travelogue- thursday again.

 

 

this trip has been a trip to remember.  

to say the least.

we are all beyond exhausted but we have created so many memories that for the first time ever in a vacation, apart from seeing my cats i just don't want to leave.

if vacations weren't so damn expensive i'd go on them a lot more.

we have 2 more days before we leave and we are filling the last few days with a lot of travel to nearby towns..

 

the day before yesterday we went to castle howard,

which isn't a castle at all.

it's a giant house similar to downton abbey, only bigger..

 

 

it's situated near the town of york and it's super grand.

only the grandest have a peacock..

 

lord grantham needs to peacock it up over at downton.

 

near the entrance to the grounds are a series of little shops selling locally sourced provisions such as vegetables, meat, dairy, beer and wine...

 

 

it was like a tiny whole foods.

 

i bought some of these strawberries, some jersey cream and homemade meringues and made this later..

apart from whipping the cream within an inch of it's life it was unbelievably good.

not quite eton mess, but close.

 

 

once past the provisions portion of the tour, with (the best) latte in hand (seriously i have had the best damn coffee over here)..we toured the gardens..

and really the best part of the whole shebang for me.

 

the prettiest row of delphiniums.

 

 

fiona tells papa that she pets bees on the back.

papa disbelieves.

 

cabbages and shallots growing together.

(note to self)

 

i could have stayed in the vegetable garden all day taking notes.

fennel and carrots to your left.

kale and more carrots(?) to your right.

plus 2 towers of beans.

 

it is impossible to take a picture of fiona wo her pulling a face. (you have to sneak it in)

 

fennel, chard and peas.

also notice the bed to your right..

they grew chives around the border of nearly every bed.

it was beautiful.

 

you could hear a faint hum in the vegetable garden.

i thought it was a machine doing some kind of work...

 

 

it were bees.

in the rose garden next door..

 

so many bees.

so many roses.

the smell was amazing.

honey, rose, vanilla, clove, peaches...all present.

just from the roses.

 

there were roses in trees.

roses in the bushes.

single roses...

so many roses.

 

europeans know how to work a focal point in the garden.

 

once past the gardens you walked through this..

i died a little.

 

 

and it plopped you out right here....

 

and here..

 

 

 

 

inside was pretty impressive too...

 

this dish collection was pretty darn impressive.

 

and...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i love england so hard.

 

 

 

appletreewick

   the day was perfectly overcast and cool.

we walked.

and walked.

 

 

a sleeping hedgehog.

 

suffice it to say i have researched farms for sale here since we got back.

 

i will dream of this place.

 

 

 

 

Q & A

there have been a few questions asked by more than one of you so i thought i'd answer them in a post rather than individually..

 

question #1-

jenny, what does it say on your american flag shirt..

 

it says this:

everyone loves an american girl

sadly, it's sold out online.

 i got mine at the UO store on ponce in atlanta.

 

 

question #2-

jenny, why the family vacation in the most random town in england if you're an american, harrogate?

this is a great question-

here is the answer..

 

around 20 years ago my dad worked over here for a while at a place called menwith hill.

menwith hill is a communications facility for the air force.

my dad was not air force or military..he was smart with engineering things.

he was also not a spy even though for a while i thought he was and that made him a lot cooler in my book.

anyway..my mom used to visit him periodically thoughout his time here.

they both fell in love with it and have been coming back as often as possible over the years since.

 

back in 2004 my dad surprised us (mike and myself as well as my brother and his then wife and son) with a 2 week trip to the UK...1 week in london, 1 week in harrogate. we were excited to see the place that my dad and mom had been coming to for years.

the trip would take place in september of 2005.

well, in april of 2004 i got pregnant with fiona.

the trip was still set as planned only now we would be carrying around a 9 month old.

 

 

while we did have fun it was such a blur bc we were at the mercy of a 9 month old's schedule and that is no joke.

in fact we spent a lot of the time in our house watching tv while our fussy, NON napping child crawled around the victorian stairs. 

we would go out in spurts and then hurry back home to rest.

i breast fed everywhere.

even on the london eye and in westminster abbey near the tombs of chaucer, tennyson and dickens.

at the end of the trip she got a horrible cold and i was done.

pretty much with life.

 

SO..

this trip was a redeeming trip and a chance for all of us to spend some quality time together.

just grandparents and us 3.

so far it has been a dream.

i LOVE it here.

i loved it then.

only now i can sit back and really drink it all in and appreciate every second of it.

yes, i do have to rest bc i am pretty much exactly like a grandma.

but i am enjoying every moment.

even the ones where i am laying in my bed with a book in my hand, while mike and fiona are at the nearby playground.

actually, especially those moments.

 

which leads me to question #3..

jenny, would you live there?

um..yes.

well, for some of the year.

i don't think i could fully give up america.

but i could certianly live here in the summer months and some of the fall.

the truth is it's really cold and windy and rainy here for much of the time.

in fact, this heat wave we're having is super random.

i am 100% positive i would be horribly depressed in a place that is so cold and rainy all the time.

but harrogate is great in that it has everything a big city has minus all the people.

and then you are only minutes away from the most beautiful english countryside.

so best of both worlds.

i highly recommend harrogate for a week if you are travelling this far north.

 

today we are heading to a medieval castle.

 

see you on monday with picture updates.

and don't forget the gram if you want to see all that shit sooner.

 

 

have a great weekend!