Observations of the day: 1) Londoners maximize every bit of
transportation available & 2) Londoners are RUNNERS not joggers. We
continue to be impressed with how every mode of transportation be it
automobile, taxi, bus, train, subway, boat, scooter, bike, Uber + simply
walking are maximized by ALL Londoners. Yes, of course, some of the well-to-do
drive some really snazzy cars, even with chauffeurs, but truly you find all
kinds of folks utilizing all kinds of transport. Second, the Londoners are fit
people. We constantly find ourselves running into (literally!) runners who all
seem like they’re training for a marathon.
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| McCarty clan: Selfie-stick Highclere Castle edition. |
Today, Wednesday, we visited Highclere Castle a.k.a. Downton
Abbey. Yippeee! It was even better than we imagined as the weather totally
worked in our favor. After our dry run to Paddington Station the other day, navigating there for an early start was a piece of cake. We left promptly on the 8:18AM train and arrived
at the Newbury Station right at 9AM to be greeted by James, one of the friendliest
drivers we’ve had in England. We loved his charming Cockney accent and twinkling blue eyes. And, of course, the minute he heard our accents he
knew exactly where we were going. By 9:20AM, we were at the gate of the
beloved Downton Abbey homestead.
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| The house welcomed us on a beautiful English day. Photo creds: EM. |
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| Our arrival! Photo creds: HM. |
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| JM, channels his inner Lord Grantham as he surveys his land & informs HM, channeling Mary, that one day, this will all be yours. Photo creds: EM |
We were so happy we made the early trek as the grounds open prior
to the indoor house tours opening so we had them virtually to ourselves. This gave
us plenty of time to pretend we were like Lord Grantham and the family except
we could have used a doggie by our side.
No pictures are allowed inside, but we greatly enjoyed touring the house and seeing the spots were many
of the show’s scenes are filmed including the library, the dining room and the
drawing room.
We also enjoyed learning about the family who currently owns
Highclere Castle and has for hundreds of years – the 8th Earl and
Countess of Carnarvon. Julian Fellowes, who produces & writes Downton Abbey,
is a good friend of theirs, and the storylines reflect many parallels with
their family’s history. For instance, car racing, having the Abbey serve as a
hospital during World War I and the Earl wanting to go to war but can’t due to
his health.
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| The door is as small as it looks on TV. Photo creds: EM. |
We also learned it is not uncommon for Queen Elizabeth to stay at Highclere Castle as her horses are near by and the family actually looks after the Queen’s stud. There are many photos of them at the
races with Elizabeth in attendance.
Another interesting Carnarvon family history tidbit is the 5th
Earl and his colleague, Howard Carter, in 1922 discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamen
in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately, just shortly after finding
King Tut, the Earl died in Egypt of a shaving cut which became infected. Spookily, the cut was in the same spot there was a “thin patch” of gold in King
Tut’s mask. And to make things even more peculiar, the Earl’s dog died back in
England precisely at the same moment his owner did in Egypt. Maybe it’s best
not to mess with the dead.
While many of King Tut’s artifacts are in Egypt, the Earl’s
family did pay a concession to have some of the items for their own collection.
These items are on display at the home & were super interesting to see.
After touring the house and the Egyptian exhibition, we had
a grand time walking around the spectacular grounds. We were blessed with a
BEAUTIFUL day, although brisk, we had blue, sunny skies. It was a perfect
backdrop for ohhhing and ahhhing at the English countryside and especially the
sheep.
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| Channeling our inner Lord and Lady. Photo creds: HM |
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| The Secret Garden wasn't used in filming, but it was still beautiful. Photo creds: EM. |
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| We can't get enough of these English gardens! Photo creds: EM |
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| EM is not always the easiest subject. Especially when her sister is asking. Photo creds:HM |
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| How idyllic is this!?!? |
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| Well, hello! Photo creds: HM. |
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| Lambs were everywhere. JM was looking for mint jelly, which of course, appalled the girls. Photo creds: HM. 
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| Surveying the property. Photo creds: HM |
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| McCarty clan: Selfie-stick Downton Abbey edition 2. |
By 2PM we had had our fill and were happy to have James
collect us again for our return train trip.
We arrived in London around 4PM and set out towards
Piccadilly Square so we could visit M&M World upon Emma’s request.
Piccadilly Square is similar to New York’s Times Square. A wicked amount of
people, cars and chaos. We paid homage to the store & quickly moved on.
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| M&M World was a scheduled stop for the girls... |
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| Yet someone else with a sweet tooth also enjoyed the stop! |
By this time, we knew we had to get sustenance and with our
carnivore family, we sought a Brazilian churrascaria. We ended up in Victoria
at Preto, a local chain of rodizio restaurants which are delicious but
don’t break the bank. We had terrific service from two Dominican servers (shout
out to Claudia!) who had made their way to London via Spain. Again, everyone’s
from somewhere else here.
After a yummy meal, we walked from Victoria home to Kensington
to call it a night. Thursday our plans include Kensington Palace and
Churchill’s War Rooms. We have West End theater tickets in the evening for School of
Rock so I suspect we won't be blogging tomorrow night.
EM: It was cool
to see where Downton Abbey was filmed. My favorite part was the sheep. It’s
nice how the owners let you visit their house. We’re pretty sure we saw both of
them. [VM note: The family is very much present at the house, including family
pics throughout the rooms].
M&M World was also fun. We found out it was the biggest
one in the world. And I walked more than 21,000 steps!
HM has passed out.
Random pics of the day
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| England is a mix of forward-thinking mixed with tradition as evidenced by the inclusive crosswalk lights at Trafalgar Square and the sign at the Newbury Station coffee shop indicating that there really are NO Easter opening hours. |
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