Trip to England - Part 9

Ahh!! Where does the time go?!? I'm so sorry that I've kept my faithful readers waiting! Rest assured, I'm still alive, AND I plan to finish up these posts by the end of the week. :-)

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautifully sunny day- perfect for the Promenade that starts off the Jane Austen festivities! Bath is a city with a history going back to at least 43 AD, when the Romans built baths around the natural hot springs. In Georgian times, it became a popular spa resort, as many came to "take the waters" to cure their ailments. Because of its immense popularity at that time, many buildings were built then that still survive today, making it feel very much like a walk back into time. Jane Austen also lived in Bath from 1801-1806, and set two of her books there.

After a delicious breakfast, we explored the city a bit. Our B&B was on Brock St., in between the Royal Crescent and the Circus.

Aerial view of the area, our B&B marked is marked with the arrow.

The Royal Crescent, it was built in 1774 by John Wood the Younger and is comprised of 30 houses.

Brock St. Very fashionable lodgings, indeed! ;-)

Two sides of the Circus (no, there are no animals here!), finished in 1768; designed by John Wood the Elder and finished by JW the Younger.

When we arrived at the Pump Room entrance to wait for the beginning of the Promenade, we met up with a few ladies from our group and soon found some online friends from the sewing forum that we're all on. Joanna and her husband Scott are from England, but Aurora traveled from Sweden for the JA festival. Oh to be so close! :-)

Me and Aurora

Elizabeth, me, Scott, and Joanna. Hmmm, after seeing all the men dressed up at the festival, I really think Dad needs a regency outfit now... ;-)

Starting off with the Pump Room behind us

Up one of Bath's many charming streets

As we and 400 other costumed people started off on our walk through Bath's streets, I was taken aback by the amount of people who came just to watch us all! The streets were LINED in people taking pictures, videos, and people from the news interviewing the promenaders!! If it weren't for the absence of a red carpet, I would have though we were all famous movie stars by the amount of attention we all drew! Despite this, we found that (excepting Saturday morning and afternoon) most of the residents of Bath had no idea there was even a Jane Austen Festival going on! On our way to the hotel the first night, we ran into a woman who had lived in Bath for 25 years and had only noticed that "something went on every year"! At 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, we were shopping in Bath and had a woman come up to us to ask "why we were dressed like that". When we explained, she said, "Oh, is that what was on TV this afternoon?"! Well, if I lived in Bath, you can be sure that I would appreciate all the history in the city! :-)

Gathering in the Assembly Rooms

The gorgeous ceiling!

Our first destination on the Promenade was the Assembly Rooms where we were gathering to be counted for our attempt to break the world record of "Most People in Regency Costume at One Time". Who knew there even was a record to break!! ;-) At any rate, at 409 participants, we had almost twice as many as the previous record! After that, we all walked to the Crescent to get a picture taken of everyone. But not just any old picture, a gigapan picture. Which is pretty much many small pictures put together (look closely and see if you can spot the giveaway! also keep your eyes open for the phantom head and the girl with 4 arms!!). In reality the whole thing meant that if you were in the center (which we were), then the sun will be directly in your eyes (which it was), which will blind you and make it difficult to smile directly at the camera if you didn't bring a parasol (which none of us did). Of course, if you were silly enough to not know exactly what was going on, (we didn't. Actually, on second thought, I really don't think many people did!) you would be smiling into the sun until your eyes watered while the camera took pictures of the first people in line! (we also did this...) Consequently, this will mean that they are NO WHERE close to getting your picture (which they weren't). And, if you're wearing a long-sleeved coat (which 3 of us were), you'll get very hot in the sun while you're waiting your turn. If you're not wearing a coat, you'll worry about getting sunburnt (which the rest of us did). In the end, you will most likely decide after waiting for well over half an hour that this is no longer worth the time you have to spend in Bath (which we did decide). Of course, leaving will mean that you don't make it in the picture, but there are more important things than fame. Bottled water being one of them. :-) I am slightly disappointed that it didn't work out (for us, anyway), but after looking at the picture, I think I can safely say that the picture of me would most likely have been less than flattering. One way of saving my pride, I guess!!

In Queen's Square, there were a few booths set up with historical clothing/reenactment wares for sale, along with shady places to sit. :-) Our tour group had plans to go to the Fashion Museum (housed under the Assembly Rooms) in the afternoon, so after resting awhile, we joined up with our group again. The Fashion Museum was nice, but very disappointing if you are hoping for a Historical Fashion Museum! Over half of the garments on display were from the 1970s on (yuck!), so it was rather lacking in the inspirational department.... The sad thing is that they have a HUGE collection, but they apparently think that we're all most interested in the more modern junk! Um, no! I'm also sorry to report that I only took REALLY BAD pictures there.... The lighting in many of the exhibits was really bad and they were all so blurry that they weren't worth posting... :-( I was unable to upload Lindsay's pictures, but Jennie had some in her post. While I was walking through the Museum, I noticed a family that looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. And anyway, I was in England... It's not like it was very likely that I would happen to run into someone I knew! A bit later, the family came up to me and asked, "Do you happen to go to Liberty Day?"!! Imagine my surprise, Liberty Day is an annual event that one of our sister churches puts on 3 hours away from us! So that's how I recognized them! The daughters also dress historically for Liberty Day and I have always admired their dresses. :-) The Agnew's also live in IL, and were traveling in England and France for 6 weeks. They just happened to be in Bath at the Fashion Museum at the exact same time as us! Truly Providential!!

We had received vouchers for tea at the Jane Austen Centre as part of our tour, so we decided to go there next. There was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it! We very fortunately got a seat by a window, so as we enjoyed our afternoon tea, we were able to look out on Bath's lovely streets! Hmm, I think Dad and Gretel need to go too! With us to show them around, of course..... ;-)

Enjoying "Tea with Mr. Darcy" in the Jane Austen Centre. I think the Mr. Darcy at our table must have been invisible...

Our fare, tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and cake. Even though the tea room was full (it is their busiest day, after all!), the ambiance was still nice and we had a delightful and restful time together. Definitely some fond memories.... :-)

We had arranged with Scott, Joanna, and Aurora to meet for supper, so in the mean time, we wandered a bit through the historic streets and went down to see Pulteney Bridge.

Pulteney Bridge, which is lined with quaint shops on either side.

View from the bridge of the River Avon

And a picture of the outside!

Enjoying another delightful dinner at Sally Lunn's, this time with newfound friends! Thank you for the great time! We really enjoyed getting to know you all! :-)

Harvest!

With rain in the forecast for the next few days, Tuesday, October 13 turned out to be a good day to harvest corn. The field behind our house was the first one Farmer Wagenbach planted last spring and the first one he's harvested this fall. A test of the moisture content of the most moist ears revealed that although the corn would require drying at the elevator, it met Farmer Wagenbach's goal for beginning harvest.

Like many other harvest days when the weather is less than ideal, Farmer Wagenbach's operation was a race against the clock. Because so much grain requires artificial drying this year, the grain elevator was not accepting loads after 4:30 PM. Like many other farmers, Farmer Wagenbach tried to get one more load into the elevator before the deadline so he could fill his trucks again before he called it a night. I guess the silver lining in this scenario is that there aren't many farmers out in the fields until late at night.

The golden stream that farmers wait for all summer. Hopefully the weather will present enough opportunities to continue harvesting, and this year's crop won't be a disappointment. Thanks for visiting!

Corn in the backyard 2009, weeks 20 & 21

October 4

October 4

October 11

Even though the weather continues to be wet and cool, the cornstalks continue to dry out, and we trust the kernels keep drying too. There hasn't been a lot of harvesting in our area, which is a good indication of how slowly the crops are drying out this year. Stay tuned...!

Trip to England - Part 8

Friday morning, our group gathered in the hotel lobby to wait for our private coach to Bath, by way of Chawton (J. Austen's house), Winchester Cathedral (where she is buried), and Stonehenge. Due to heavy traffic, we waited for an hour until the coach made it. It was so nice to be out of London! London was very pleasant, but by the last couple of days, I was longing for some nice cornfields. There were no cornfields on the way to Chawton, but there were rolling pastures dotted with sheep and trees and fenced in by stone walls. Also acceptable! ;-)

We pulled up at Jane's house and all watched a short movie about her before wandering around the lovely gardens, the house, and the gift shop. While we were in London, we went in many very good gift shops, but nothing ever jumped out at me. Different story here! I think I can safely say that I was their target audience... ;-D

Arriving at Jane's house!

Notice how low the doorway is!

This cottage was given to the Austen women (Jane, her mother, and her sister Cassandra) after Mr. Austen's death by Jane's elder brother Edward who had an estate nearby. Edward had been adopted by childless relatives and inherited a fortune of £20,000!! That's twice Mr. Darcy's immense fortune, and he was the "richest man in Derbyshire"!!

Around the back of the house

The kitchen

Pianoforte made by Muzio Clementi! :-)

And pictures of my dress for those interested... It's made from a hand block-printed Indian muslin from heritagetrading. The hat was made by Mom using a Timely Tresses pattern.

The top edge of the "bib front" is gathered with strings pulled through casings and Mom made the dorset buttons for me! True love! :-)

I used Jennie Chancey's Elegant Lady's Closet pattern for the back and sleeves, but made up the front using "Patterns of Fashion" and "Costume in Detail" for help.

After enjoying ourselves in Chawton, we hopped back on the coach and made our way to Winchester. We split up for lunch (Mom and I had our leftover cheese and bread in a very charming and peaceful park) and then met up at the Cathedral. Ironically, even though we went mainly to see Jane Austen's grave, we didn't get a picture of it! Oh well, next time... ;-)

Statue of Alfred the Great

Charming Winchester!

The cathedral yard

Winchester Cathedral

The beautiful Nave!

Some of the needlework cushions in the quire. They each had different designs.

Mom's favorite: acorns :-)

12th and 13th century paintings! They also had medieval floor tiles still intact that you could walk on!

Ceiling in the North Transept

Near Jane Austen's grave. A kind English gentleman inquired why we were dressed up, and when we told him, he wanted to take our picture. By the time we were finally done with the picture, the whole experience reminded me of the book "If You give a Mouse a Cookie".

If You Wear Regency Clothing to Historical Sites

If you wear regency clothing to historical sites, a gentleman will come up and talk to you.

And when he talks to you, he'll find out that you're dressed up because you're at Jane Austen's grave.

And when he finds that out, he'll think you need a picture of yourself.

When he gets the camera, he'll take a picture.

But when he looks at the picture, he'll realize he needs to zoom in.

And when he's taken another picture, he'll decide the flash needs to be off.

When he's found the flash button and taken a picture, he'll see that it's too blurry.

So he'll take another picture.

When he is finally satisfied, he'll start talking about Jane Austen.

While he is talking, Matt will come up and say that we need to leave.

In the bus, you'll get to whittle the pictures down to this one.

The End

On our way back to the coach, we were stop by 2 backpackers who were befuddled as to our appearance. When we explained, they asked us where we were from. After our answer, they asked if everyone dressed like us in our town (LOL!!). After our negative answer, their faces became even more perplexed and you could tell as they were walking away that they thought we were the wackiest people EVER! :-)

Due to our late start in the morning, we were only able to drive past Stonehenge, but I think we got a very decent picture, notwithstanding! In order to go "close" to the stones, there is an entry fee, so we really wouldn't have gained much by getting out anyway...

I do have to say that this is NOT what it looked like in real life. There were TONS of tourists all over, but somehow we managed to get this great picture!

During the rest of our trip to Bath, Matt entertained us all with a few rounds of "BBC Trivia" as we all competed to see who could get the most correct answers to become "Queen of the BBC". :-) When we made it to Bath, Mom and I lugged our bags to our Bed & Breakfast (we had made reservations before we knew the rest of the group was staying somewhere else, but we decided to keep ours, anyway). The only catch was that our B&B was uphill. The entire way. If you'll remember, we were wearing regency clothing! So, I guess the upside to that experience was that we have now proved that it IS possible to lug 30-40 lb. suitcases half a mile uphill in regency dresses! Oh, and then our room was up two full flights of stairs! We went straight to Sally Lunn's after getting our bags in the room as it was already 7:00.

Sally Lunn's is a restaurant that claims the title of "Bath's Oldest House" since it was built in 1482. Roman and Medieval foundations have also been found in the cellars! It's age is readily apparent, the rooms all feature quaintly crooked doorways, floors, and window casings. (Why is it that crooked doorways are so cute in 500 year old buildings?!?) While enjoying our candlelit dinner, the couple next to us struck up a conversation with us (we've noticed that wearing historical clothing makes people much more apt to start talking to you, for whatever reason...) and we soon found out that we had common interests as they were also Christians and ended up having a delightful evening!

In Sally Lunn's. And yes, Mom is overheated. And yes, I had her permission to post this picture. ;-)

Next up: Bath and the Jane Austen Festival!

Trip to England - Part 7

Thursday we were entirely free to roam, so Mom and I started off by heading to the British Museum. We had printed off a map at home and marked the exhibits we wanted to see, so we didn't spend any time wandering! Some might be horrified by the thought, but with SO many things to see in London, you have to cut corners somewhere... The first of the wonders we saw:

The Rosetta Stone. It was so incredible to be able to see this in real life!! Of course everyone else thought so too, hence the tourist in our picture.... ;-)

The Colossal Bust of Ramesses the Great

Assyrian statue (and exuberant Asian tourist)

The Parthenon sculpture room- we didn't realize until we got the picture back how many people were staring at us here! Slightly disconcerting....

An Easter Island statue (!) Apparently we were most impressed with the large stone sculptures...

And to mix it up a bit: the Mummy of Katebet

Our next stop: 48 Doughty Street, former home of Charles Dickens and currently the Dickens House Museum

The drawing room

After exploring the museum, we started on this Dickens walking tour. First up:

Staple Inn, dating back to 1576.

From the side, so quaint!

Just on the other side of Staple Inn, a beautiful and peaceful garden. As you can tell in the previous pictures, Staple Inn is on a very busy road, but once you are in the garden you can't hear a thing! I could have stayed here all day!

Our walking tour lead us around London's Inns of Court, stopping to note places Dickens included in his books, particularly Bleak House and Great Expectations. Our directions described the beautiful gardens behind Staple Inn as "secret niches". A very good description as if you're not actively looking for the passageways to them, you could pass by 100 times and never know! We were told there would be a sign dating from Victorian London just inside the gateway that would read "The Porter Has Orders to Prevent Old Clothes Men and Others From Calling "Articles for Sale" Also Rude Children Playing and No Horses Allowed Within This Inn.", but all we saw was an empty space for it. :-( I can only hope that it was just down for repainting... On our way to Lincoln's Inn (the Inn of Court featured in BH), we passed by:

No. 15- "Mr. Snagsby's" House (Bleak House)

Inside Lincoln's Inn all was peace and quiet (and green!!).

It still houses offices for lawyers and they still have their names painted on signs like these.

The Court of Chancery!!! We were actually there!! :-D (I'm afraid only Bleak House enthusiasts will be able to understand... See Kathryn, now you need to read/watch it so you know what I'm talking about! ;-) )

After lingering about Lincoln's Inn, we ventured into the busy, noisy streets and made our way to Sir John Soane's Museum, just a block away. Sir John was an architect (he designed the Dulwich Picture Gallery) and also an avid collector. His home is fascinating (in a bizarre way) as he wanted to showcase his impressive collection of ancient stone sculptures, while using as much natural light as possible. The result is a conglomeration of skylights above, narrow hallways, and sections open to the lower level (to get natural light in there). I don't think I was a fan of the house. Kind of just looked a museum... He did have some fun stuff, though! He had a room filled with Hogarth paintings and a sarcophagus downstairs covered in hieroglyphics. The British Museum refused to pay £2000 for it, so Sir John decided to add it to his collection!

Just around the corner and past "Mr. Tulkinghorn's" House (from BH), we saw this:

While it's not the real one (and I hated the book!), we were right there, so we had to take a picture... :-)

The fountain in the Middle Temple courtyard. Dickens wrote about this courtyard in "Martin Chuzzlewhit".

Prince Henry's Room, a former tavern c.1610

Dr. Johnson's House. We aren't huge fans of his, but after reading "Cranford", we decided to walk past as it was close by. The ironic thing is that his 300th birthday was the day after we went! They were going to have free admission AND birthday cake! *sigh* Oh well, we were pretty museumed-out by then anyway...

To get to our next destination, we hopped on the tube to Southwark. While in London, we found the tube very easy to navigate (as opposed to the buses!) and relatively clean. Our first couple of trips were made using the uppermost level, but when we took the Central line, we realized why it's called that: it's practically in the center of the earth! To get to the "deep down" lines, we had to take a staircase, an escalator, more stairs, and then a huge escalator. Makes me glad I'm not claustrophobic!! Also, the farther in you go, the gustier it gets when it comes in! In the movie "Prince Caspian" I thought they were just being overly dramatic when the children got blown away to Narnia because of the incoming subway. Well, now I know that they were exaggerating, but not nearly as much as I thought!

Getting close!

And closer!

And closer!*

*We were actually headed in the wrong direction when we saw these street signs, but in the name of artistic license, I think you can let it slide...

St. George the Martyr Church, and...

Our destination: the Marshalsea Prison! Lest you think we're nuts (well, more than you already do...), the Marshalsea was a debtors' prison and John Dickens (Charles' father) was imprisoned here for a short time. It is also a primary location in the book "Little Dorrit", which we both read and watched this year. Mom described this part of our day as "a sort of pilgrimage". So yeah, we enjoy traveling thousands of miles to visit prisons. What's weird about that?!?

After the walking tour, we obliged our sad feet by going back to the hotel to rest and have bread and cheese (and scones and clotted cream!) for supper. That evening we went to St. Martin in the Field's for an "Elgar's Serenade for Strings" concert, which was a lovely way to end our delightful stay in London!

Inside St. Martin's. We got this picture of the lovely interior before we realized that photography wasn't allowed. Lest you think this is a regular occurrence, it really only happened twice!!

Next up: Jane Austen's House!