house, along the sprawling manicured lawns. The afternoon sun lit up the house and reminded us how amazing Britain is in the autumn.

We returned our car in Peterborough, and grabbed a fast train to London, arriving into King’s Cross around half past five. We grabbed a taxi back to the Doubletree Marble Arch where we happily snagged an upgrade to much bigger room this time to finish the trip in style!

For our evening walk, we strolled down familiar paths and soaked up the atmosphere of a chilly night in London. We returned to Cây Tre in Soho for dinner…we had been craving their rich campfire beef and hearty Vietnamese fried rice since last week. A perfect choice for a repeat! Relaxing drinks at The Yard, followed by a late night walk full of random turns. We arrived back at the room after midnight with tired feel but rested minds.