Arundel

On Sunday we woke up unusually early, both feeling super refreshed (clearly the sign of a very boring Saturday night in!!) and for once we had no plans so we decided to get up and get out to make the most of the day!

It was a really beautiful September day and we decided to head to Arundel Castle which neither of us have visited before. We couldn't get tickets to see inside the castle which was a shame but to see the gardens was only £10 each so off we went on an adventure...

It is about an hours drive from us, and the town itself is really pretty (more on that later). There is a pay and display car park opposite the castle entrance which have public toilets and a coffee shop etc so you can get yourself organised before you go in.

You can't see the castle from the formal gardens, it is the cathedral that sits behind them. Upon entering the garden, you are transported in to what feels like a different country, it felt like Seville or somewhere with a hot climate. There were palms everywhere, and lots of water features. Some parts even felt a bit like we were in the Mayan jungle! Neither of us were expecting that! 

As we had got there so early it felt like we had the place to ourselves which I loved, you can wander at your own pace and take photo's without interruption.

Mr Poachie and I are definitely going to go back to see inside of the castle and to learn more about the place. He really likes history ( I tend to switch off).

This felt very Italian.

Once we were done walking around the grounds we were feeling peckish so after popping into a few local antique shops we had lunch at the Norfolk Arms hotel as they had a sunny courtyard with live music and the most delicious stone baked pizza's.

It was a set menu which meant we had to order dessert...

It ended up being a really nice day! I love those days where you have nothing planned and then you discover somewhere new.

We really enjoyed walking about and having a nose in the shops. In some ways it was a bit like Lewes with all of the antique stores.

This makes me want to buy a houses ASAP so I can spend my weekend's buying antiques.

After a long mooch about we headed home to enjoy reading in the sunshine and I needed to pick some apples for supper as I was making a sausage and apple traybake which was awesome!

Then we had an early night and binge watched TOWIE.

I love Sundays!