* Posting this three nights late as we had no internet
After a restful night's sleep at The Hollow Bottom we woke up to a beautiful, sunny, blue sky, so we decided to go for a quick walk before breakfast. The pub overlooks a lovely green field, bordered by shrub-looking trees, so we followed the path along the field towards a number of surrounding cottages. We started to realise that the people living around there must have been quite wealthy as cars in each of the driveways were either BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Lexus. You can also tell that their gardens and cottages are very well-maintained, so we're guessing rich, retired English folk. We returned to the pub for breakfast. Had cereal, coffee/tea, and cooked English breakfast - Ryan ordered a smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and I had poached eggs, bacon and toast. We then set off in our car to Avebury. Similar to Stonehenge, Avebury features large stones in an upright position. However, instead of just being in one area, the stones are spread across several fields throughout the town. We found a field a little further from the main site (where there was free parking) and had a look at some of the stones which were positioned kind of like a walkway. Also took a walk up the hill to get a nice view of the town. Along the way there was a tree with lots of ribbons and hearts tied onto it - looked to be a love tree - so we proclaimed our love.
Afterwards we drove to Winchester, the original capital of England. We didn't expect so much traffic and were surprised by the amount of people and large shops - we joked that we'd driven to Hornsby! Turns out Winchester is actually one of the most desirable English cities to live in. We took a good walk around the city and saw the famous gothic cathedral (I think it's one of the longest in the country), the University of Winchester, and stopped by the ruins of Winchester Castle. We learnt that the castle was actually once a grand palace built by the Bishop of Winchester in the 12th century as a show of his wealth and power. The current Bishop of Winchester lives next to the ruins in a MASSIVE mansion, so not much has changed.
We ate lunch at a cafe in the city centre and did some window shopping before sitting down to look for accommodation for the night. Unfortunately, this took us a long, long time. we ended up spending around 2 hours looking for somewhere to stay for the night. By the time we found somewhere, it was dark and driving at night was really stressful. It was made worse because we were driving in a more rural area so there were no street lights and lots of bends, all the trees and roads seemed to meld together.
We finally arrived at our B&B at 7pm. It was a room above a store in the tiny village of Dellfield in Froxfield. We were greeted by a couple who owned the store and home, and a very lively, friendly whippet dog. We were absolutely starving, so we hit up a nearby pub recommended by the owners. The pub was run by a French guy and the food was delicious, albeit expensive. But we were hungry (and in the middle of nowhere) so we decided since we "saved" on cheaper accommodation, we could treat ourselves. Ryan ordered lamb shank and I got salmon. Both were pretty tasty, so couldn't complain.
By the time we got home we were so tired, and the room was really cold, so no time to blog - but Ryan found time to watch the soccer on TV (lol) so after that we completely passed out.
The next morning around 8 we ate breakfast followed by a quick walk of the town. From there we drove 30 minutes to Portsmouth, parked the car and did some shopping. From there we walked through the centre of town over to the HMS Navel Base where they have some old navy boats tied up such as the HMS Victory which fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. We were planning on going aboard the boat but our parking was running out (parking in UK towns is crazy expensive, $8 aud for 3 hours) so we had to head back to the car. We found some more parking and had a late lunch, then tried to sort out accommodation. Just like the previous night we couldn't find anything and spent an hour trying to book something reasonably priced within a reasonable distance. In the end we found a place 30 minutes away for 110 aud, but we had waste so much time that we had to head off. We drove through the winding darkness to Grandwood House. We managed to completely miss the entrance but luckily google maps told us to turn around and drive slowly. Once through the gates we couldn't miss the LED illuminated temple situated next to our room; luckily that was the only weird thing about our stay. The only other disruption was Jackie waking up in the middle of the night freaking out that she couldn't breath because the heating was too hot. We opened up the front door to a nice cool breeze and the sound of an owl hooting away.
Breakfast the next morning was another massive cooked affair; our waistlines aren't appreciating it but the view from the big farmers kitchen was awesome. Again, we filled up on cereals, bacon, eggs, baked beans, toast and sausages. Both of us couldn't even finish it.
Chris who ran the B&B recommended we check out Arundel Castle so we set off around 9 for the quick 30 minute drive. We spent the next 2 hours walking around the castle and the grounds. We looked at the medieval Keep, the surrounding gardens and strangely, saw animals including rhea birds and goats. Also had a cup of tea in the cafe. The castle itself isn't that amazing, what struck us more was the crazy opulence that the aristocracy lived in. There was a drawing room which was filled with amazing furniture - some painted with gold - fine wooden and ivory carved boxes, and a crazy library lined with collections of books and every room had amazing oil paintings and portraits, which, at the time, would have cost a fine penny to commission. There was also a guest room which the Queen Elizabeth II had once stayed in for the night - it was quite a stunning room with beautiful furniture but it was hilarious as the Queen had been quoted as saying it was a "small but cheerful" room. Next to that room we found actual silver spades and a wooden and silver wheelbarrow which was used by the royals for gardening.
From Arundel we drove to Treacle Tea House in Chippingfold for lunch of sandwiches and coffee, then on to the town of Guildford for a 2 hour walk around. Guildford is very much a normal looking city, lots of shopping and like all cities, features a large cathedral. It was getting dark so we headed off again on to our last accommodation in Ascot. We are in the rooms now thinking about what to have for dinner.
After a restful night's sleep at The Hollow Bottom we woke up to a beautiful, sunny, blue sky, so we decided to go for a quick walk before breakfast. The pub overlooks a lovely green field, bordered by shrub-looking trees, so we followed the path along the field towards a number of surrounding cottages. We started to realise that the people living around there must have been quite wealthy as cars in each of the driveways were either BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Lexus. You can also tell that their gardens and cottages are very well-maintained, so we're guessing rich, retired English folk. We returned to the pub for breakfast. Had cereal, coffee/tea, and cooked English breakfast - Ryan ordered a smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and I had poached eggs, bacon and toast. We then set off in our car to Avebury. Similar to Stonehenge, Avebury features large stones in an upright position. However, instead of just being in one area, the stones are spread across several fields throughout the town. We found a field a little further from the main site (where there was free parking) and had a look at some of the stones which were positioned kind of like a walkway. Also took a walk up the hill to get a nice view of the town. Along the way there was a tree with lots of ribbons and hearts tied onto it - looked to be a love tree - so we proclaimed our love.
Afterwards we drove to Winchester, the original capital of England. We didn't expect so much traffic and were surprised by the amount of people and large shops - we joked that we'd driven to Hornsby! Turns out Winchester is actually one of the most desirable English cities to live in. We took a good walk around the city and saw the famous gothic cathedral (I think it's one of the longest in the country), the University of Winchester, and stopped by the ruins of Winchester Castle. We learnt that the castle was actually once a grand palace built by the Bishop of Winchester in the 12th century as a show of his wealth and power. The current Bishop of Winchester lives next to the ruins in a MASSIVE mansion, so not much has changed.
We ate lunch at a cafe in the city centre and did some window shopping before sitting down to look for accommodation for the night. Unfortunately, this took us a long, long time. we ended up spending around 2 hours looking for somewhere to stay for the night. By the time we found somewhere, it was dark and driving at night was really stressful. It was made worse because we were driving in a more rural area so there were no street lights and lots of bends, all the trees and roads seemed to meld together.
We finally arrived at our B&B at 7pm. It was a room above a store in the tiny village of Dellfield in Froxfield. We were greeted by a couple who owned the store and home, and a very lively, friendly whippet dog. We were absolutely starving, so we hit up a nearby pub recommended by the owners. The pub was run by a French guy and the food was delicious, albeit expensive. But we were hungry (and in the middle of nowhere) so we decided since we "saved" on cheaper accommodation, we could treat ourselves. Ryan ordered lamb shank and I got salmon. Both were pretty tasty, so couldn't complain.
By the time we got home we were so tired, and the room was really cold, so no time to blog - but Ryan found time to watch the soccer on TV (lol) so after that we completely passed out.
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| The hills and rocks of Averbury |
The next morning around 8 we ate breakfast followed by a quick walk of the town. From there we drove 30 minutes to Portsmouth, parked the car and did some shopping. From there we walked through the centre of town over to the HMS Navel Base where they have some old navy boats tied up such as the HMS Victory which fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. We were planning on going aboard the boat but our parking was running out (parking in UK towns is crazy expensive, $8 aud for 3 hours) so we had to head back to the car. We found some more parking and had a late lunch, then tried to sort out accommodation. Just like the previous night we couldn't find anything and spent an hour trying to book something reasonably priced within a reasonable distance. In the end we found a place 30 minutes away for 110 aud, but we had waste so much time that we had to head off. We drove through the winding darkness to Grandwood House. We managed to completely miss the entrance but luckily google maps told us to turn around and drive slowly. Once through the gates we couldn't miss the LED illuminated temple situated next to our room; luckily that was the only weird thing about our stay. The only other disruption was Jackie waking up in the middle of the night freaking out that she couldn't breath because the heating was too hot. We opened up the front door to a nice cool breeze and the sound of an owl hooting away.
Breakfast the next morning was another massive cooked affair; our waistlines aren't appreciating it but the view from the big farmers kitchen was awesome. Again, we filled up on cereals, bacon, eggs, baked beans, toast and sausages. Both of us couldn't even finish it.
Chris who ran the B&B recommended we check out Arundel Castle so we set off around 9 for the quick 30 minute drive. We spent the next 2 hours walking around the castle and the grounds. We looked at the medieval Keep, the surrounding gardens and strangely, saw animals including rhea birds and goats. Also had a cup of tea in the cafe. The castle itself isn't that amazing, what struck us more was the crazy opulence that the aristocracy lived in. There was a drawing room which was filled with amazing furniture - some painted with gold - fine wooden and ivory carved boxes, and a crazy library lined with collections of books and every room had amazing oil paintings and portraits, which, at the time, would have cost a fine penny to commission. There was also a guest room which the Queen Elizabeth II had once stayed in for the night - it was quite a stunning room with beautiful furniture but it was hilarious as the Queen had been quoted as saying it was a "small but cheerful" room. Next to that room we found actual silver spades and a wooden and silver wheelbarrow which was used by the royals for gardening.
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| View from the top of the keep |
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| Jackie in the rain in the gardens of the castle |
From Arundel we drove to Treacle Tea House in Chippingfold for lunch of sandwiches and coffee, then on to the town of Guildford for a 2 hour walk around. Guildford is very much a normal looking city, lots of shopping and like all cities, features a large cathedral. It was getting dark so we headed off again on to our last accommodation in Ascot. We are in the rooms now thinking about what to have for dinner.
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