England 2012. Part 1.
Our first vacation this year happened to be in the end of May (finally, we made it!!!) and we decided to go to England once more. Initially we were planning to visit New York, as Rogier had a training in Chicago (beginning May)...and we thought we can combine it with me flying to NY on Friday from A-dam and he would fly from Chicago to meet up in NY airport - we would spend a great weekend there and go home together. But my parents played with idea of going to UK again as in 2011 and we were not able to say no to them. It might very well be our last vacation together, so we did it.
As usual I conducted a considerable research and composed the complete program with all the details, travel times and distances between distanations, hotels, attractions, opening times and prices. We were very lucky with the weather..I got a glimps of a summer, for as soon as we returned to NL it was rainy and gloomy again...Paradox, this NL weather.
Friday after work we went to my folks by car. Spent a short night there and departed next morning round 6:30am.
Day 1.
26 May, Saturday.
Landgraaf --> Calais (335km) --> Folkestone (?km, about 35mins) --> Windsor (160km)--> Reading (35km)
My dad has a new car, AUDI and it is great! Big and comfi. Much better, in my opinion, than his RR and, I think, more reliable. :) But he niggles with his RR like with a little baby.
The travel to Calais took about 3.5 hours and I made reservations in advance. I made sure we had enough music backgrounds to enjoy the trip more and AUDI has mp3 player, thank gods! Unfortunately, the 1st CD with best tracks was corrupted and I was so busy preparing and packing on Friday that I stupidly did not check if it was OK. Strange, as after burning program stated the process was sucessful, but maybe I accidently swapted this CD with a corrupted one..well..I still had 3 others.
In the car I was reading a very interesting book about the skin care (face&neck) and Rogier was playing a variation of bejeweled on his iPhone (we used to battle against each other a lot..same as sudoku battles..I would buy 2 identical books and we would race for the win with Rogier. there would always be a price..at the moment our currency is caressing and massages..usually 1 win in sudoku game equals 20 minutes. I also downloaded us bejeweled game for pc and we used to play agaisnt each other). This variation that Rogier played involves a spider on the top of the screen and some of the jewels are butterflies. You need to prevent butterflies going up into spider's web. Very cool! And before that we used to play bejeweled on his iPhone, but not against each other - together...he would be responsible for the right side of the screen and I - for the left..this way we got record scores! Teamwork ;) Yes, we like to game, when we chill..it is our way to relax.
Crossing the euro tunnel is fast - about 35 minutes. You just sit in our car in the car-train, while it runs under water to the Folkestone and then...ENGLAND.
English have done a wonderful, truly wonderful job in preserving their nature..this country is simply booming with gardens, parks, historical sights and nature scenes..Breathtaking. One thing I noticed, though, is that I started to dislike British accent. I think I used to like it a lot..when I just moved abroad..but the longer I am here the more annoying I find how British speak..Weird and, of course, I would never say it not to offend anyone, but bleh, really...some things do change.
Our first stop was Windsor and Windsor Castle. To find a parking space was a true pain...we barely squeezed some pounds out of our pockets from the last year visit (as machines were only taking coins and there were no change nearby..we also learned that there is nothing British cops(or are these guys not cops?..) like doing more than writing a fat fine :)So, we did not want to leave the car unattended and folks refused to split. But the real problem was the size of a parking space..My dad's audi is big..and I mean HUGE. I think they tried to repark it like 3 times, before they finally asked me to squeez in and finish the job (the problem was is that if dad or Rogier would do it, they could not have get out of the car after... as there was not enough space for them between the door and a car next to us)..Because our car was so huge, we also considerably limited the access to the door of the car next to us, and this is why we reparked so many times and required my kind assistance..we just did not want the poor guy next to us having problems getting in..or damage our audi trying to do so.
Windsor Castle
Finaly we were in Windsor. Very cute English, typically touristic town. Windsor castle is the oldest inhabited royal residence in the world (about 900 years) and is an official residence of Her Magesty Elizabeth II. Flags were up on the towers, which means, she was "at home". :)The line to the castle was enrmous and as usual we could not make pictures inside..damn it, but everyone was positively impressed. The castle sustained a serious fire damage in 1992. It was an extremely expensive restoration project, but it was good for us to see rennovated rooms and not dated ones as they were already reported to be prior to the fire. There was a huge line to the entrance. I think we waited for 30 minutes or so..together with our tickets we got an audio-tour and the headphones. So we put it on and walked hand-in-hand with Rogier. I loved it. Being with Rogier and touching him is the best feeling I ever experienced. It gives me such a soothing peaceful zen energy. I feel complete with him.
I think it is obvious I am over the heels in love with my man. :)
Saga continues...
Those poor sentinel guards...standing there frozen, no matter what weather - cold, hot, rains..they can't move..and people constantly take pictures next to them..and they can't do shit about it..just looking straight ahead..Boy, this must be annoying for them..I took a picture as well, of course, and thanked the guy, he gave me cryptic look, which possibly meant "if only I could move, I'd kill ya all"....But well, he couldn't! :P Call of Duty!
Everyone was happy with our first visit and when we were done, we went to our hotel, which was in a city nearby - Reading. It took us quite some time to find our hotel, though..even that I had a description and TomTom..something didn't quite work out..Was a nice hotel and room, but we were so exhausted that went to bed quite soon after dinner in the city..I think we only took a drink or two and went to bed at 10am..we were nearly camatose in terms of being tired.. (11pmCET it was).
Day 2.
27 May, Sunday.
Reading --> Stonehenge (80km) --> Wilton House (20km) --> Lacock (55km)
Stonehenge
Next morning I had Stonehenge on the program for everyone. And what an awesome place it is :) It is swarmed with tourists at any time during open hours, must say..everyone moves in a slow-mo alive river arounds the fences. I made tons of pictures and we took our time to walk and look around. We used audio guide again, very informative and noone annoys you with unwelcomed information showers..you choose yourself what and when to listen to. Usually when you pass a certain mark, you need to dial a corresponding number on your audio divice and it will give you a story that is relevant to this particular step of your journey. Very nice. :) I think I made photos of Stonehenge from every possible angle..don't know why..but this place felt good. Not as great as Chichen Itza, where I was in complete Nirvana, but it was still good. You can't help but wonder who-oh-who and when build it..and most interesting..why? We listened to all possible theories from our audio guide, but this mystery remains unsolved and nothing is certain.
Experts suppose that initially, upon completion, Stonehenge looked as shows below:
After a nice long walk among old stones, we returned to our car and laid on the grass, enjoying the sun like lazy cats..Rogier can do it very well...
Wilton House, Salisbury
In the afternoon we went to Wilton House, which is filmed a lot. Most famous examples are Pride&Prejudice and Young Victoria. I just LOVE old houses, manors, castles and palaces..I love to explore them and imagine the lives of people who lived there..their destinies..Captivating. Must be partially the invluence of Victoria Holt aka Philippa Carr aka Jean Plaidy :)The owner of this house also collected cars. I liked Bugatti most of all. I really like Bugatti's. :) Too bad I will always love them from afar, haha. But, actually, who knows.. Bugatti was still clearly in use as the front of the car was not properly cleaned and you coudl see recenet dirt and insects cemetary on the glass window. The main ballroom in this house is the finest survived example of 18th century furniture and interior to-date(for English ballroom of that period). Well-reserved. All these British aritstocrats are connected by family ties. You can see the portrets of ones in houses of another..I counted quite a few during our short trip.
Rogier and dad were not that impressed with Wilton House, so I had another sort of marvel in store for them.
Lacock
Lacock is a beautiful old village in Wiltshire, often used for historical filming (Harry Potter was partially filmed there). I had to nag quite a lot to get there, but once we arrived, everyone appreciated the place and was glad we went there. English care so well for their history and nature...Holland is quite naked in comparisson..we don't have much of a forest..just small islands of nature..the rest is heavily populated or given to agricultural fields.
After Lacock we went to our secon hotel stop - in Bristol. I always book Premier Inn (very good quality/price ratio) and this time the hotel was situated ina historical 16th century building. Check it out:
Dinner at the hotel was great!! I love ribs, so I was eating them almost every day..Many British go to the restaurant chain that operates in all Premier Inn hotels just for food, another good quality/price ratio...but in this case by "good" I mean "tasty", not "some fancy-mancy Michellen cuisine". P.S. I love fancy-mancy Michelen cuisin..I just need to wait a little till we will be able to afford it ;)
Day 3.
28 May, Monday.
Bristol --> Longleat via Bath(60km)--> Castle Combe
On Monday we went to Longleat. One of the treasure houses of England (we saw the rest of 8 in the previous year..it was a LOT of driving then) and safari park (let all Africans forgive me) We first visited the safari park, it was very nice, although I expected more serious monkey attack on our car..It is advertised that monkey would be all over the car and try to take it apart..well, maybe they were still sleepy or it just wasn't their day, but we only got 2 monkey interested in our car. Rino's also slept all way through. On the other hand, it was nice to feed little Bambi's and check out lions. Generally, all predators were kinda sleepy and not interested in us. If it wasn't so hot, they would most likely have been wondering around the cars, but unfortunately not this time :) As usual, Rogier is much more impressed with estates' nature than actual houses.
It was stricktly forbidden to open windows, while passing through predator's area's and understandably so, but, as I said, that particular day they were sleepy.
Longleat is a beautiful Elizabethan mansion, probably the best example of that architecture period in the country. The current owner, 7th marquis of Bath, is a very strange guy. Next to his official wife (from who he has son (future marquis the 8th) and daughter, he has 74 wifellets..a personal harem of women, who live at the estate. I have no idea how his wife copes with this or is she also flower-power-hippy-happy..or perhaps she just likes to be aristocracy more than anything else, but the fact remains...she allows this disrespect. But well, whatever works for them..
The owner also fancies himself a painter and decoratet considerable amount of walls in Longleat with Kama Sutra-related illustrations..they are called murals. Well, what to say folks..I was drawing like this, when I was five, but yeah..he is marquise, not me, so he may do as he likes with his house..shame, though, to ruin such a property with this distasteful crap, but yeah..I'm just saying..
Marquise's son, who is now 36 and according do desription seems supernaturally balanced person, considering the way he was brough up, is rumoured to bring changes into estate after full inheretance. He will remove murals and wifellets from the property and will continue to expand safari park, trying to make it the best attraction in UK. For the curious ones, the comparisson of father (right) and the son(left, obviously):
THE House. We could only make pictures without a flash, so some of them a dark and unclear, but this is the best I could do. Of course, I played grand piano there..it became a tradition..I love to hear how these old instruments sound in great houses with a history and soul fo their own.
After the house viewing, Rogier was quite exhausted..so he just took a nap right on the grass around the mansion.
Looking at old stones is not his favourite thing to do, but he does it for me. And I always make sure he has some nice nature to check out or there are so many other ways to express my gratitude..Love is about compromises..
After the mansion we check out the "jungle kingdom", where monkeys were running in the open around us, parrots would sit on a shoulder, butterflies - on the hand or head..I very much like the idea of all animals wanderign free. Hate cages. Although I think that wild life should remain wild and free(and gazed upon during safari trips or journeys with national georgraphic at home on the couch), in some cases animals cannot survive in the wild..then such parks could be a great alternative for both animals and people. Compromise..;)
We could also see how butterflies were getting out of cacoons.
I also held a snake and tarantula (both were girls). Those who know me are aware of the fact that I have arachnofobia. I usually run away from tiniest of spiders screaming. Both snake and tarantula were very relaxed..probably just fed, they moved slowly and were totally not agressive. Caretakers said it cost them a lot of energy to move.
At first I thought there is no way I am going to touch her..but then it crossed my mind I won’t have another opportunity like this (hopefully) and why da hell not now..If she will spontaneously start running up to my neck, caretaker is near. Tarantula moved very elegantly from caretaker’s hand to mine. It was sort of cool..feeling this creature on your palm, so different from us. Snake was also different from what I thought..not sleezy at all, but strong, flexible muscle-body around my hand. The only thing the caretakers ask is to wash hands carefully. So, I was very proud of my “bravery”..Rogier didn’t want to touch them J
We also visited parrot’s show, which was very funny, they talked, played football, driven the car and much more. It was a nice visit overall. It was mainly targeted for kids, but I think we enjoyed it just as much.
Castle Combe
One of the best and most memorable visits during our vacation was to Castle Combe - picturesque village, which is (again) often used for filming. For example, War Horse by Steven Spielberg or Wolfman were filmed here, let alone countless British movies and series. It is a very-very beautiful tranquil place. We saw a few Japanese who travelled here especially to paint the village..also for anime backgrounds, etc. Did you ever notice these beautiful fairytale backgrounds in 1st class anime? This is where it comes from. No joke. Castle Combe was my favorite place to see during that vacation. Houses dated from 16th century.
Castle Combe is the most beautiful place in England I ever saw..and I have been in England 5 times already with major all-around tours that I composed myself. Everybody was happy we went there. In the local church there was an photo exhibition of recent movies, filmed in this village (including War Horse). I set for a while outside the church, near very old cemitary, some gravestones were dated centuries back. Peaceful and tranquil place...not as Chichen Itza (for me, at least), but it was a real ZEN to sit there and just chill.
On the way back Rogier took over the driver's seat :) so my dad could take a short nap. Usually he takes a nap every working day between 1 and 2pm. I think it is his health secret..although I really-really wish he wouldn't have smoked like a chimney..would have been even healthier...But I decided to give up on leacturing him about his smoking..it is just too frustrating for both of us and only creates negative emotions. He will never give it up, so I jst need to accept it and enjoy his presence for as long as I can. Damn those fucking ciragets.
Seems like my journal cannot take the load of fotos in this post(everything is extraordinary supernaturally slow), so I will quit for now. The second part will come..hopefully soon. It took me about 3 weeks to post this..adding a little bit every time I could. :) I don't know if this post is of any value to anyone else, but it is to me. These were great experiences and treasured memories, so I got over myself and posted it here. :)