We started by stopping by Preston and the Church history sites there. We also stopped by the Preston England Temple. It was beautiful.
(it was really bright outside, and I'd been in a bus for hours, and I couldn't see at all)
Finally, we reached our destination for the night: Ambleside in the Lake District. I fell in love immediately. We stayed in a (surprisingly nice) hostel right on the lake. All I wanted to do was be outside by the water. The sunset was gorgeous, and it stayed light out until at least 10pm. It was just so peaceful there, with the sound of the water lapping on the shore and a soft breeze and sheep in the distance...it was just such a happy and restful place.
Enjoying the evening! (and avoiding some bird poop on the wall)
The view from the hostel
I could have stayed here forever.
The next day, we jumped back on our bus (with our terrifying driver...we almost died multiple times. I mean, she ran into a brick wall in the middle of a street...) and headed up to Grasmere and Dove Cottage, the home of the poet William Wordsworth.
I took about a million pictures because the gardens were just so lovely. I can definitely see why Wordsworth wrote so much about nature.
We also had the opportunity to do a workshop with the Wordsworth Trust, looking at some of the inspiration for Wordsworth's poems and some original copies. I got to pull down some old books off a shelf. My friend Abby was the lucky one though. At one point during our workshop, the director told us that they had several first editions of classic Romantic literature, and Abby asked to see Frankenstein. The director carefully pulled out a box, had her open it, and there it was:
Abby then got to read from this first edition. She started crying, and it was such a crazy experience. We all took a bunch of pictures, and it was crazy to think that this was how people first read that now iconic story. I was shaking.
And then, the director handed me Wordsworth's personal first edition copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. Wordsworth had it bound with extra pages so he could include notes. I was shaking so much, I'm surprised I didn't drop or break anything. Two of the best poets of the English language, and I was right there. I really don't know how else to describe it.
That afternoon, we went to visit the home of another childhood author: Beatrix Potter! Her home, Hill Top, was beautiful and just...charming. It was fun to recognize parts of rooms or the garden that she drew in her books.
The garden gate
A real life Peter Rabbit!
The door to the garden
The next day, we hopped on that terrifying bus again (the driver earned the nickname "Crazy Tracy" from all of us, and we're hoping she is never our driver again). And before we knew it, we were crossing the border into Scotland!
Edinburgh was breathtakingly beautiful. It was an interesting place. On the one hand, it feels like a city, just like London does. But on the other, it seems almost...stuck back in time. Maybe it was the rain (it poured all day), but something about it felt different. It didn't feel as hustle and bustle as London can.
We took a tour of Edinburgh Castle and then went to a wool factory where they make tartan, but then came what I was waiting for the most:
There is a small cafe on one of Edinburgh's streets called The Elephant House. It has bright red paint and for the most part looks very normal. It's not. It's a magical place. Why?
Because J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books here! So of course we had to go. And I absolutely adored it. Surprisingly, it's still very reasonably priced, and the food was delicious. We went twice in the day we were there, if only for the hot chocolate. I was in heaven.
I'm pretty sure that this is what it would feel like to hang out in the Gryffindor Common Room. Good friends, good food, couches, and a fireplace.
A rather poetic picture of me, contemplating how one story written here changed the world and sparked my imagination like nothing else has. Also, enjoying hot chocolate. And my friend Olivia is great at taking and editing pictures.
And then, someone opened the bathroom door, and I started laughing. The bathroom is covered in writing/tributes/notes for JKR, for Harry, for future generations. It's the first and last time I graffitied anything.
It's on the back of the door, if you ever go, you can find it.
I spent a lot of time staring out the window at Edinburgh Castle and the town. It was absolutely magical. I wish I'd had a notebook and more time so I could have sat there and written for a while. There was something about that place that inspiration just seemed to bleed from. This is also the view that JKR had while she wrote the first books. It was beautiful.
That night, we took a hike up Arthur's Seat. I thought it was going to be a short little hike up to a nice view...hahaha. Yeah, not quite. It was cold and windy. We pretty much hiked into a cloud. And it was cold and wet and windy.
This was the last picture I could take before my hands got too cold and I put my camera away.
Freezing and windy at the top. We were hanging onto each other for dear life, because we were sure we were going to get blown off. The view was worth it though. From up there, you could see the whole city and out to the Firth of Forth. When the clouds cleared, it felt like you were on top of the world.
We didn't spend nearly as much time as I would have liked in Edinburgh, but the next day we were off to more adventures!
We stopped first at Hadrian's Wall, the northern border of the ancient Roman Empire. Now in ruins and surrounded by sheep, it was kind of amazing to see. Except for when I slipped in the freezing rain and fell down a hill. That wasn't fun.
Fountains Abbey, the ruins of an abbey destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII, was next. They were a little creepy, but it was interesting to see nature reclaiming the stones. Moss and lichen covered the walls, there were mud puddles on the pathways, and the stones were crumbling.
Next was Haworth and and the Bronte Parsonage. Let's just say the darkness in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights makes a lot more sense when you realize that these sisters spent their whole lives in a very isolated town in an isolated house behind a graveyard that was poisoning the drinking water and caused their whole family to die. If you grew up hearing names chiseled into gravestones, you'd probably write really dark characters with little to no redeeming qualities. They're just going to die anyway, right?
Our final stop, however, was absolutely beautiful. Chatsworth is an old mansion, the seat of a duke, and also where they filmed Darcy's house in Pride and Prejudice. It is absolutely gorgeous. Of all of the castles, mansions, and other fancy houses we've been to, this is my favorite. It just seems more...habitable. The rooms aren't tiny, there are more windows, and it's beautifully decorated without being overwhelmingly grandiose. This wallpaper was my absolute favorite, and I want it replicated in my future home.
We also went through the statue hall that Elizabeth Bennet stands in in the film.
The pink pedestals were weird, and we're not sure why they were so violently pink.
And so we ended this trip with me being disappointed that Chatsworth's stables didn't actually have horses, but I found a hat that fit my head, so that's a bonus.
To round out this week, I got to spend Saturday at the Harry Potter Studio Tour again, this time for Wand Week! It was great fun. I got to open the doors of the Great Hall, they gave me a replica of Harry's wand (of which I am still in shock about), I got to see the beautiful castle again, chat with some wand designers, and see the whole wonderful experience again. It never gets old. In fact, I think it was better the second time!
Walking down Diagon Alley
No comments:
Post a Comment