Thornbury Castle

So my birthday just passed last week and I have now entered my 30’s. Many people have asked/said “wow, you’re 30! or how do you feel…” etc., etc. and I have to say these are exciting times. Life has never been sweeter.

For this momentous occasion, I originally wanted to plan a trip with my family to Mexico. What with my birthday so close to Christmas and me based in London, it was too expensive. In the end, I spent a dreamy evening in a castle.

A few months ago, the Hub told me to take a few days off from work. He wanted to whisk me away somewhere special and it was a surprise. My in-laws always joke about how I’m a Royalist, I have an obsession with Royal culture and of course castles, manor houses, and titles. Can’t help it, we just don’t have those things in America!

Well after our 3-hour car journey, we rocked up to Thornbury Castle. You can imagine my surprise when we drove up, I welled up within 3 seconds into the gravel driveway. 

Oh and it gets better. He booked us a night in the same room that King Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed in.

This bed was amazing. First I love canopy beds, but the mattress was like a cloud. We just sunk into it. One of the best sleeps of my life. 

The fireplace was kept on throughout our stay. I love fireplaces, the smell of burning wood is so calming. I've never stayed in a room with a fireplace, so it was so nice to have that all throughout the night and the warm glow it gave our bedroom. Definitely want one in our future dream home. 

The castle has an award winning kitchen, so naturally Hub booked us in for dinner that night. We started with sauteed scallops and chorizo in a lemon caper dressing and home made mushroom ravioli with black truffles and a rich buttery sauce.

For our mains we had pan fried halibut with gnocchi, morels, and cauliflower and Hub had home made beetroot gnocchi with melted goat cheese and fresh beets. Oh so delicious. I liked his better than mine, so we shared. 

And finally for dessert, Hub had chocolate torte with honeycomb ice cream. Normally, that's something I would go for, but I'm going through this sorbet faze (moved by 34's Almafi lemon sherbert) and so I went with the lemon tart with raspberry sorbet. Loved it, super tangy. The following day we read the paper, had fresh pastries (the cinnamon buns were divine, i had two) and eggs with smoked salmon. 

We took a final walk through the gardens and grounds of the castle, which are kept in the same state as they would have been in Tudor times. 

I can't recommend this place enough. Thornbury was so quiet and relaxing, it was perfect for a quick getaway. I definitely want to go back and would love to take my family here. To Thornbury Castle, until we meet again.  To my darling Hub, you are a keeper!