Ode to the English Countryside

Hello from Amesbury!

I'm officially in England. How crazy is this?

I've waited for what seems like ages and bam here I am.

My parents and I flew from Calgary at 7:30 pm on Sunday and we arrived here at 11 am Monday morning. I never really slept on the plane so I was a bit of a grumpy yet grateful sight. I felt better once I had changed and refreshed myself a bit. You can see that the voice in my head is trying to be a bit more British. Out here in the countryside I find myself uber self-conscience whenever I speak! It's like "Oh lookie here, a lousy 'murican."

Let's see if four months here will do the trick.

So after picking up our rental car, and my dad brilliant getting the hang of driving standard and on the left side of the road, (which is WACKYTOWN I tell you) we made it to Highclere Castle, home of my Downton Abbey thoughts and dreams. Tickets were apparently sold out online but they had them at the gate (Along with plenty of 65+ tour groups).

Thus begins my selfies with classically elderly buildings. #oldfamousbuildingselfie

Just me, the servant, lining up to greet the incoming visitor. 

Everyone, the inside was absolutely gorgeous. And guess what? No photography allowed. Good thing there are three full seasons so far of interior footage. My favorite room? The drawing room. The seafoam silk covered walls really do a number on me. One thing I didn't expect was the collection of amazing objects inside. The furniture, namely, are exquisite. There is a desk in there that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte! There was also a 18th century Chinese tea case, among others. Oh I just loved it. We also got to see the collection of Egyptian artifacts in the basement. Highclere+Me=BFF'S

Today we woke up after sleeping a full night, ate an English breakfast at Harvester's, and drove right on over to the oldest world heritage site that was in the neighborhood.

Hey Stonehenge!

Hah, nice try Megan.

After enjoying our stay and learning some things about ancient ruins, we made it to Salisbury. What a lovely provincial town! (does the term poor provincial town also apply to adorable British towns- or just French ones?) We parked in the car park, walked around and basked in the quaintness of everything, and looked at the market.

My dad entertained himself by looking at the construction sight while my mom and I bought dollhouse furniture.)

We spotted it! The main event!
(Spotting each famous site we come to is like being the first one to see the Matterhorn at Disneyland.)

Everyone, meet your new, best, old gothic friend, the Salisbury Cathedral. What a beaut. 

My parents said they wanted to be memorialized like this too. 

 I also said I would add a statue like this of my father and...

have Jack at his feet. 

We dined at the Greengages Cafe in Salisbury where they had delicious gluten free sandwiches. I had the bacon, brie, and cranberry one.

Afterwards, we drove to Stourhead Garden and took an evening walk.

looking out the grotto

What a lovely first two days of my adventure. I'm so happy to be here! Things are new, sometimes strange, home is far away, but every day is new and exciting so what more could I ask for?

Well, London is tomorrow, so I think that is a perfect request. I'm constantly reminding myself to enjoy the moment. Enjoy and relish each place even though you may be looking forward to the next one more. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Cheers loves!

MM