7.31.09 London.

Preface for today’s blog: today is filled with the most pictures I think I have posted thus far. The only reason or explanation for it was that somewhere in the walls of Haddon Hall, we lost our insanity from being totally burned out and Brady somehow captured our acts that we now don’t fully understand.

haddon hall

Our morning began with the routine of taking the tube, 2 hour train ride, and chartered bus to our first destination: Haddon Hall. This little gem of a place was out in the middle of the English countryside and is the sight of some scenes in the movie Princess Bride. It was built in the 12th century and in the 1700’s it was closed for 200 years, therefore it hasn’t been tainted with any of the traditional Victorian decoration. It was the first place we’ve been to that has authentic medieval style and I really liked seeing something that is totally different from all the palaces we have seen. Learning about how people lived back then with no hygiene, utensils, and having the same stew brewing in a pot for over a year made me realize how I wouldn’t have lasted one minute living in the 1300’s.

interior of haddon. medieval style.

great hall in haddon hall where plays used to be performed in.

outdoor view at haddon. that view is priceless.

gardens of haddon hall.


these can't be explained. wish i could.

As has become our tradition, we took a visit to the home’s café and had wonderful cream & tea again. (that is what they call those yummy scones and clotted cream. There is actually no tea involved at all surprisingly.)

creamed tea. worth every pound.

We got back on the bus and our driver was taking us to Chatsworth and said that Haddon Hall and Chatsworth are “neighbors.” He used that term loosely as about ten minutes and several small mountains later we could see Chatsworth in the distance. Set on 105 acres of beautiful English countryside land, the house/small castle is absolutely stunning. In Pride and Prejudice, this is the home of Mr. Darcy and let me tell you the movie doesn’t do justice how incredible this place is. We had the day to ourselves to explore the HUGE gardens and tour the house.

stairs in pride and prejudice where kiera knightley runs out of mr. darcy's home.

We started in the gardens and after getting some hot chocolate to help ease the cold wind, we found ourselves in the Rock gardens. It is exactly what it says – a place filled with huge boulders everywhere and make a natural playground. We climbed up and found a lovely place to just lay and sit for a little bit. Moving from there we found the maze and really attempted to complete our first English garden maze, but failed. It was just so incredible walking through these gardens and I found it hard to really take in all the beautiful things around me. There were perfectly cute hedges everywhere I turned and trees hundreds of years old lining every walkway.

kaitlyn helping me over the chasm in order to get to the rock gardens. "hold my hand pretty princess!"

taking a quick nap in the garden.

you can't really see what is in brady's hand but it is an orange, therefore that is where he gets banned to if he wants to eat it. i won't be having that devil fruit anywhere near me.

girls on rocks. we rock.

there is a very creepy statue man behind me if you can't tell.

leaning tree shrubs.

winding hedges. brilliant.

entrance to the maze.

After spending a few hours in the gardens, we decided we better make it into the house before we had to leave. I think this house was my favorite one we have been in so far in England. It was totally different than any place we have ever been with much more wood and masculine touches and much less gold and glitz. I just loved the feel of it and loved seeing the movie exhibits they had showing scenes from Pride and Prejudice and the Duchess, which were both filmed here. The style of the home felt totally different than everything we have seen and for that, I think I appreciated the home more.

dress worn by kiera knightley in the duchess.

original harpsichord. it was absolutely beautiful. it took much self control to not hop the ropes and go play that sucker.

gazing up at the masterfully painted ceiling.

a very comfy red leather sofa and it fits all five.

statue gallery in pride and prejudice.

All in all, it was such a wonderful day at Chatsworth and I wouldn’t mind returning there someday and exploring all those gardens again and again.

7.30.09 London.

Sleeping in has never been so good like it was today and I could have slept the day away if I wanted. We had an optional day today to either go to Bath or have a free day. The five decided that being as burned out as we are that we would stay home and go to see a show tonight. After breakfast, it was off to the Billy Elliot box office to get our tickets for the show that night. They sell obstructive view seats that are on the front row and fairly cheap. It was off to the grocery store since we have pretty much been out of food for the past few days with no time or desire to make the trek to the store. I loved getting home and stocking the fridge with lots and lots of food to eat.

groceries round two

we sported our matching oxford purchases. we proudly support them.

We took the day to just chill and catch up on sketching and blogging and just needed the time to breathe. The show was at 7:30 so we started getting ready for the night and we all got on our new snazzy outfits and headed to the Tesco before to get us treats for the show. I was really excited to see Billy Elliot because I really didn’t know anything about the show and didn’t know any of the music so it was exciting to be seeing something totally new. This was Lindsey’s first Broadway show so it was a big night for her and we were all excited with her to experience Broadway in London.

getting ready to head out to see billy!

self explanatory.


a very nice tourist snapped this for us since we couldn't find something to set the camera on for our classic self-timer photo.

It was a perfect evening and no rain in sight and made the evening even better. We made it to our seats on the first and second rows. Being on the front row only obstructs a little bit of the stage and some of the dancers feet on the back of the stage, but other than that it was so cool to be up close and personal with the actors. I could see all their facial expressions and felt like I was on stage with them. Billy was THE cutest little boy I’ve ever seen! He was super talented and did such an incredible job especially for only being 14. Turns out he is from Nebraska, which is strange because everyone in the show had a thick, dirty English accent and he had it spot on. The show was way good and I am so glad I went to see it and was just a plum good evening.

7.29.09 London.

the rainy window looking out to burghley house.

deer frolicking in the meadow.

I am beginning to wonder if the sun will ever shine in London for longer than a few hours. I just didn’t expect this much rain and cold in the middle of July and am most definitely not prepared with my wardrobe. Luckily today I had my new Oxford sweatshirt to keep me warm. It was another morning with a train and bus ride to the Burghley house in Stamford (not to be confused with StaNford like we have in the states.) We arrived to much rain falling BUT we were met with a wonderful surprise that turned into the highlight of the day…deer! Alright that doesn’t sound exciting but these were deer that are on the property all the time and love to be around people. It was so fun to go up and pet them and I just loved their little adorable faces and spotted bodies. I touched their antlers and how soft they were! I just couldn’t get enough of them and wanted to frolic in the lush grass with them all day.

he was so sweet! we think they're reindeer cuz it was raining and they are deer. get it? clever i know.

petting and getting to know our deer friends.

We went inside the house, which was built in the 1500’s and is a very classic Elizabethan style. We walked through rooms that were in the movies Pride and Prejudice, Young Victoria and The Davinci Code. An interesting fact that I learned while in the house was that there was a corridor added behind all of the bedrooms so that servants could get from room to room without having to walk through all the rooms. Since it was added later, it has become a secret corridor that is hidden by tapestries and paintings. Sadly, someone apparently couldn’t find the door in the 17th century and decided to cut the tapestry right where the door was so they could get out. Not the smartest thing to do to a century old tapestry if you ask me.




After our tour was over, we were starving and it was pouring rain so naturally it was time to have a classic English meal. We went to the garden café on the property and had scones with clotted cream…delectable! Sadly the rain remained with us as we left Burghley and as we headed into the town of Stamford. We had time to just wander and explore the town of Stamford that looked vaguely familiar and resembled Cambridge and Oxford but it was a cute quaint town nonetheless.

scone and clotted cream. a scone is actually just a biscuit but SO good.

we made a pit stop at Platform 9 3/4 so we could go visit our friend harry at hogwarts.

what you don't see in this picture is me actually running through the wall and onto the train to hogwarts.

We made it back home and could just relax and it was so nice. We, as in Ashlee, made a lovely dinner of fried chicken with potatoes and veggies. As we were enjoying our first real meal in a while, the fire alarm decided to roar its nasty head. It tends to go off for no reason so we weren’t worried about it and continued to eat as though it wasn’t going off. I started getting used to the sound and just talked over it for about 10 minutes. Don’t worry there was no fire and we didn’t die but I think Kaitlyn put it best when she said the fire alarm is like the boy who cried wolf. After that little episode, Brady brought his bed into our room and we had girl talk with him and fell asleep with dreams of sleeping in the next day.

7.28.09 London.

our first time on a double decker. that was a moment to be documented.

The tube station is getting used to seeing us bright and early, although today we got to “sleep in” and meet at 7:50. It was another train ride and our first double decker bus experience to arrive at the Blenheim palace right near Oxford.

The palace was built in 1705 and is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill is the cousin of one of the Duke’s of the palace. The current Duke is the 11th duke to inhabit the palace and what a lucky man he is. The place is amazing and we were able to just tour it on our own. After being mislead to go on an audio-guided Disneyland version of Blenheim, we were let out of the creepy moving figured rooms and were able to actually see the house. One of the rooms is the actual birthplace of Winston Churchill and they have the original bed bells on the side of the bed you could pull and have servants come assist you. The staterooms were similar to those of Vaux and beautiful as would be expected.

i just love the color of the palace. brady and I pondered how it came to be that color. sadly, we still don't know.

first gardens.

the lawn. i don't think it's possible to grasp how far it goes.

The house isn’t terribly large when comparing to many of the palaces we’ve seen already, but the gardens get me every time and here was no exception to these gardens. The lawn literally went on for miles and miles and was perfectly manicured. I can’t imagine keeping these grounds clean and pristine. We happened upon the secret garden and while not totally living up to its name, the garden was beautiful. It was just as you would imagine an English garden to be and more with benches, a meandering stream, and butterflies perched perfectly on blooming flowers.

it was magical really.

family photo in the garden. it was hard to stay on the tree if you can't tell.

Our day was ours to explore so after another long bus ride back, we made it to the city center of Oxford. With the weather promising for a sunny day of 70 degrees, we got rained it. Typical really but luckily it didn’t last long.

yum yum crepe.

Our first priority was to get food and fast cuz we were dwindling with no energy. A lovely crepe stand fulfilled these needs and I was ever so pleased with my chicken and cheddar crepe. Brady and I were also wanting an Oxford sweatshirt just because why not? I really wanted one with no hood because those are my favorite so I was on a mission to find it. We found a store full of Oxford paraphernalia, yet no hoodie-less sweatshirts in sight. Bummed but still wanting some Oxford gear, I ended up buying a still very cute hoodie and was pleased with the purchase. Brady was still wanting one so we headed literally 3 stores down and what should be the first thing I see when I walked in but a hoodless oxford sweatshirt…exactly what I wanted. I mustered up the guts to go back to the first store and return my newly purchased hoodie to get the one I really wanted. It was totally worth it and as I type, I sport my Oxford souvenir and love it.

we support london tourism.

It was a short trip to the city of Oxford but I think I’ll attend there one day. It’s a lovely town yet much farther away from London than I thought. The train ride home was filled with more sleeping for me. I have been trained to instantly become sleepy once I step on a train and sleep the hours away until we get home. We got home early and it was so nice to just have the day to ourselves and relax, and that is what I’ve been doing ever since we got home. Thank you flat 17 for letting me rest my feet for a while.