Putting Out Fires

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Barenaked Motoring Part 2

My favorite thing about England is the driving. I know a lot of people are nervous about the 'wrong' side of the road thing, and I was too, but once I got over that I just loved it. You just have to go for it! Drive like you know what you're doing! People here are much more confident in their driving, and they really work together to keep everything running smoothly. Most towns in England have roads that are barely wide enough for one car, let alone two. And even if there is room for two, people usually park in one lane. And those are the good roads! I was on roads today that literally have two groves for two tires, and then hedgerows on either side. The excitement comes in not knowing when another car is going to come! Zoom and pray!!

So today I took my people mover out for an adventure. Here she is. Isn't she silly? They call her a 'people mover' because she's so BIG compared to the other cars out here. SUVs? What's that? She's got a sunroof that's half the top of the car! Perfect for a rare sunny day in England. The other day I sent this site to my girlfriends to show them what I was driving, and Bec pointed out that it described my England car thus: "Engines are smooth and quiet, while ride is supple." Supple indeed!

After a heavenly breakfast at my fancy hotel, I headed out into the country searching for rapeseed fields. It wasn't long until I found them!!

After braving the farming roads for my rapeseed pics, I headed to Stourhead House and Gardens. A guy at work here told me that it was known for being one of the most beautiful gardens in England, so I knew I had to check it out. Turns out today was the annual Festival of Voices. I couldn't have been any luckier. The place was magical. There were flowers in bloom everywhere, and as I walked the 2.5miles around the lake in the gardens there were singing voices drifting out over the water. Every once in a while I'd catch music like magic across the lake. The Stourhead House was nice and full of centuries-old furniture and paintings, but its the Gardens people go for... Here's the house and the stable house:

In the 'Garden' (which is actually more like a massive landscape park) Henry the Magnificant (named such because of his garden!) recreated his favorite Italian architecture. There's the Temple of Flora, the Pantheon, the Temple of Apollo, Gothic ruins, and a grotto. Here's some pictures:

I mentioned it was a special Festival day due to the bank holiday this weekend. Well there were about 20 different choral groups that were rotating between designated areas throughout the park. I was having so much fun I totally bagged the rest of my plans for the day, grabbed a sandwich (farm fresh eggs!) and lounged on the grass with the hundreds of adorable British families that came out to enjoy the Festival and the beautiful weather. I made friends with a duck who literally poked at me to try to get me to feed him. The whole thing was just perfect. I spent 2 hours munching, reading my book, listening to music, and watching cute little proper English kids running around. This was my view at lunch. Choir on bridge and Pantheon bulding on the other side of the lake....

Since I stayed so long soaking up the sun and English air, I bagged going to Bath. Instead I headed to Glastonbury. I'll save those pictures for tomorrow... seeing as this post has gotten really picture-heavy as it is.

But for now, just wanted to show you how my day ended. My perfect husband (*sniff* miss him!) figured out how to send me flowers! And because I had such good company all of a sudden, I decided to order room service. A big ole burger and fries with Boddingtons beer. Perfect end to the perfect day.

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Your photography skills are looking good!! :); 4:47 PM
kateykakes said...: Your pics are breathtaking - absolutely beautiful. :); 5:16 AM

2 Comments:

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