Biltmore Estate

The overnight rain ceased and the day got off to misty beginnings, but we placed faith in the weather forecast and it was rewarded. We left the Holiday Inn behind as we drove just a few miles to reach the Biltmore Estate Ticket Office, close to Asheville Downtown. For the uninitiated, the Biltmore Estate was established by the Vandebilt family back-in-the day, after this famous Dutch immigrant family had created a vast wealth from rail-roads and shipping etc. (They also owned Fifth Avenue!)Anyway, they took a vast track of land in North Carolina as their canvass and employing one of the best architects of the day, built a house and gardens in the mountains.

They also established a working estate with vast well-managed forests and latterly, vineyards, winery, and hotel. The Estate is magnificent and the 250-room house rivals any of its European counterparts. The inside of the house is lavishly furnished ..... complete with 15th Century Flemish tapestries and an entire painted ceiling extracted from a Venetian palace! Despite its impressive grandiose appearance, it didn't feel cold and you felt that it would be easy to live in it. After having taken the tour of the house, we walked its fabulous gardens, catching glimpses of the Blue Ridge Mountains and then visited Antler Village, for free wine-tasting and hot dogs at the Smokehouse Barn.

We ordered the small (kids-size) dogs ..... should be labelled kids and Europeans! The wine tasting went well too, but would have preferred more generous measures!! And to round-off today ... before England kick-off their World Cup campaign ..... here's the Monotone with 'Who wrote the book of love'!