Since getting home

I've been really busy since getting home from Europe. I've been organizing all my photos, books, and maps, and will have some new blogs soon! I stayed an extra two weeks in Europe and brought three of my children out to be with me. A week after getting home we went to AZ for my grandson's birthday! A couple of days after we got back my dog had three puppies, and a couple of days after that my daughter had her tonsils out, so I've been playing nurse. Now school has started and everyone is busy!

Thur. we were supposed to go to Windsor Palace but almost everyone went to a play the night before and got back late; so only six people showed up in the morning. So we opted to go out on our own to see some design shops and stores with great designs. After that I went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw the amateur portrait show. It was really good.

On Wed. we went to Syon house. It’s not as big as the other houses and palaces but it was very impressive. Again no photos except the grounds. But I have been faithful in getting guides to all of these houses to show all of you when I get home!

Tues.

On Tues. we went to Chatsworth, I was so impressed. It is definitely my favorite place we’ve been. I didn’t know that we would be able to take photos there so I didn’t plan ahead and ran out of battery before I even got through the house. The grounds were just as nice as the house! I could have used my movie camera, darn!

Monday

This is Monday, June 18th. We went to Blenheim Palace, it was a big place. But again we couldn’t take photos, so all my photos are of the outside and the surrounding grounds.

Thur. June 14th

On Thurs. we took a train to Cambridge and had a great tour of the city. I have never seen so many bikes in my life! It’s very interesting how the town was named, mainly the town is surrounded by the river Cam and the King built a bridge to connect the city. As simple as that. It was one of the neatest towns, it seemed to be all made of old buildings and in some areas you can’t drive a car. There are some 31 or so colleges there. We had a tour guide that took us to the All Saints church that is still being renovated. It was built and decorated by William Morris. We went into King’s Chapel at King’s College, it has the largest “fan vaulting” in the world. We practically ran through the Fitzwilliam Museum and saw some more famous paintings. To top it all off we went “Punting on the Cam”. A cool boat ride kind of like a gondola ride. We got our first drenching on the walk back to the station.

Wed. June 13th

On Wed. we took another train to Chesterfield and took a bus to Hardwick Hall. There’s an older house in ruins and right next door the newer house. It was great fun taking photos of the ruins and climbing the stairs. We weren’t able to take photos inside the newer house though. There is a lot of history in those houses. Afterwards the bus took us to Haddon Hall, definitely one of my favorite places. Parts of Pride and Predigest, Princes Bride and Jane Eyre were filmed there. The gardens were the best gardens I’ve seen yet!