Day 16 - Rest and relaxation

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We’d planned a traditional rest and relaxation day in the country today and it did not disappoint. We slept in and went for a late-ish breakfast here at the castle.

We booked a couples massage at the spa which was a nice relaxing treat. Then we had high tea for lunch - which really made us feel like we were in the Victorian era. The castle historian joined us for a bit and provided some background of the castle.

He took us on a brief tour of the great hall which dated back to the 13th century. The castle was owned by the same Catholic family for 900 years from about 1158 to 1908. Their family head did a great job of playing politics through all the the wars in this area to hold on to their lands.

We struck out after lunch in search of a laundromat. Instead, we found a laundrette where we spent our best 12.5 pounds today having all of our laundry done for us.

While that was being done, we headed back to the castle and we both spent a bit of time clearing our work emails. From my perspective, it was a great time to do it - overnight the night before the holiday which meant no one was going to respond immediately. :-)

Then we did a quick stroll around the grounds again and found the chapel open. Is also an original part of the castle and has several generations interred there.

Then we headed back to get our laundry. Literally it was the best value of anything we did the whole trip. Don is just wrapping up the repacking while I type this. After that we’ll go down for dinner and keep it an easy day as our way of celebrating Thanksgiving.

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