Weekend Away: Land's End

This morning we got a sleep in... Kind of. The house we're staying in has breakfast included, so we got up for that at 8:30, then got on the road for the day! Our main plan for the day was to go to Land's End, but that was only a few hours away, so it wasn't our whole plan. We headed off without too much in particular planned though.

 

It was proper British weather this morning - grey and just drizzly enough to both ruin my hair and make us wear raincoats. So when we saw the sign for the Eden Project, we thought we'd check it out. It was quite cool (even though it was on the expensive size), with lots of outdoor areas which we intend to explore on a day it isn't raining... But the main attraction, the biomes, are of course covered, so those were cool.

 

One biome is Mediterranean themed (although included plants from Australia, yay!), and the other is a rainforest. Loud to explore, look at, and learn about the environments. They had a Corpse Flower in the rainforest (not currently flowering, but it will in a few weeks) and I even saw pineapples growing on their pineapple tree (bush?). Pineapples in Cornwall, not something I thought I'd see...

 

After the Eden Project, we headed towards Penzance, before realising that we were really close to St Michael's Mount. So we went there, walked along the causeway through the ocean, and checked it out. The gardens were closed due to the weather (although by this point the rain had stopped, and it was almost sunny), and we decided that we'd save the castle for the next visit as well. We just took a few gorgeous photos before heading back to the mainland.

 

A quick stop in Penzance for excellent fish and chips (highly recommend Fraser's), before continuing to Land's End. We drove through Mousehole, a lovely tiny town, but couldn't stop because we couldn't find anywhere to park... And the tide was at it's lowest at that point and not ideal for photos. Our last stop before Land's End was the Merry Maidens stone circle and Tregiffian Burial Chamber. This is a weird thing about England, they're almost blase about some of their history. The battle was literally just on the side of the road, with a little signpost. No parking or fees or anything. And the stone circle was in the middle of what is presumably someone's field. So strange to have such old history and no road signs (we would have missed it if not for GPS) or anything.

 

Then, finally, Land's End! The rain had stayed away, thank goodness, but boy was it windy and quite cold! We looked at the free exhibition, browsed the gift shop (bought a magnet!), checked how far it was to Canberra (11211 miles, in case you were wondering), and took many photos. 

 

By that point we had to return to our part of the country. We drove via another barrow (I can't remember its name), which was very cool, much more obvious with stone ring around it and all. Again though, no signpost leading the way, just a small info sign on the side of a tiny road. Then we went back, past St Ives to dinner... At the same pub as last night. Well, it was just so good!

 

We've also been taking and planning some future trips we'd like to take in the next few months, so here's hoping we can pull them off! And in the meantime, back to London tomorrow.

Weekend Away: Land's End

We are lucky enough to have 2 long weekend this month! The beginning and the end of the month. We had planned to spend one in England, and one somewhere in Europe (we'll see how we go on that one, haven't found a cheap enough flight yet though).

 

So for our first adventure, a road trip to Land's End! We started of our day by picking up the hire car (a super cute baby blue Fiat 500!), and heading out of London. We had a lot of driving! We had a motorway lunch, and reached our main (well, only) destination, Tintagel, around 4:30.

 

Tintagel is beautiful. It's a castle ruin from the 12th and 13th century, fabled to be the place where King Arthur was born. The best part is its location... It's on the top of what's essentially a cliff, and the ocean today was sparkly and blue. There's also quite a lot to explore, including a cove and beach (as long as you're there before the tide comes in). We made it just in time!

 

It's even still English Heritage, so it was free! However, by the time we were finished, it was 6pm and it was closed. So we headed to our accommodation, Tredethy House, where we're staying all weekend. It's so lovely, the room is huge! Only odd thing, the bathroom has carpet. Wierd.

 

We drove 5 minutes up the road to the nearest town for a pub dinner. It was amazing. And now, an early night for us before more driving tomorrow.

Easter Adventures: Monday

Last night we didn't have a very solid plan for today's adventure, and that turned out to be a blessing...

Late last night, el Husbando found a great motorbike that he wanted to look at, messaged the owner, heard back, and planned to go look at it that! And it was just outside Nottingham, so that's where we went.

 

It was a long drive (almost 3 hours), but it was well worth it, as he put a deposit on the bike! He'll go back by train next weekend to pick it up and bring it home then, but he's well excited about it.

 

 

By that time, it was already mid afternoon, so we only had time to check out Nottingham Castle, Art Gallery and Museum. Not a Heritage site, unfortunately, and an interesting place. The gardens were lovely, but the art gallery and Museum parts inside the building we're not so good. Lots of small rooms that didn't seem to have a connected theme, and not much expansion to what the objects were or why they were significant. We were glad we couldn't make the trip just for that.

 

And then, it was time to head home! The trip back down the M1 was long and slow, filled with other people returning to London. Back to work this week!

Easter Adventures: Sunday

Happy Easter, everyone! Today I had a little sleep in (all this travelling and history is wearing me out a bit), but then we headed out to a place that was mentioned to us at Battle Abbey on Friday - Dover Castle. It was extra cool at Dover Castle, in that they had lots of special events on for Easter. It also has so many elements to it's history, from the 1st century Roman tower, to the 11th century church, to the adaptations made for the battalions and guns during WWI. And that's all not including the actual castle... So many different elements!

 

So we wandered the Castle, which was very busy, but also lots to see and learn. We will have to return again though, they have tours of the tunnels which already had a 1.5+ hr wait time. At least with the Heritage membership, we can go back there for free! As well as the actual castle and grounds and things, they also had a jester, special demonstrations of shooting (bows and arrows), and even a pantomime! The panto was St George and the Dragon, and was actually quite cool. The horses in particular were very impressive, prancing around.

 

After a good few hours, and lunch there too (not to mention the delicious toffee apple and spiced ciders we bought to go with the homemade marshmallows...), we decided that being in Dover, we'd better get a better look at the cliffs. So we headed to a National Trust site (not a member there though, maybe next year after we're all Heritage'd out!) to walk on the White Cliffs of Dover. Even though I lived nearby, I never actually went to Dover except to go to France, so it was cool to see a bit more of the town.

 

After our reviving walk (it was not terribly warm today, only about 12 degrees), we headed to the next closest caste, Walmer Castle and Grounds. The castle itself was really not very interesting, it was much more like a modern house on the inside, but the grounds were lovely. They even had a garden which was grown for the Queen Mother, and she visited it too! Apparently she even liked it.

 

After Walmer Castle and Grounds, we visited Deal Castle, which is in the middle of the town right next to the ocean. Walmer and Deal Castles are the same, in that they were both built in the time of Henry VIII and have an almost-flowery shape to them. This one was in much more historical (read: uninhabited) condition, and was very cool to explore with lots of levels and rooms to wander around in! I swear on the lower level, we went around more times than we should have before finding the stairs back up. This was the castle I could most imagine living in, by the seaside and everything. Maybe Heritage would be able to sell it to us?

 

Just before heading home, we drove by the Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre. It's completely in ruin, but you can still tell where all the walls and things were and really get a feel for the scope of the are and how they lived. It didn't take too long to wander around, and we actually timed it perfectly, because it started to rain just as we were leaving to go home! Perfect timing, and an excellent day.

Easter Adventures: Saturday

This morning, it turns out, was even earlier than yesterday! We were headed straight to Stonehenge this morning, and were hoping to avoid the crowds by getting there when they opened, so we headed out of London really early (for a Saturday, anyway) and got there by 10am!

 

Turns out that was a blessing, as we were able to go straight over to the stones and check them out, and by the time we got back it was quite busy! But we picked up a couple of cool souvenirs before heading to nearby Salisbury to see the cathedral.

 

Salisbury Cathedral was so gorgeous, lots of beautiful stained glass and such great history. In the Chapter House is stored one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta! It's the best remaining copy, too. I couldn't take any pictures of it, unfortunately, as it's in a dark room to protect it, and I couldn't understand the original text (it's in Latin), but very cool. Some of the UK's current laws are still based on it.

 

 

We had lunch in a lovely 13th century pub nearby, then headed to nearby Old Sarum. This site has the remains of a Norman castle and a church, which were abandoned and left to decay. I don't have any photos of it, but it was a lovely place with lots of green space and families around!

 

Our last stop we picked purely because it was nearby, and it turned out to be possibly my favorite part of the day! Old Wardour Castle was a better ruin than others, in that you could actually go inside and walk around different rooms and floors of the old building. That was really fun, and I would recommend Old Wardour to anyone with a car who would like to see a castle which isn't so touristy. You definitely need a car though!

 

After that, we headed home. It was earlier than Tuesday, but an almost 3 hour trip home and wanting to cook dinner meant we needed to be home earlier.

 

At Battle Abbey yesterday we bought English Heritage memberships for us both. For one year, you get free entry to Heritage sites, and discounts at associated attractions in England as well as the rest of the UK. Very handy - it will have paid for itself by the end of the weekend at this rate!

Easter Adventures: Friday

This Easter, we realised we had left it too late to get cheap flights anywhere, so we decided to stay in England. Instead, we hired a car for the weekend so we could explore the countryside.

After a little sleep in, we picked up the car, packed a few things for the day and headed out to Battle. Battle is a relatively small town near Hastings, where (perhaps unsurprisingly) the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. After winning the battle, William the Conqueror built Battle Abbey on the site of the battle, which partially remains today. It was very cool to see where 11th century monks would have read, ate and slept!

 

Some of the buildings are mostly intact, but some are completely gone. I think most of the remaining parts were part of the 13th century additions to the Abbey.

 

It was also really cool to be back, as I had visited Battle in 2008 with my family. Brings back some memories, while also making new ones. Very cool.

 

After grabbing a quick bakery lunch in the square outside the Abbey, we headed down to Hastings. However, it was a lovely sunny afternoon, and to say that Hastings was busy would be a crazy understatement! It took us almost an hour just to find a carpark! It was a lovely town though, similar to Brighton with many beachfront amusements. We took the West Hill lift up to the top of the hill to visit Hastings Castle ruins.

 

Hastings Castle was the first castle built by William when he arrived in England, making it the first Norman castle in England. It was built even before the Battle of Hastings, originally out of wood. After winning the battle and becoming king, he went back to the castle and built it in stone.

 

Unfortunately, it didn't have such a great history after that. It was ordered destroyed, than freak storms destroyed the cliffs in the 13th century (and the entire keep crumbled into the sea), it was attacked by the French, Henry VIII ordered all the monasteries destroyed (they took its roof!), and it got bombed during WWII. What a history.

 

After returning back down the hill, we wandered Hastings some more. The seafront was lovely, as was the seafood! I'd like to go back (although probably by train) to explore the town more.

After Hastings, we drove around Eastbourne to visit the Seven Sisters. This also has some intense memories, as I lived mere miles away in Seaford on my gap year in 2008. Birling Gap was just as I remembered it, cold and windy but the Seven Sisters are just beautiful. We hopefully got some great proper photos there too!

 

By that time is was after 6pm, so straight back to London for us. Tomorrow, Stonehenge!

 

Cultural Experiences: V&A Undressed

Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear

Victoria and Albert Museum

A few weeks back, I had a spare few hours, so I decided to head to the Victoria and Albert Museum today to check out the exhibition Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear. While I have yet to sew any underwear, it was super interesting for anyone who sews. The foundation garments of any outfit dictate, and influence the current fashions of any era.

(cotton and whalebone corset, about 1890)

I loved to see, in particular, how corsets have changed and been affected by fashions. I own a corset (which I wear for costumes), and a few waist trainers which I wear on occasion.

(arctic padded petticoat filled with goose down)

One of the pieces which I thought was quite cool (and seasonally appropriate for London) was a padded petticoat filled with goose down for warmth! I would love one of those.

(Tuileries, Lanvin-Castillo S/S 1957)

I think my favourite piece though, was this gorgeous dress from Lanvin-Castillo's Spring/Summer 1957 collection. I constantly find myself drawn to dresses of this era, and I love the even earlier vibe of that almost bustle that it has going on. Super gorgeous.

I would have recommended this exhibition to anyone interested in lingerie and it's history, or even just historical fashion. Unfortunately, it is already closed, but I was pleased by the fact that I didn't need to book in advance. Would recommend.

Cultural Experiences: Churchill War Rooms

Churchill War Rooms

One weekend, a few friends from outside London came into town to visit the Churchill War Rooms and invited us to join them!

It was a very interesting place, however, come prepared for a lot of reading and a lot of learning. It's intense! The War Rooms themselves were the most interesting part for me, they are almost exactly as they were left when the war ended. The mannequins which they've put in a almost quite realistic. I knew about the war rooms and what they were used for, but I had never realised the extent of them, or the number of people that were down there. It must have been an amazing and stressful experience to be a part of it. They did include stories, both written and audio, from people who worked there: guards, secretaries, even officers. I like to know the stories of the people behind these things.

Inside the War Rooms as well is an exhibition space, which had an exhibition on the life of Churchill himself. Turns out he was a super interesting man! I knew a little about his later life from my knowledge of war history and watching the Crown, but this was really in depth. The biggest issue that all of us found with the exhibition was that the layout went round and round in circles, and we found it a little confusing to make sure you saw everything. Also, there was A LOT of stuff to look at. But it was very interesting, and I think I learned a lot.

Definitely something for people interested in history, particularly in war history.

Day Out: St Albans

St Albans

13 April 2017

Today, the last official day of my holidays before Easter, I decided I wanted to get out of London for the day. So I headed to the ThamesLink train out of St Pancras International, and journeyed a whole 20 minutes out to St Albans!

 

The main reason I had gone to St Albans was to see the cathedral and Abbey. They are so lovely, and there's lots of delightful green space around there as well.

 

 

After wandering down to the main park, I realised that St Albans also was a town in Roman times - they even have the remains of a Roman wall and gate! I would have stayed and read my book or knitted in the sun, if the sun had been out...

 

 

Instead I ended up in what is arguably the oldest pub in Britain (with records going back to circa 973 AD!), Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. And yes, the name made me laugh. It also happens to be award winning food, so instead of reading in the sunshine, I read with my mushroom burger and a LLB in the pub. It was lovely.

 

  

After a lot of walking (and I went for a run this morning to), after that I decided it was time to head home. I might come back again one day!

Weekend Away: Brighton

Brighton

8-9 April 2017

Husbando planned to run the Brighton Marathon on this weekend, so when we got up on Saturday morning, we packed an overnight bag and headed straight to Victoria station! Turns out it only takes an hour to get to Brighton... We emerged into the bright sunshine of Brighton. In fact, it was one of the warmest weekends in a long time (marathon day was 21+ degrees!) and gorgeously sunny!

 

We headed straight to the hotel to drop off our bags, then to the beach (or "beach", depending on who you're talking to...). Some people don't believe that Brighton has a 'real' beach! We walked along the beach to Brighton Pier.

It was actually quite strange to be back in Brighton again after so long... It's been 9 years since I was last there (on my gap year), but some things were exactly the same (like the food places we used to frequent, and the tattoo parlour I got my ears pierced in!), but obviously some things were very different. Very strange.

 

We ate a delicious lunch on the Pier itself, reasonably priced and exceedingly yummy! Generally though, we have realised that London is expensive. Everything in Brighton was cheaper... After lunch, we went further down the beach to the Event Village for the marathon to pick up the race pack for the following day. Then we wandered the Lanes a little (I had put visiting Choccywoccydoodah on my must-do list, and it was AMAZING to see in person!), but then we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day. 

We tried to go for italian for dinner, but realised after the third fully booked restaurant that maybe we should have booked, given the 10,000 runners who were also in Brighton that weekend... (Also apparently a lot of hen's parties - we saw 4 that evening!) We ended up at Jamie's, where we could have nibbles and a drink in the bar while we waited for a free table. Luckily it didn't take long.

 

On Sunday morning, I slept in... Oops! I ended up with 20 minutes to get ready, but I managed it - just. We headed up to the race start with all the things (including sunscreen...). It was already very warm, which was mildly concerning. I watched the start and the lap of the park, then headed back into the Lanes. I wet back to Choccywoccydoodah to look again at their amazing creations - and I had seen a green chocolate dinosaur that I wanted to take home with me. However, they had sold out in less than 12 hours... Which made me very sad, and instead I got a chocolate coin (a huge one!). I also visited the Duck House, a cute shop that only sells rubber ducks!

 
 
I tried to catch my runner at mile 18, but I was too slow and missed him. Silly me. So instead I had picnic sushi in a park, then began the very very very busy walk to the finish line. It was madness, and with spectators on both sides of the track, very busy especially at crossing points. Somehow though, I missed my runner finishing (so sad about that, it was such a big achievement!), but I met him at the predetermined spot. It only took me about 10 minutes just to cross the road though, madness. And after all that, he forgot to put any sunscreen on, so Husbando is lobster-esque at the moment! We rested a bit, then began the long trek back up the hill to the hotel.

It was such a crazy busy weekend, but really enjoyable. We have plans to go back for the day, only on a day without 10,000 extra people there!

Weekend Away: Cambridge

Cambridge

3-4 February 2017

While staying out of London when we first arrived in the country, we realised we were on the train line to Cambridge. In fact, we were halfway there from London already! So we booked an overnight room, and headed up on the train for a quick minibreak. We had originally planned a Saturday evening, but since neither of us were working that week, we went with a Friday night for accommodation instead. Much cheaper.

So, on Friday, we got up and got on a train around 10am from the town out to Cambridge! After dropping our luggage at the lovely B&B we were staying in, we headed straight to, you guessed it, the university! We walked pretty much all the colleges (unfortunately, each one charges you separately), and we got confused/lost a bunch. we also browsed a few shops (including Cath Kidston, where I bought a bag to use for school). We stopped for lunch at a Yo! Sushi which it turns out was a bad idea. You guys, it's super expensive - just go to a Wasabi instead.

 
Then, back to more wandering... We basically did a lot of walking and wandering, wandering and walking! After a few more hours (and some delicious fresh churros from the market), we returned to the guest house for a rest.

Just before sunset, we headed out for photos, but it was too cloudy :( However, while we were walking, we got a call from our agent to let us know we got the apartment we wanted! So, that made our day.

 

At 5:30 we were back at Kings College Chapel for Evensong with the choir! It was totally a magical experience which I loved. Also, hot tip - Evensong is free, and will save you paying to get into the Chapel during the day. Just saying. Down the road, we found a pub called the Eagle, where they 'invented' DNA (or discovered it, I suppose). They also serve amazing food - I had yummy sloe gin and scampi with chips! So delicious, and the perfect first British pub meal.

For breakfast the next day, we followed the recommendation of one of my Instagram followers and went to Fitzbillies. I had one of their famous Chelsea buns - it was so delicious! It was even still warm from the oven. Yum. It was raining, so we started with a pair of neighbouring museums - the Sedgewick Earth Sciences Museum and the Museum of Archaeology. The Earth Sciences one was quite interesting, lots of fossils and interesting artefacts to look at.

 

Then we toured the last college, St John's. It was the biggest colege and had some super beautiful buildings. We took so many great photos! We headed to a local pub (forgot the name!) for lunch. We whiled our afternoon away with more general walking/shop browsing/exploring, ending with a hot chocolate. We were back out just before subset, but where yesterday was too cloudy, today was not cloudy enough! Oh well.

We weren't super hungry, so we grabbed some quick sushi, before going back to Kings College Chapel. It turns out that on Saturday nights after Evensong, they have a free organ recital, and as we didn't have the organ at Evensong the previous evening, we went to that. They guy was so talented and even though the music was very modern, it was a gorgeous sound. Then, we had to go home.