Goodbye England

♫ Time to Say Goodbye ♫

Oh England, you have captured my heart and you won't let go.  I've traveled to Europe four other times and have never felt this way.  I have loved visiting all of those beautiful countries in Europe but traveling to Europe has always given me the feeling that I am far, far away from home.  I can even go to California, Alaska, or Arizona and be aware that I am far away from home.  Home in Virginia has always been a magnet for me.  My family has lived in Virginia since 1609.  Virginia is very much a part of my being.  England, I don't feel far from home with you.  I've felt your gentle arms wrap around me as we traveled around your beautiful countryside.  Your lovely people have been so kind and helpful.  Even with your small roads and driving on the wrong side of the road, it has been the most grand adventure I could have ever dreamed.  Having ancestors from England surely must be a reason that my heart feels this way.

England I must bid you farewell today!  We have now turned in the rental car and we are now riding in the taxi to the pier.  I'm happy we are traveling back home on the Queen Mary 2!  It will help take the sting away of having to leave England.

Having taken the QM2 to England, we know what wonderful service we will enjoy upon our return.  I've missed my children and grandchildren.  They mean the world to me.  Still I feel a certain ache in the pit of my stomach.  I am tired.  We have seen so much and packed a lot into each day.  We always do this on our travels.  I'm ready to relax on this journey back to home.

We have given our bags to the porter and now have checked through security.  We are now able to board the Queen Mary 2.

We are directed to our stateroom and begin to settle into our home for the next seven days.  After having unpacked we decide to have a little lunch in the King's Grill.  Before the sail away we participate in the mandatory Muster Drill.  It's a beautiful day to enjoy the festivities before departing England.  So we make our way topside to bid our last farewell to England--Oh no!

Wait a minute we can't go without recalling all the wonderful places we've seen!  Grayden made a wonderful map of all the spots we visited.

As you can see we have had a packed eleven days.  Thank you dear readers for coming along on our journey.  It has been so exciting sharing all of our travels with you!

I must also again thank Susan Branch for her wonderful book, A Fine Romance, for the inspiration for this journey!  If you ever think of going to England and want to visit the English countryside, you must read her book first!

Of course, I must thank my sweetheart for all of his work planning this trip especially for me.  Grayden you have spent hours and hours working on all the places I wanted to see.  The maps you plotted before leaving home, the pre- programmed GPS were lifesavers for us!  You have driven us just under 2,000 miles around England.  The roundabouts, the narrow roads, the driving on the wrong side of the road didn't phase you one bit!  There is no one on earth I would rather have shared this trip with!  I love you, my sweetheart!

I also must mention the National Trust.  Bravo to you for maintaining the integrity of all the beautiful properties in your care.  You are a wonderful organization that I am thrilled to be a member of through the Royal Oak Foundation (The American arm of the National Trust of Great Britain).  I highly recommend joining this Foundation before traveling to Great Britain.

It's time for us to depart.  We are standing at the stern of the ship ready to say goodbye.  There are tears of joy and happiness at all we have enjoyed.  I think I'm ready....

We stayed at the stern gazing as we went through the passage out into the ocean!  Goodbye to all the beauty of the Lake District, the castles, the charming old homes, the gardens, the gorgeous cathedrals, the miles and miles of stone walls dotted with sheep.  I could go on and on.  I'm waving Deb!  I hope you can see me!  It's getting dark now and we must go inside and begin our journey back home.

I can't be sad.  We have a week of relaxation to enjoy.  We have programs and afternoon tea to enjoy.  No, I won't be sad.

The entertainment and programs were different than our voyage over so we enjoyed ourselves immensely on our crossing home.  The course home was a little bit further south, so the weather was more agreeable to long walks and relaxing days on the deck.  They track the polar icebergs and they were floating south so we stayed clear of those.

I never knew the ocean would be so blue so far out!  It was gorgeous!  Several days we spotted dolphin and one day Grayden spotted whales!  How awesome are our great oceans!  The captain gave updates at noon and made us feel well taken care of.

After seven wonderful days we are greeted by the beautiful Statue of Liberty!  We are back in the United States of America!

England, Day Nine, Part Two

♫ Greensleeves ♫

After seeing the beautiful Seven Sisters we traveled to East Sussex.  The English countryside is such a joy to view.  I must tell you that we both wore permanent grins on our travels.  The pace was quite intense as we wanted to see as much as possible.  So come along with us as we continue on to see Bodiam Castle.  This is the view as traveled along the coastline.

We have small roads to travel as we come to Bodiam Castle.  It reminds us of the roads in the Lake District.

Today is a Bank Holiday and the castle is a popular place for families to come.  Bodiam was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dallingridge.  There is a debate as to whether he built the castle for defense or to show off his power and wealth.  It is known that it was a working estate with farmland, a wharf and a flour mill.

Bodiam Castle would have originally been elaborately landscaped with ponds and moats as we see today.  These ponds and moats would have added to the defenses, but also made a scene to impress visitors.  Okay---I'm impressed!!

The castle became unlivable during the English Civil Wars.  The most notable restoration occurred from Lord Curzon, Vicroy of India, who left the castle to the National Trust in 1926.

Let's walk around and go into the castle.

Look over the railing, there are many fish in the moat.  The dark shadows are some very large fish!

Walking inside of the ruins we see the Weald Stone interior.

We have no intention of climbing walls, but I see many children that are just itching to do so!  The children here are enjoying themselves so much--can you imagine being able to visit a real castle as a child?

Just outside of the moat there is a fair going on. --A lot of families having picnics and enjoying the various craft tables set up.  There are kiddie rides of all sorts to delight the children.  It's a beautiful afternoon and no one is wasting the gorgeous day!

Walking back to the carpark, I am reflecting on the piece I read about Bodiam Castle written by the National Trust.

A Castle of Wonder
"Where brooding walls rise
majestically from a moat; where
you can be a real knight or
princess for the day...Let the
castle capture your imagination. "

We have worked up quite an appetite since having breakfast early this morning.  There is a lovely tearoom here on the grounds we should visit.  I hope you will join us!  Grayden and I are sharing a one pot chicken meal and potato and leek soup.  We've enjoyed the best meals here in England.  They know how to make the best soups!  I know we are going to enjoy it.  The one pot chicken was a soup like meal served in a bowl with yummy root veggies and a large breast of chicken.  There is a large piece of crusty bread to enjoy alongside our meal.  Of course I'll have a pot of tea along with my meal.  Enjoy your lunch as we have two more places to visit before we end our day.  See you soon! ♥

England, Day Three, Part 2

After leaving Hilltop all I could do was smile.  The weather was improving and we made our way to Hawkshead.  I wanted to see the Gallery there with Beatrix Potter's original artwork.  The Gallery is housed in the old law offices of William Heelis--husband of Beatrix Potter.  Check out the National Trust page about the Gallery-Here   There is no photography allowed in the Gallery.  The two story office is quite small with a fireplace in the entrance.  We gazed at all the original drawings that fill this two story office.  How incredible!!!

Hawkshead is a lovely little town that is filled with little shops--  Yes, Beatrix Potter shops.

We left Hawkshead and knew we would be in for more narrow roads.  We decided we had time to visit one more National Trust site before going to our apartment.  See the GPS on the windshield?   I'm so thankful for this amazing tool.  By the way, in England they call a GPS (global positioning system)--SAT NAV(satellite navigation).

Somehow when I look at these photos, the roads look larger--trust me they are narrow!

We wanted to see Wray Castle.  So we are on our way! 

Wray Castle is a folly of a home!  The castle was built for two people!  No kidding.  Nathaniel Hawthorne said about Wray--"A mimic castle...a giant, foolish toy of graystone."  Beatrix Potter stayed here with her family in 1882 when their usual holiday home in Scotland was booked up.

Beatrix Potter and Family at Wray Castle

This is the castle we see as we drive to the car park.

Coming into the castle we see a large entryway.  Looking up we find this amazing view!

This castle is huge as one might expect.  There is one room after the other.  It was built in 1840 by James Dawson's direction.  The National Trust acquired it in 1929 and it has served many purposes since then.  It was a Youth Hostel, a Freshwater Biological Association home, a home for the Merchant Navy serving as RMS Wray Castle.  150 cadets lived here during their training.  In 2011 The National Trust wanted to lease the property as a hotel.  These plans were abandoned and instead they allowed visitors to Wray Castle.  It was so popular that they have been inviting visitors to come to Wray Castle since 2014.  It clearly is in transition and the National Trust invites ideas for consideration.

This is the view out of one of the windows!!!  It is breathtaking!

One of the rooms is dedicated to Beatrix Potter and contains many old photos of her and her family.

from left to right--Beatrix Potter, Beatrix Potter with bunny, Beatrix and brother Bertram, Beatrix and William Heelis, Norman Warne(Beatrix Potter's editor and fiance')

Wray Castle was quite interesting.  The views were spectacular!

Wray Castle property borders the beautiful Lake Windermere.  I love the views from Wray!

What a wonderful exciting day we have enjoyed!  

Since it is a holiday week in the USA, I thought we should extend the giveaway for another week.  If you wish to enter the giveaway from the previous post and have not entered yet, please leave a comment on this post.

I understand some of you are not getting the current post in your sidebar.  If any of you have any ideas about this please let me know.  I'm clueless about why this is happening.

Happy Fourth of July! ♥

Day Three, Hilltop and Giveaway

♫Perfect Day♫

Today is a day I have dreamed about.  If I admit it, if I were only able to visit one place in England, it would be Hilltop. Visiting Hilltop, one of the homes of Beatrix Potter, has been dream of mine for a long time.  I've loved her charming books forever.  Her beautiful artwork is truly a gift from God.  Sometimes when a dream is about to be realized one can be afraid that the real thing will be disappointing.  Believe me--I was not disappointed!

Our apartment is only 27 miles from Hilltop!  This is the main reason we chose to stay in this location.... But it took us 1 1/2 hours to get there.  The M5 and A roads were just fine, but then we took a B road that was curvy, narrow and quite scary.

See the stone wall on the left--that's where I was sitting in our car, trying not to say too much to Grayden as he carefully drove us along curves and hills and more stone walls.  

Along the way carpets of bluebells made the drive beautiful and more enjoyable.  It was a drizzly, rainy, moody day.  Anticipation of what was to come made it all very mystical and magical.

After driving at very slow speeds we finally made it to Near Sawrey--the town where Beatrix Potter bought her beloved Hilltop!

Beatrix Potter bought  Hilltop in 1905 as a retreat away from London.  She purchased Hilltop with money from her first book-- The Tale of Peter Rabbit.  She loved the area around Hilltop and it's not hard to see why!  It served as inspiration for her books that followed. 

Upon arriving at the car park for Hilltop, rain was falling.  We were early (on purpose) to be able to get our tickets.  Hilltop is very popular and has a timed ticket schedule.  We were early enough to pick up our tickets for the first opening at 10:00am.  A few cars began to fill the car park.  Everyone wants to come to Hilltop!

It was time to make our way up to Hilltop.  We followed a hill up a narrow pathway made of large rocks that was lined with flowers.

We're almost there!  I can't believe it! 

There she is!!

The nice National Trust docent invited us in!  Oh my, yes I'll park my brolly at the door and yes you can wipe the rain off my jacket.  We don't want to harm anything in Beatrix Potter's home.

We made our way inside to a sitting room on the left.  It was cozy with a roaring fire to warm us.  There were low beams and the ceiling was covered in wallpaper.  I'm quite emotional at this point as I can't believe I'm standing where Beatrix Potter once stood.  Everywhere there is charm.  To the right is another room that is filled with lovely china that Beatrix collected.  She was from a wealthy family and attended many antique shows with her mother.  It was pointed out that she and her mother didn't have much in common but they both loved to go to antique sales together.

Toward the back of the sitting room was the scullery where Beatrix prepared meals.  To the left of the scullery were stairs we climbed to see four rooms.  One was a room of her collections with a lovely dollhouse.  Another sitting room with a piano and beautiful photos of her and her family. Her bedroom with her lovely tester bed and bed coverings and memorabilia all about.  She added an addition so she could have proper light for her art studio.  She never wanted electricity in her home.  This room was filled with her brother's artwork.  Bertram was an accomplished artist as well as their father.  There were very large paintings that lined the walls.  Sadly no photos are allowed inside, but you can go here to see her bedroom.

I can't begin to describe how I felt in her home!  Her love of nature was everywhere.  Beatrix Potter, I felt your spirit in your beloved Hilltop.  I'll never forget it!! 

As we left her home I turned around and gazed upon this special place. We wandered about the property.

Upon leaving the gate we spotted Castle Cottage, the home that Beatrix and William Heelis shared after their marriage. It's the white house on the right. 

When we planned this day before leaving home, I told Grayden I wanted to stay all day in Near Sawrey.  I did not want to short cut this visit.  So next to Hilltop was The Sawrey House Tearoom that we had to go visit.  We read on their menu that Beatrix Potter would often come and have afternoon tea here.

The vistas from this property were lovely!  These photos were taken from the inside the Sawrey House Tearoom.

After having a lovely soup for lunch it was time to take another look around Near Sawrey.  It's so charming and quaint in this area.  What a wonderful place to live!  I hope it never changes.  Beatrix Potter was a big proponent of the National Trust and gave over 4.000 acres of land, 16 farms and cottages, cattle and Herdwick sheep for future generations to enjoy.  Her gifts were the largest the National Trust had received and enabled them to create the Lake District National Park.  Thank you, Beatrix Potter!

Because of all the joy that I felt upon seeing bluebells and Hilltop, I wanted to have a gift drawing for one of my readers.  Thank you for coming along with me on my Grand Adventure to England and especially to Hilltop!  It is very special to be able to share it with you!

I bought this lovely mug in one of the National Trust stores to give away.  If you want to put your name in the hat, just leave a comment on this post and in a few days I'll draw one of your names and send it off to you.  Thank you for coming along! ♥