Mumsy and Guvna take on Europe: A 2016 Europe Trip Report! updated 5/29/2017

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice breakfast!

What beautiful pictures along the cliffs!

 

[annegirl]

This is what a real castle view looks like (Or cathedral)

just beautiful.

Right!?! It was so pretty.

I am loving your trip report! I have an uncle and aunt who live in England, and we'd like to visit. You are giving me many ideas for our trip! Thanks for sharing!

Cool! You should definitely go! Thanks for reading!

Sounds like a nice breakfast!

What beautiful pictures along the cliffs!

It was so nice. And yes, so beautiful!

 

[annegirl]

We had to leave Dover in such a hurry because we had a long drive to do to make an appointment.

One of our top bucket list items for this trip was to visit Highclere Castle.

(AKA Downton Abbey)

They only open it up for tours for a few dates each month so it is not particularly easy to get into.

I emailed them about a year before the trip to ask when the dates for April would open up. They told me to keep checking back in November.

So I did. I checked every day and one day the April 2016 dates were there!

They only had a few days open for tours during our trip. So I grabbed the ONLY one that would work for us. It meant driving all the way to Canterbury the day before and then driving back the same direction we had come (rather than going straight north to York) and it also meant we wouldn't have enough time to visit Nottingham and Sherwood Forest. But we had to do it.

So as soon as we left Dover, we drove Northwest for a couple of hours.

We were so excited.

I brought along a special CD just for the moment when we were driving up the driveway....

'm such a nerd but it was so amazing to be driving toward Highclere while listening to this song.
Also, just for perspective when I talk about the roads being small... the road in the video is not a one way road.
We parked on a muddy hill along with a ton of other cars. It was very packed.
We walked up the hill toward the castle and through these gates where we showed our tickets.

Then we walked up the path...
and our giddiness was in full force.

​

 

[annegirl]

I don't think I can fully describe how excited we were to enter this house.

I have read the books written by the Countess of Carnarvon about the history of Highclere Castle and I felt a real connection to the real people that lived the real history here as well as the fact that my mom and I are both huge Downton Abbey fans and those characters feel real to us as well.

Pictures weren't allowed in the house. I snuck a few but they turned out terrible. That's what I get.

I purchased post cards of all the rooms as well to make up for me taking pictures. If that counts.
The house was so lovely. Even though it is so big.. it still felt cozy and homey.
It was really crowded and we pretty much just walked slowly in a line through the whole place. But I didn't mind this at all as it really gave us a chance to look at everything.
It felt so unreal to be there. We recognized so much of it from Downton Abbey and it was just so cool to see them in person.
I recommend a visit here to anyone that loves Downton Abbey and those that don't as well as the house has an amazing history all its own.
We decided to get tickets to the Egyptian Exhibit as well and that was really cool to see. It took us down through the basement where we got to see artifacts and and information from the 5th Earl. (He, along with his partner Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of King Tut in 1922.)
After this we went into the kitchen and ordered lunch.
We ordered beef and potato pasties. They came with vegetables and water.
It was all very good and warm and that was great because it was quite cold.
We didn't get to eat in THE dining room but we did get to eat in the home!

This was the view from the room that we chose to eat in....

After lunch we went to the gift shop and toured the gardens and grounds.
Here is the back of the house.

Everywhere you looked was just stunning.

The path from the beginning of the show...

​

 

[annegirl]

We hated to say goodbye to Highclere.

But our time was up. We had spent hours here.

Our shoes were muddy. We were cold and damp.

So we looked around and said goodbye to it all and were so grateful we were able to experience it!

We walked back down to the car and drove carefully through the mud to get back out. A few cars were stuck so we made sure to be careful driving back to the driveway. We saw an adorable little bunny on the side of the road!
We drove a few hours more to get to York.
The drive was really nice. The scenery was beautiful and we could hear birds even when on the motorway which I loved.
We originally planned on getting into York in the afternoon so we would have a few hours to wander around but we ended up getting there around dusk.
We found the bed and breakfast easy enough but I wasn't sure how we were supposed to park in the front as it looked like there was no room so we drove down the road to a church and called to ask.
He told me to pull into their front area behind the gate and that he would park the car for me since they did "Victorian parking".
We stayed at the Bishop's Guest House.
It was very charming and pretty on the outside.

And it was so nice of him to park for me because to be honest I would not have been able to do this....
(there were cars really close to this behind where I am standing to take the picture)

Inside Bishop's was great too. It was decorated so cute and everything was completely charming.

There was not an elevator but he helped us upstairs with our bags.
The room was very small but adorable and very comfortable.
We loved it.
The view was of the garden.
My bed....

My mom's bed..

He told us that York would be a little bit of a party atmosphere at this time of night on a Saturday so we decided we would wait to visit until the next morning.
We walked down the street to a convenience store to grab some things for dinner.
We already had peanut butter so we got a loaf of bread, some chips, a thing of milk, and a Starbar to try for dessert.

It was a simple meal but worked fine. We relaxed in our room and watched Escape to the Country.
It was a wonderful day and a very nice evening.
When I stopped to get gas (petrol) I found that the children's magazines always had toys in with them and that they had some we don't have. I grabbed some for souvenirs for the girls.
For Abi I got a Sparkle World (she has a subscription to this magazine but this one was a bit different and came with a cool little toy), a My Little Pony Magazine, and a Lego Friends Magazine.

For Maddy I got two different issues of Shopkins magazine.

I also got them each a My Little Pony Kinder egg- one broke but they still enjoyed getting the little toys.
I got a chocolate orange bar for Doug.

I also got some souvenirs for myself today.
All at Highclere.
I got a Highclere Castle notecard set, a bunch of postcards, and a keychain with the castle on it to use as a Christmas ornament.

It was a wonderful day!!
​

 

[missangelalexis]

Highclere looks beautiful! Sounds like a wonderful experience for the 2 of you!
Your relaxing evening sounds really nice as well

 

[Chicago Mo]

oh. my. word.
When i first saw the castle i my jaw dropped.
How DARE they not allow pictures? I would have sat right there on the ground and had a tantrum. seriously.. I would. This is amazing.
Love how there are toys it the magazines! You and your mom are way too cute!

 

[minneylovesmicky]

Awe.......I wanna go back so bad now, after seeing all your pictures. Glad you had an amazing time.

 

[annegirl]

Highclere looks beautiful! Sounds like a wonderful experience for the 2 of you!
Your relaxing evening sounds really nice as well

It was! Thanks!

oh. my. word.
When i first saw the castle i my jaw dropped.
How DARE they not allow pictures? I would have sat right there on the ground and had a tantrum. seriously.. I would. This is amazing.
Love how there are toys it the magazines! You and your mom are way too cute!

I felt like doing that! I want to take pictures of every inch of this place! I love the toys in the magazines too. It's such a fun idea. And they don't even have the Shopkins, lego or mlp magazines here. My kids flipped out over them.

Awe.......I wanna go back so bad now, after seeing all your pictures. Glad you had an amazing time.

Me too! Haha. Only been a few months and I am ready to go back!

 

[annegirl]

On Sunday morning, April 10th, we woke up in our wonderful little B&B.

I took some more pictures of the garden from our window.

We could hear all the little birds singing. It was lovely.

I got a picture of Jennifer Rain for Maddy.

Then we went down to have our included breakfast. The dining room was lovely and there was a good selection of fruit, juice, and cereal. While we waited to be served our hot breakfast we both enjoyed some of the best fruit I have ever had.

Then a server brought us our traditional Yorkshire breakfast.
It was.... well, I wasn't a fan.
I tried everything except the mushrooms since I already know that I don't like mushrooms.
The beans tasted like beans usually do... not my favorite.
The toast and eggs were like any toast and eggs- good.
I tried the sausage and bacon and the first bites tasted good but then the second ones not so much.
The tomatoes were good.
So overall, I ate most of the eggs, toast and tomatoes and then stuck to the fruit.
I am so glad we tried it though.

After breakfast we loaded up the car. They told us we could leave it there even if we were not back from the town center by check out time. We just had to check out before leaving.
We walked down to the town center which was about a twenty minute walk, some down hill.
Then we finally reached the York entrance.

We walked through the small roads and just enjoyed looking all around us at the shops. There were very few people out.
We got a bit lost in the alleyways but soon saw the York Minster, our main destination, looming above us.
This cathedral was MASSIVE.
We walked around it for a few minutes trying to get a picture that would do it justice.

We thought about going to Sunday services here but because we didn't get to see any of York the night before (because of the time crunch after going to Highclere) and needing to be all the way over in the Lake District by night... we knew we didn't have much time to see York.
If I could do it again, we would definitely spend a lot more time in York but we knew we had about half a day here and so we had to make a list of what we felt were the most important things for us to see.
The York Minster was number one our list but we knew if we stayed for a service it would make it hard to do some of the other things.
We did go in but when we saw that it had not started yet.. and that others were walking around admiring we decided to do the same.

​

 

[annegirl]

It was absolutely breathtaking. We were able to see all of the main parts before the service started so we decided just to leave at that point.

The cathedrals really cannot be explained. They cannot have a picture taken that can convey the way you feel when you are standing in them. They are so incredibly huge and intricate and you feel so small and yet so inspired when walking around in them.

I will never forget how it felt to stand in these places and look up.

I took a little video outside.

After the Minster we wanted to walk at least part of the York Wall.
We walked around the square a bit and made our way to one of the entrances.

A Roman pillar found when doing some construction...
(it was not standing up when found obviously)

Going up to the wall...

The Roman wall goes all around this part of York but we just walked one section of it.
It was such a fun walk with great views of the Minster and some really beautiful homes/ Inns around it.

Looking the other direction through one of the wall's lookouts.

In the above picture I was looking out.. then I looked down.
I had to take a picture of this because it was so England to me.
Everywhere we went there were wild yellow daffodils growing alongside the road.
They were such a part of our daily view that they have become one of my very favorite flowers and I now have some artificial ones in a vase in my library to remind me of England every time I look at them.

​

 

[annegirl]

When we came down off the wall we were back outside of the walled part of York, which we didn't want, so we went back to another gate and went back inside in search of the few remaining things we had to do.

It was such a pretty city.

We found the birthplace of Guy Fawkes. We weren't even looking for it. Just walked by and noticed it!

Then we found Betty's Cafe and Tea Rooms which was a place that had been recommended to me.
We stopped in for a scone!
The scone we got here is called the Fat Rascal.
Somehow I didn't get a picture of it.
It was the BEST scone I have ever had.

The next place I wanted to see while in York we had a hard time finding.
We wandered around for a long time looking for the Shambles and Little Shambles alleys... but we finally found them!

Walking down this alley felt like walking through Diagon Alley.

It has kind of a gross history. The houses all jut out a bit on the top.
We were told that this was where the butchers were. They had the houses built that way to keep it shady and keep the meat from spoiling.
Also, there are gutters down the middle of the walkway for the blood to have run down.
You can still see the hooks where the meat hung on a lot of the little shop fronts.

After seeing the Shambles we walked back to our B&B and got our car to make our way to our next stop.

Next up: Haworth
​

 

[missangelalexis]

Great updates! I'm glad you enjoyed your time in York!

 

[Chicago Mo]

How did you ever come home after living amongst this? seriously!!!

 

[Marssiful]

I'm loving your report. Hopefully I'll be able to take a trip like this someday but for now I'll live vicariously through you!

 

[annegirl]

Great updates! I'm glad you enjoyed your time in York!

Thanks!

How did you ever come home after living amongst this? seriously!!!

It was hard! Haha. If Doug and the girls had been with me I might have never left!

I'm loving your report. Hopefully I'll be able to take a trip like this someday but for now I'll live vicariously through you!

I did that for so many years! Just keep hoping and someday it can happen! I dreamed about this trip for SO long!!

 

[annegirl]

After York, we said goodbye to our B&B and set out.

It didn't take me long to get lost. I turned down one wrong road and we had to turn around to get back to the main road. We were kind of glad it happened though as we ended up on this road that reminded us a lot of Privet Drive!

The roads were pretty good until we got close to our first destination: Haworth.

Then they started getting REALLY small again.

It is so scary to be driving down a teeny road that in the United States would be the size of a small one way road with hedges and rock walls along the sides so that it makes it hard to see what is coming or have anywhere to go if you need to and have another car come at you from the other direction going 60+ miles an hour.

Terrifying actually.

But soon we made it to Haworth.

It wasn't quite what I expected.

I imagined it out in the middle of nowhere, very isolated.

But in reality we drove through a city to get to the house.

It was very hilly and I was, again, so glad I wasn't driving a stick shift. These hills were steep!

Online I have seen so many people going here and being the only visitors so we were shocked when we got there and it was packed. It took us forever to find a parking spot in the little parking area near the Bronte's house.

Afterward I thought it was probably because it was a Sunday. If I ever make it there again I will go on a weekday!

I was pretty excited to see the sign and the home!

The Bronte Parsonage

I really wish that I could do this activity over.
I love the Bronte's. This was one of the things I was looking forward to the most on this trip.
And it ended up not being what we expected.
The house was great. They had so many cool things belonging to the family and it was amazing to think about walking around where they walked and wrote their novels.
But there were just SO many people.
And, the church was closed. We couldn't go in. I was so disappointed.
But, now I just have to look back and be grateful for what we were able to see!
And the fact that we were there during the 200th anniversary of Charlotte.

My favorite part of the house....
The Dining Room- where they did most of their writing

Mr. Bronte's study

The kitchen: where the young Bronte children would gather to hear tales of the Yorkshire moors from their servant Tabby.

In the hall, the painting that Branwell painted of his sisters. He also painted himself into it but then painted over himself. You can see where he was in the middle.

In Charlotte's room we got to see a lot of her teeny clothes.

paintings...

Charlotte's writing desk...

The Children's Study:
Tamar Stone created this small "Bronte bed" embroidered with their words.
It is displayed in the Children's study where they played and sometimes slept.

The view from the window...

Mr. Bronte's bedroom

The Exhibition rooms were full of artifacts that tell the story of the Bronte family. They had so many things and it was really cool to see.

Examples of their tiny writing...

After exploring the house we went down to the gift shop.
Then we went out to see the other buildings, the church, and the graveyard.

I wanted to go into the church so bad to see where they attended and sat and where their graves are.
But we couldn't get in.

We walked around Haworth for a few minutes and then went back to our car.

​

 

[annegirl]

This drive was the worst one of the entire trip.

The roads were so small and there were so many cars.

I could not go the speed limit. It was way too fast for me to drive safely on this road. I get if you are used to it that it probably doesn't feel the same way but for someone used to driving maybe 40mph at the most on small windy roads it felt so terrifying. So I would end up with tons of cars behind me every few minutes.

That was making me even more stressed out because I didn't want to be holding people up.

After a a little while I saw a place I could pull off the road and took advantage of it to let them by and to de-stress for a minute.

I was so glad we were able to pull over because we also got this stunning view.
It was nice to remember where we were and take it all in for a few moments.

After a few minutes I got back out on the road.
My mom tried to take some more pictures as we drove along...

My mom captured my joy as we finally ended up back on a dual carriageway.
They were my very favorite kind of roads there. They were basically two lanes going each way and separated from the other direction. Woo hoo.

The thing about England was that everywhere we looked was stunning.
We kept saying over and over again, "This is so beautiful!"
My mom was in charge of taking pictures as we drove along.
We were getting closer and closer to our destination for the next few days: The Lake District!

Soon we were entering Bowness-on-Windermere.
This would be our home in the Lake District.
We were staying at the Oakfold House B&B.
It was a beautiful place and we were excited to stay there as it has won a lot of awards over the last year.

Our room was a nice size and pretty.

Our view:

After settling in we walked down the steep hill to the lake.
The lake was beautiful.
For the second time today we were shocked at the crowds. I do a good job of keeping them out of my pictures but trust me, there were people everywhere.
I asked our B&B guy about it because I imagined the Lake District at this time of year being quiet and empty. He told me that when they moved there they thought that too but that this particular town was like this every day of the year.
Lake Windermere

We were hoping to have Sunday Roast at a pub and got a recommendation from our B&B to go the The Albert.
It was about halfway back up the hill from the lake so we stopped on our way back to Oakfold House.
​

 

[annegirl]

We ordered our food and found a table.

As we waited I suddenly felt really sick.

It was REALLY hot in there and I felt like I was going to pass out.

I went outside and got some fresh, cold air and then went back in. I went to the bathroom and took off my sweater but I wasn't feeling any better.

My mom suggested we leave.

I went up to the bar and explained the situation.

I asked if we could take our food to go but they said there was no way to do that.

But then the cook said someone else ordered the same thing and they could give ours to them and they reimbursed us.

I thought that was so nice of them as they did not have to do that.

I felt so bad that we were missing out on this experience and hoped that I wasn't going to get sick.

We stopped at a little store on the way up the hill and got some food items.

We went back to our room and I laid down for a while. My mom gave me a massage and I started to feel better.

We made peanut butter sandwiches and Pringles for dinner which was no where near as fun. But we did read while we ate and it was really relaxing.

This was my first night of feeling really homesick.

I think it was a combination of not feeling well, being tired, and having been stressed for a couple of hours while driving. But I just felt spent.

Some day I want to go back here and do it over!

Part of me was so worried that the next day would be a disappointment too because of the crowds. I was so worried that I would have a repeat of the Bronte house experience at Beatrix Potter's house... spoiler... I would not have the same experience!

I got a few souvenirs at the Bronte Parsonage. I bought Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and the bookmark with a quote from her. Then they gave us the Charlotte Bronte book for free with purchase as part of the 200th celebration.

Next up: Hill Top Farm and one of the best days​

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sorry the Bronte house experience was a little disappointing, but I'm sure you were glad to be there!

I can't imagine how stressful the driving was. What a nice little spot you stopped at though.

Lake Windermere looks beautiful.

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well and missed out on dinner I'm sure relaxing was just what you needed.